He started his career in the early 1970s as a singer in spit 'n' sawdust bars. Initially, he was deeply influenced by the beat generation, novelists like Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, and poets like Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski. Waits is often compared to Charles Bukowski, being similar both in content and lifestyle
Waits was unable to make a living from his music in the 70s because his classical bar music, based in pre-rock, and Americana, blues, and Vaudeville styles were not popular. Waits's voice back then was soft, warm and clear.
Waits subsequently developed a devoted cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters, despite having little radio or music video support. In fact, his songs are perhaps best known to the general public in the form of cover versions of more visible artists, such as the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart.
Although Waits’s albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries.
Lyrically, Waits's songs are known for atmospheric portrayals of seedy characters and places; he sings about the losers on the streets: alcoholics, junkies, prostitutes and social outcasts, although he also includes more conventional and touching ballads in his repertoire.
While opening for Frank Zappa, the audience catcalled and refused to listen to him; he was an unsuitable match with Zappa's avantgarde style.
Countless cigarettes, gallons of alcohol and many all night parties eventually left their trace in his face and voice.
His more recent gravelly voice can be first heard on Small Change. This distinctive voice turned out to be his trademark. It is described by the Music Hound Rock Album Guide as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car". Small Change with its sentimental ballads, its bar-jazz attitude and Film Noir-oriented stories turned out to be his biggest commercial success in the 1970s.
Waits subsequently developed a more unique style. His songs have grown more abrasive since then, and the arrangements have turned more surreal and experimental with every new record. His life brings him to new visions, as indicated by the direction taken in his "Alice" release.
While composing the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's One From The Heart Waits met Kathleen Brennan, his bride-to-be. They married in 1980 and she helped him quit drinking and smoking. Since their marriage they have been working together on his albums as co-producers and co-writers. It is hard to say which part belongs to her and which to him, but it's easy to see that they make a perfect team. Additionally, his eldest son Casey can be heard on turntables and percussion on Waits's album "Real Gone".
One of Waits's greatest successes was the album "Swordfishtrombones", released in 1983. It struck with his critics and fans alike. He achieved a new level of song writing and left former conventions (and his earlier career) behind. All songs, whether ballads, jive or jazz are played in a completely different way. It seems that Waits had taken the musical archetypes of these styles and made them his own. All tracks are in the quintessential Waits style. They have a striking rawness and listenability and they set the stage for his success and his future career.
The Bad As Me Songfacts reports that 36 years after the release of Waits' first album, Closing Time in 1973, Bad As Me became Waits's first ever top 10 album in the US when it debuted at #6 with 63,000 sales.
In the late 1980s Waits discovered an outlet for his creativity in composing musicals. His first Musical was named "The Black Rider", and is based on "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber. It was co-produced by Robert Wilson and the lyrics come from William S. Burroughs. The story is slightly reminiscent of Kurt Weil's and Berthold Brecht's "Three Penny Opera" and the 1930s. The debut performance of the play was in 1990 at the Thalia Theater, Hamburg and has been played by various theatre groups since then.
Waits was also responsible for two other musicals, which later became albums released simultaneously in 2002. One was the musical "Blood Money," which covers the "Woyczek" theme of Georg Büchner. This one is one of the darkest works from Waits. The other musical is based on Lewis Carroll's classic children's novel, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". "Alice" is very romantic, dreamy and soft, and contains one of Waits most romantic songs. Even though they were released at the same time, the bootlegs of the "Alice" musical were long before traded between fans and were just rearranged and re-mastered for the official release.
Besides many film contributions as composer – the Internet Movie Database imdb.com lists 47 appearances of Waits as composer and 38 soundtracks containing songs by Waits - he also is an actor with a total of 25 appearances, ranging from some mini-roles as a trumpeter in "Heart of Saturday Night" and the R. M. Renfield in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" to the major role of Zack in Jim Jarmusch's "Down by Law". He recently appeared in Roberto Benigni's "The Tiger and the Snow", playing You Can Never Hold Back Spring at Benigni's wedding dream. Even more recently, Waits played Mr.Nick (the Devil) in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus".
In addition to a number of concert videos, he also appeared in the critically-acclaimed concert feature film "Big Time" (1990).
Waits has always refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials. He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers for using his material without permission. Waits also successfully sued an advertiser for using a work that was stylistically similar to his work, after he had declined to sell them the rights to his song. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor."
Warm Beer and Cold Women
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every joint I stumbled into tonight
That's just how it's been
All these double knit strangers with
Gin and vermouth and recycled stories
In the naugahyde booths
With the platinum blondes
And tobacco brunettes
Lite another cigarette
And the band's playin' something
By Tammy Wynette
And the drinks are on me tonight
All my conversations I'll just be
Talkin' about you baby
Borin' some sailor as I try to get through
I just want him to listen
That's all you have to do
He said I'm better off without you
Till I showed him my tattoo
Now the moon's rising
Ain't got no time to lose
Time to get down to drinking
Tell the band to play the blues
Drink's are on me, I'll buy another round
At the last ditch attempt saloon
Warm beer and cold women, I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumbled into tonight
That's just how it's been
All these double knit strangers with
Gin and vermouth and recycled stories
In the naugahyde booths
With the platinum blondes
And tobacco brunettes
I'll be drinking to forget you
Lite another cigarette
And the band's playing somethin'
By Johnnie Barnett
And the drinks are on me tonight
"Warm Beer and Cold Women" is a song by Tom Waits that depicts his inability to fit in with the crowd while out drinking. The opening line is the main idea that sets the tone for the entire song. The reference to "Warm beer" and "Cold women" aren't necessarily indicative of anything, but function more as symbols of the unsatisfying and unfulfilling experience Waits is having.
The remaining lyrics depict his interactions with fellow bar patrons, women, and musicians. The conversations he has with others are constantly steered back to his ex, showing the weight that she still has on him. He tries to talk to people, but they aren't interested in listening to him, and he is bored by their recycled stories. When he does find someone who will listen, their advice is to move on, but he's not ready or willing to do that. Despite this, he continues to drink, and tries to drown out his problems with the music and atmosphere of the bar.
The song is a reflection of the loneliness and isolation one can feel while out drinking, as well as the pain of lost love. It's a poignant representation of the contradictions of human interaction and how people can end up feeling disconnected even in the midst of a crowd.
Line by Line Meaning
Warm beer and cold women, I just don't fit in
The atmosphere is not fitting my mood, and these strangers don't make me feel comfortable.
Every joint I stumbled into tonight, that's just how it's been
I've been feeling out of place in every bar I've been to tonight.
All these double knit strangers with gin and vermouth and recycled stories in the naugahyde booths
I'm surrounded by people I don't know, drinking the same drinks, and telling the same stories in faux leather booths.
With the platinum blondes and tobacco brunettes
Everyone seems to fit into one of two groups of women, either blondes or brunettes.
I'll be drinkin' to forget you, lite another cigarette
I'm drinking and smoking to try to forget someone who has been on my mind.
And the band's playin' something by Tammy Wynette
The live music is a cover of a Tammy Wynette song.
And the drinks are on me tonight
I'm offering to buy everyone in the bar a round of drinks.
All my conversations I'll just be talkin' about you baby
I can't stop thinking about the person I'm trying to forget and end up talking about them all the time.
Borin' some sailor as I try to get through, I just want him to listen, that's all you have to do
I'm trying to talk to a sailor, hoping to find someone to listen to me.
He said I'm better off without you, till I showed him my tattoo
The sailor initially tells me that I'm better off without the person I'm trying to forget, but his opinion changes after seeing my tattoo related to that person.
Now the moon's rising, ain't got no time to lose, time to get down to drinking, tell the band to play the blues
It's getting late, and I need to start drinking more heavily while I request that the band play the blues.
Drink's are on me, I'll buy another round, at the last ditch attempt saloon
I'm offering to continue buying drinks for everyone at this bar, which I consider a last attempt to forget about the person on my mind.
And the band's playing somethin' by Johnnie Barnett, and the drinks are on me tonight
The band is now playing a song by Johnnie Barnett as I continue to offer to buy drinks for everyone in the bar.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
James Matlock
"Warm Beer And Cold Women" (Lyrics)
From the album: Nighthawks at the Diner
"It's warm beer and cold women, no I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumbled into tonight, that's just how its been
All these double-knit strangers with gin and vermouth
And recycled stories, in the naugahyde booths
And the platinum blondes and tobacco brunettes
I'll just be drinking to forget you, I light another cigarette
And the band's playing something by Tammy Wynette
And the drinks are on me tonight
All my conversations now, I'll just be talking about you, baby
I'm boring some sailor as I try to get through
I just want him to listen now I say that's all you have to do
He said I'm better off without you, until I showed him my tattoo
And now the moon's rising, ain't no time to lose
Time to get down to drinking, tell the band to play the blues
And the drinks are on me I'll buy another round
At the last ditch attempt saloon
Warm beer and cold women, no I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumble into tonight, that's just how it's been
All these double-knit strangers with gin and vermouth
Receding hairlines, in the naugahyde booths
And the platinum blondes and tobacco brunettes
I'll just be drinking to forget you, baby, I light a menthol cigarette
And the band's playing something by Johnnie Barnette
At the last ditch attempt saloon."
andrew james Bunting
Lyrics
Warm beer and cold women, I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumbled into tonight
That's just how it's been
All these double knit strangers with
Gin and vermouth and recycled stories
In the naugahyde booths
With the platinum blondes
And tobacco brunettes
I'll be drinkin' to forget you
Lite another cigarette
And the band's playin' something
By Tammy Wynette
And the drinks are on me tonight
All my conversations I'll just be
Talkin' about you baby
Borin' some sailor as I try to get through
I just want him to listen
That's all you have to do
He said I'm better off without you
Till I showed him my tattoo
Now the moon's rising
Ain't got no time to lose
Time to get down to drinking
Tell the band to play the blues
Drink's are on me, I'll buy another round
At the last ditch attempt saloon
Warm beer and cold women, I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumbled into tonight
That's just how it's been
All these double knit strangers with
Gin and vermouth and recycled stories
In the naugahyde booths
With the platinum blondes
And tobacco brunettes
I'll be drinking to forget you
Lite another cigarette
And the band's playing somethin'
By Johnnie Barnett
And the drinks are on me tonight
The Hoff
It's warm beer and cold women, no I just don't fit in
very joint I stumbled into tonight, that's just how its been
All these double-knit strangers with gin and vermouth
And recycled stories, in the naugahyde booths
And the platinum blondes and tobacco brunettes
I'll just be drinking to forget you, I light another cigarette
And the band's playing something by Tammy Wynette
And the drinks are on me tonight
All my conversations now, I'll just be talking about you, baby
I'm boring some sailor as I try to get through
I just want him to listen now I say that's all you have to do
He said I'm better off without you, until I showed him my tattoo
And now the moon's rising, ain't no time to lose
Time to get down to drinking, tell the band to play the blues
And the drinks are on me I'll buy another round
At the last ditch attempt saloon
Warm beer and cold women, no I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumble into tonight, that's just how it's been
All these double-knit strangers with gin and vermouth
Receding hairlines, in the naugahyde booths
And the platinum blondes and tobacco brunettes
I'll just be drinking to forget you, baby, I light a menthol cigarette
And the band's playing something by Johnnie Barnette
At the last ditch attempt saloon arm beer and cold women, no I just don't fit in
Every joint I stumble into tonight, that's just how it's been
All these double-knit strangers with gin and vermouth
Receding hairlines, in the naugahyde booths
And the platinum blondes and tobacco brunettes
I'll just be drinking to forget you, baby, I light a menthol cigarette
And the band's playing something by Johnnie Barnette
At the last ditch attempt saloon
paulus matusevicus
Tom's an inspiration to anybody who's 'down but not out'...
I write and sing just like him.
Ligia Lewis
Tom is a master , and he is accompanied here in this video by an amazing saxophonist and bass player . Very cool, very relaxing. GLewis, Sr.
sclogse1
Tom is very experimental especially when he collaborates with young new bands.. However....on Orphans, his triple CD set, the Bawlers CD is the opposite of hard metal, especially in his voice. Listen to Tell It To Me, and be amazed. And of course, it's gorgeous. Also check out the unbelievable lyrics in WIdow's Grove. I've never heard anything so profound and deep.
비쏟
언제들어도..빠져들게 되는 토미..🌷 오늘은 블루스왈츠군요..
항상 그렇듯이..목소리도..연주도..곡도...멋져요.
음..토요일밤이니..다정한 여인과 시원한 맥주가 더 좋겠는데요~^^
Cool Waits!👍
dmw321
He's one of my all time favorite musicians. This is one of my personal favorites of his. From Nighthawks at the Diner. A great album..another one of my favorite albums is Rain Dogs.
losingiswinning
This song is amazing, one of my favorites by him!
CoZm3t
this song got me through lots of lonely times
zackincarbonite
Tom Waits is a legend. One of the best singers and songwriters of our time.
shortminute
So cool to have a new Tom Waits fan. I grew up with this.
sclogse1
God, what wonderful melody. This guy is the best.