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."
Who Are You This Time
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Three shots for a dollar, win a real live doll
All the lies that you tell, I believed them so well
Take them back, take them back to your red house
For that fearful leap into the dark
Oh well, I did my time in the jail of your arms
Now Ophelia wants to know where she should turn
What did you do the last time, why don't you do that?
Well, go on ahead and take this the wrong way
Time's not your friend
Do you cry, do you pray, do you wish them away?
Are you still leaving nothing but bones in the way?
Did you bury the carnival, with the lions and all?
Excuse me while I sharpen my nails
And just who are you, who are you this time?
You look rather tired, are you pretending to love?
Well, I hear that it pays well
How do your pistol and your Bible and your sleeping pills go?
Are you still jumping out of windows in expensive clothes?
Well, I fell in love with your sailor's mouth and your wounded eyes
You better get down on the floor, don't you know this is war?
Tell me, who are you this time?
Tell me, who are you this time?
The lyrics to Tom Waits's song Who Are You are a haunting reflection on the uncertainties and contradictions of identity. The song seems to be directed at someone who is trying to reinvent themselves, perhaps after a personal crisis or a traumatic event. The lyrics begin with a description of a carnival ride, with people lining up to play games and win prizes. This image is juxtaposed with the singer's own experience of being deceived and manipulated by the person he is addressing. The singer tells this person to take back their lies and return to their "red house," as if to suggest that they are hiding something.
The chorus of the song asks the question "Who are you this time?" This seems to be a rhetorical question, as if the singer already knows the answer. He describes the person as looking "rather tired" and asks if they are "pretending to love." These lines suggest that the person is not being honest with themselves or others about who they really are. The singer goes on to describe various symbols of authority and control - a pistol, a Bible, sleeping pills - and asks how they are being used. He also asks if the person is still "jumping out of windows in expensive clothes," perhaps implying that they are trying to escape from their own life.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, they're lining up to mad-dog your Tilt-a-Whirl
People are ready to challenge and confront you
Three shots for a dollar, win a real live doll
Games are rigged, but people still hope and play for the prize
All the lies that you tell, I believed them so well
Lies, even if obvious, can still deceive and hurt someone deeply
Take them back, take them back to your red house
The source of deceit and pain should be confronted and exposed
For that fearful leap into the dark
Confronting one's fears and uncertainties can be an act of courage
Oh well, I did my time in the jail of your arms
Being stuck in a relationship, even if painful, can become familiar and addictive
Now Ophelia wants to know where she should turn
Ophelia, a symbol of innocence and tragedy, seeks guidance
Tell me, what did you do?
What actions have you taken, what choices have you made?
What did you do the last time, why don't you do that?
Looking back at past experiences can be a useful guide for the present
Well, go on ahead and take this the wrong way
Anticipating and challenging a negative reaction
Time's not your friend
Time can be relentless and unforgiving, especially in matters of the heart
Do you cry, do you pray, do you wish them away?
How do you cope with pain and regret, do you try to escape or confront them?
Are you still leaving nothing but bones in the way?
Leaving behind only destruction and suffering
Did you bury the carnival, with the lions and all?
Did you abandon joy and adventure for the sake of safety and control?
Excuse me while I sharpen my nails
Preparing for a fight, getting ready to defend oneself
And just who are you, who are you this time?
Questioning someone's identity, motives and intentions
You look rather tired, are you pretending to love?
Expressing doubt and suspicion about someone's emotions and commitment
Well, I hear that it pays well
Sarcasm or resignation about the rewards of love or deception
How do your pistol and your Bible and your sleeping pills go?
An enigmatic reference to different ways of coping and escaping
Are you still jumping out of windows in expensive clothes?
Risking everything for the sake of adventure or desperation, regardless of appearances
Well, I fell in love with your sailor's mouth and your wounded eyes
Admiring someone's rough language and emotional scars, as a sign of authenticity
You better get down on the floor, don't you know this is war?
A warning or a threat, indicating that the relationship has become a battleground
Tell me, who are you this time?
Repeating the question, demanding clarity and honesty
Tell me, who are you this time?
Echoing the previous line, emphasizing the need for truth and trust
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
tyron dardizian
They're lining up
To mad dog your tilta whirl
3 shots for a dollar
Win a real live doll
All the lies that you tell
I believed them so well, Take them back,
Take them back to your red house
For that fearful leap into the dark
I did my time
In the jail of your arms
Now Ophelia wants to know
Where she should turn
Tell me... What did you do,
What did you do the last time?
Why don't you do that
Go on ahead and take this the wrong way
Time's not your friend
Do you cry, Do you pray
Do you wish them away
Do you still leave nothing
But bones in the way?
Did you bury the carnival
Lions and all
Excuse me while I sharpen my nails
And just who are you this time?
You look rather tired
Are you pretending to love
Well, I hear that it pays well
How do your pistol and your Bible and
Your sleeping pills go.
Are you still jumping out of windows in expensive clothes?
Well I fell in love
With your sailor's mouth and your wounded eyes.
You better get down on the floor
Don't you know this is war
Tell me who are you this time?
Tell me who are you this time?
Lee M
Often come back to this album and especially this song. One of the most imaginative and profound songwriters imo.
Mark Olson
Cuts right to the bone. Every single time I hear it.
Anna Savelxeva
Одна из любимых песен на все времена...❤❤❤
Gabriel Hoffman
The wild thing about Tom Waits is, if you listen to interviews with him, he just talks like that. You would be excused for thinking his lyrics are the result of hours of hard labor, but it just falls out of his mouth fully formed like that. It’s amazing.
Madison H
And he paints such a picture with them
Hippos_Rock
I wish I could have Tom’s mind for a day. It really is something incredible
andrew chard
He is an artist in the true sense, so as art the song is subjective to each person
Aaron Lane
Yup, I may be wrong but I think Step Right Up was adlibbed
Valerie Neilson
I fell asleep. Be smart or gone.
concars1234
Beautiful songwriting.