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Tom Waits: a Songwriter on the Edge Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis

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Tom Waits: a Songwriter on the Edge Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Filip Drlík Tom Waits: A Songwriter on the Edge Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. 2011 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Filip Drlík I would like to thank my supervisor, doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. for being very helpful and supportive. I would also like to thank Romana for opening my mind for many different views. Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Self-stylization .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Influences ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. Self-stylization ................................................................................................................... 7 1.3. Authenticity ...................................................................................................................... 13 2. Reports from the Edge ............................................................................................................ 17 2.1. America’s Dark Side ........................................................................................................ 17 2.2. Role in society .................................................................................................................. 22 3. The Role of media ................................................................................................................... 24 3.1. Balancing on the Edge of Mainstream ............................................................................. 24 3.2. Appearance in Movies ...................................................................................................... 29 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 31 Works cited and consulted: ......................................................................................................... 33 Resumé (English) ........................................................................................................................ 36 Resumé (Czech) .......................................................................................................................... 37 Introduction “David Letterman: Hey, and what kind of places do you go on your field trips? Tom Waits: Well you know the most interesting one was, we took all these kids. I took about 30 kids to a music store. And I figured: "Well, okay I'll drive on that". And we got there and I'm kinda standing over by the pianos and I'm thinking well eh: "I'm gonna be recognized any minute now." ... Then I decided to move over by the percussion. And, eh, I found an interesting lighting situation. David Letterman: You were ready to go. Tom Waits: I'm ready. I'm ready for: "Aren't you that guy?". Nothing. ... I went over by the guitars and I waited. Nothing. I was a little let down. ... A week later they asked me to drive on another field trip. This time they are going to the dump. Well it's recycling and all that? David Letterman: Yeah, I understand. Yeah. Tom Waits: Twelve guys surrounded my car! Go figure!” (Waits, 2002) This quotation is a typical example of an interview with Tom Alan Waits, or in the matter of fact, with the performing persona he created. This songwriter has been in the centre of the reviewers’ and critics’ attention for more than thirty years. His life- long endeavor and diligence earned him a cult following. He has published twenty two albums and contributed to a large number of movies. More than one hundred of his songs were covered by various mainstream artists including Bruce Springsteen or Rod Stewart. Various major products companies addresses him and asked him to use his 1 records, but Waits has always refused and he was always successful in protecting his works of art. This thesis focuses on Tom Waits’s position in the society and especially in the mainstream culture. Even though he came from a middle class background, in his works he dealt with characters and stories from low class surroundings. Tom Waits is a songwriter on the edge of the society, because he was always attracted by the “seamy” part of life. He stylized himself in the position of a wise man transferring the stories and wisdom from the world of lowlifes to the mainstream culture. His melancholic reports in the form of lyrics convey messages for all those who want to find out more about the darker side of life and the maze of imagination in Tom Waits’s head. As the opening quotation of this thesis suggests, Tom Waits earned a specific status in the American culture. The first chapter deals with the ways in which Tom Waits stylized his persona and what influences were vital in his life and career, but it concentrates mainly on the career development. The last part of this chapter discusses the authenticity of his works of art and what value it has in the contemporary society. The following chapter concentrates on the contents of Waits’s songs. It also discusses their social aspects and possible worldviews and opinions that Waits might have incorporated in his work. The chapter three deals with the mainstream and what position Waits has had in it. It concentrates mainly on the most significant differences from other artists of the mainstream music. 2 1. Self-stylization As many other artists, Tom Waits too achieved specific reputation not only because of his music, but also due to performing and appearing in a certain pose. This chapter describes and discusses the ways in which the author stylizes himself and how it contributes to his overall impression. It also deals with the influences which shaped Waits’s creative process. 1.1. Influences Tom Waits’s view of the world was influenced and modified throughout the years. During some of the interviews, Waits mentioned several possible facts about his background and the influences that shaped his further development. When talking about his childhood, he stated that the divorce of his parents made him travel very frequently and to shuttle between them. This situation aroused love for cars and driving in him, which became one of the characteristic features of Waits’s music; the feeling of freedom, when driving, car as a form of the shelter, or car as a symbol of the social standing. Waits’s father, a teacher of Spanish language, sometimes took his son on a trip to Mexico. He was very keen on the local culture, so they listened to Mexican music in the car. When they arrived, young Tom Waits was introduced to a very different world from the one he was used to. Carnival-like culture amazed him and left in him an obsession with circuses and similar surreal, bizarre settings. In other words, things which were on the other side of the edge of what is “popular” or “mainstream” have always fascinated him. After releasing several albums, Tom Waits began to change labels to gain more independence over his work and the interest in “strangeness” started 3 to emerge in the textual or visual concepts of his songs and in their titles as well. This tendency is apparent for instance on his 1985 album called “Rain Dogs”. The foreign influences are an important part of the composition. The instruments chosen for these recordings are quite unusual as well, including marimba, various percussions and an accordion. One of the characteristic instrumentally unusual songs is the “Cemetery Polka”. The reed organ and brass instruments in combination with percussions play quite disharmonic a tune that really sounds like it was coming from the edge that separates the living and dead. The lyrics and titles of songs on Rain Dogs and other albums also suggest certain out-of-ordinary characteristics. Titles of tracks, such as “Singapore”, “Walking Spanish” and “Burma Shave” evoke the foreign atmosphere. Also the text of the song “Tango Till They’re Sore” mentions unfamiliar settings and words of a story: “Well ya play that Tarantella All the hounds they start to roar And the boys all go to hell Then the Cubans hit the floor And they drive along the pipeline They tango till they're sore They take apart their nightmares And they leave them by the door.” (Waits, 1985) Another great influence on Tom Waits’s art was the Beat culture. At the age of eighteen he discovered the classics, such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac or Charles Bukowski. Later in his life he met Allen Ginsberg personally and cooperated with him for a short period of time. As Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” is one of the key works of the Beat generation, it is apparent that it influenced Tom Waits in certain respect. The 4 cars, distance or the road itself are significant symbols and themes of Waits’s lyrics. The author of the Book “The Words and Music of Tom Waits” claims that “Throughout Tom Waits’s life, Jack Kerouac’s Beat classic, On the Road, has served as an important thematic touchstone.” (Kessel, 65) The song “Ol’55” (Waits, 1973) is exactly the piece of art that deals with these themes. In fact, it is one of the very well-known songs by Waits and certainly one of the most popular, particularly with truck drivers. Also the cover
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