TOM WAITS - (LOOKING FOR)THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT

(LOOKINF FOR)THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT

TOM WAITS

SONGWRITER: TOM WAITS

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT

LABEL: ASYLUM RECORDS

GENRE: FOLK

YEAR: 1974

The Heart of Saturday Night is the second studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1974 on Asylum Records. The title song was written as a tribute to Jack Kerouac.

Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. His music is characterized by his distinctive deep, gravelly singing voice and lyrics focusing on the underside of U.S. society. During the 1970s, he worked primarily in jazz, but since the 1980s his music has reflected greater influence from blues, vaudeville, and experimental genres.

Waits was born and raised in a middle-class family in California. Inspired by Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, he began singing on the San Diego folk music scene as a teenager. In Los Angeles, he worked as a songwriter before signing a recording contract with Asylum Records. His first albums, the jazz-oriented Closing Time (1973) and The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), reflected his lyrical interest in nightlife, poverty, and criminality. Repeatedly touring the U.S., Europe, and Japan, he attracted greater critical recognition and commercial success with Small Change (1976), which he followed with Blue Valentine (1978) and Heartattack and Vine (1980). He produced the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's 1981 film One from the Heart and subsequently made cameo appearances in several Coppola films. During the 1970s, he also had relationships with two prominent performers, Bette Midler and Rickie Lee Jones.

Well you gassed her up

Behind the wheel

With your arm around your sweet one

In your Oldsmobile

Barrelin' down the boulevard

You're looking for the heart of Saturday night

And you got paid on Friday

And your pockets are jinglin'

And you see the lights

You get all tinglin' cause you're cruisin' with a 6

And you're looking for the heart of Saturday night

Then you comb your hair

Shave your face

Tryin' to wipe out ev'ry trace

All the other days

In the week you know that this'll be the Saturday

You're reachin' your peak

Stoppin' on the red

You're goin' on the green

'Cause tonight'll be like nothin'

You've ever seen

And you're barrelin' down the boulevard

Lookin' for the heart of Saturday night

Tell me is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin?

Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin

Is it the barmaid that's smilin' from the corner of her eye?

Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.

Makes it kind of quiver down in the core

'Cause you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before

And now you're stumblin'

You're stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night

Well you gassed her up

And you're behind the wheel

With your arm around your sweet one

In your Oldsmobile

Barrellin' down the boulevard,

You're lookin' for the heart of Saturday night

Is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin?

Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin

And the barmaid is smilin' from the corner of her eye

Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.

Makes it kind of special down in the core

And you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before

It's found you stumblin'

Stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night

And you're stumblin'

Stumblin onto the heart of Saturday night.