Blow Wind Blow
Tom Waits Lyrics

Blow wind blow, wherever you may go
Addressing the wind, the singer asks it to blow wherever it wants to.

Put on your overcoat, take me away
The singer asks the wind to take him along, while urging it to brace for the cold weather with an overcoat.

You gotta take me on into the night
The singer is urging the wind to take him on a ride through the night.

Take me on into the night
Asking for the same thing as the previous line.

Blow me away, blow me away
The singer is urging the wind to blow him away, to take him on a journey he can't achieve on his own.

Mary's on the black top
The singer introduces Mary, although her relevance to the song is not apparent yet.

There's a husband in the dog house
The singer tells us that there is a husband who's in trouble - maybe with his wife, maybe with the law - and that he's hiding out, either voluntarily or not.

In the middle of a shakedown
The singer tells us that this is happening in the middle of a shakedown - maybe the husband's hiding spot has been discovered, or maybe there's something else going on.

I got quiet as a churchmouse
The singer tells us that he's trying to be quiet and unobtrusive, not wanting to draw attention to himself or the situation.

Put my Raleighs on the dashboard
The singer tells us that he's put his Raleighs (possibly a bicycle or a brand of cigarettes) on the dashboard of a car.

Sugar daddy caught a polo-car
The singer mentions a 'sugar daddy', an older man who takes care of a younger woman, who has caught a car of a brand common among the wealthy - Polo. It's not clear if he's in the car or if he's just caught it in some way.

There's no solitary tap dance way down here
The singer tells us that this place is not the kind of place where someone can dance a tap dance and draw a crowd. It's a dangerous area, and people are trying to stay out of trouble.

I ride upon a field mouse
The singer is using 'I ride upon a field mouse' as a metaphor for his smallness compared to the larger forces at play in the world around him.

I was dancin' in the slaughterhouse
The singer is again using a metaphor; dancing in a slaughterhouse is a terrible and grotesque image, but he's using it to say that he's in a similarly terrible situation.

And it was swing along the beltway
The singer tells us that they were moving back and forth along the beltway, possibly dancing, but it's also possible that they're being chased or trying to escape someone or something.

You skid along there all day
The singer is talking to someone - maybe the wind, but more likely another person - and telling them that they've been skidding along all day. Again, whether they're dancing or running is unclear.

'Cause I went a little crazy
The singer says that he went crazy, meaning that he's no longer thinking straight - whether because of drugs or fear or something else.

And I sat upon a high chair
The singer mentions that he's sitting on a high chair, which is another clue that he's not in a good situation - he's trying to get an advantage over what's happening around him.

And I'm smokin like a diesel way out here
The singer tells us that he's smoking heavily, like a diesel. The 'way out here' could mean he's far from civilization or that he's simply far away from whatever trouble he's involved in.

You gotta to take me on into the night
The singer repeats his earlier plea to the wind to take him on into the night.

Well, you take me on into the night
The singer repeats the previous line with some variation.

Blow me away
The singer is asking the wind to blow him away again.

Blow me away
The singer repeats the previous line.

You gotta blow mw away, blow me away, yeah
The singer repeats his plea one more time, using 'yeah' to show his desperation and urgency.