Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 19… Read Full Bio ↴Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 1949) is a prolific American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor.

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."

Semi Suite
Tom Waits Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well you hate those diesels rollin'
And those Friday nights out bowlin'
When he's off for a twelve hour lay over night

You wish you had a dollar
For every time he hollered
That he's leavin'
And he's never comin' back

But the curtain-laced billow
And his hands on your pillow
And his trousers are hangin' on the chair

You're lyin' through your pain, babe
But you're gonna tell him he's your man
And you ain't got the courage to leave

He tells you that you're on his mind
You're the only one he's ever gonna find
It's kind-a special, understands his complicated soul

But the only place a man can breathe
And collect his thoughts is
Midnight and flyin' away on the road.

But you've packed and unpacked
So many times you've lost track
And the steam heat is drippin' off the walls

But when you hear his engines
You're lookin' through the window in the kitchen and you know
You're always gonna be there when he calls

Cause he's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can

He's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can

Overall Meaning

The theme of the song Semi Suite by Tom Waits is about the struggles and pain that the partner of a truck driver experiences while he is away on the road. Waits paints a vivid picture of the loneliness and isolation that the singer feels when her partner is away. She hates the loud diesels rolling by and the Friday nights spent alone, while he is out bowling. But every time he goes on a journey and hollers that he's never coming back, she wishes that she had a dollar. She is always waiting for him to come back, and the curtain-laced billow and his hands on her pillow remind her of his presence at home.

Despite her heartache, she tells him that he is her man and she does not have the courage to leave. He reassures her that she is the only one he's ever going to find and he understands her complicated soul. The truck driver is a man who needs to breathe and collect his thoughts, which he can only do at midnight and when he's flying away on the road. Returning home, the singer hears his engines and looks through the window, knowing that she will always be there when he calls.

Overall, the song evokes a feeling of longing and the struggles that come with the sacrifices that the partner of a truck driver must make.

Line by Line Meaning

Well you hate those diesels rollin'
You despise the sound of those trucks passing by, disrupting your peace and quiet.

And those Friday nights out bowlin'
You don't enjoy the nights your partner spends out bowling with friends every Friday, leaving you alone at home.

When he's off for a twelve hour lay over night
When your partner is away for extended periods, leaving you feeling lonely and craving their company.

You wish you had a dollar
You wish you had received a monetary reward for every time your partner threatened to leave you.

For every time he hollered
For every time he yelled or expressed his intention to leave you.

That he's leavin'
That he is planning to leave you.

And he's never comin' back
He has no intention of returning to you, despite your hopes.

But the curtain-laced billow
As the curtains gently move in the breeze, you lay in bed next to your partner who is fast asleep.

And his hands on your pillow
You feel his hand touching your pillow as he sleeps next to you in bed.

And his trousers are hangin' on the chair
His pants are hung up on the back of a chair, a sign that he is staying the night.

You're lyin' through your pain, babe
You are hiding your pain from your partner and putting on a facade.

But you're gonna tell him he's your man
You will express your commitment to him and tell him that he is the one you love.

And you ain't got the courage to leave
You lack the courage to end the relationship, despite its difficulties.

He tells you that you're on his mind
Your partner assures you that he is thinking about you when he is gone.

You're the only one he's ever gonna find
He believes that you are the only one who truly understands him and will remain faithful to him.

It's kind-a special, understands his complicated soul
Your understanding of his complex personality and character is what makes your relationship with him special.

But the only place a man can breathe
The only place where your partner can truly relax and think is when he is on the road driving his truck.

And collect his thoughts is
The solitude of the open road provides him with a chance to reflect and gather his thoughts.

Midnight and flyin' away on the road.
Leaving in the middle of the night to embark on a long drive is something that helps him find peace.

But you've packed and unpacked
You have packed and unpacked your belongings so many times that you have lost count, unsure of whether to stay or leave.

So many times you've lost track
The endless cycle of packing and unpacking your things has resulted in a state of confusion and uncertainty.

And the steam heat is drippin' off the walls
The humid heat inside your house is unbearable, almost suffocating, and adds to your sense of discomfort.

But when you hear his engines
The sound of your partner's truck's engine is a source of comfort and signals his arrival.

You're lookin' through the window in the kitchen and you know
As you peer through the window in the kitchen, you feel a sense of anticipation knowing that he is finally back home.

You're always gonna be there when he calls
You will continue to stay by his side and support him, no matter what happens.

Cause he's a truck drivin' man
Your partner's life and work revolves around driving his truck and being on the road.

Stoppin' when he can
He stops whenever he can to rest and refresh himself while on his long journeys.

He's a truck drivin' man
Your partner's identity and self-worth is tied to his work and his life as a truck driver.

Stoppin' when he can
He takes breaks whenever possible in order to keep driving safely and maintain his energy on long trips.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: TOM WAITS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS