Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits

by Barney Hoskyns

Waits – in “$2.50 used imitation alligator boots” – sauntered off into the night, taking Wiseman to a tired diner on Sunset called the Copper Skillet. Here, in the wee small hours, he reiterated his commitment to the nocturnal life, saying he’d always be a “night owl” and would never move to a cabin in Colorado. “The moon beats the hell out of the sun,” Waits said. “There’s something illusionary about the night … your imagination is working overtime … there’s food for thought at our fingertips and it begs to be dealt with.” Wiseman finally departed at 6.10 a.m., leaving Waits to catch a few hours’ sleep at the Tropicana – even though “he’s kept his one-bedroom house” – before leaving to play two nights at the University of Minnesota.