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Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz 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." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has worked as a composer for movies and musical plays and as a supporting actor in films, including Down By Law and Bram Stoker's Dracula. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his soundtrack work on One from the Heart. Lyrically, Waits' songs frequently present atmospheric portrayals of grotesque, often seedy characters and places -- although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known to the general public in the form of cover versions by more visible artists: "Jersey Girl", performed by Bruce Springsteen and "Downtown Train", performed by Rod Stewart. Although Waits' albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries. He has been nominated for a number of major music awards and has won Grammy Awards for two albums, Bone Machine and Mule Variations. ________________________________________ She sends me blue valentines All the way from Philadelphia To mark the anniversary Of someone that I used to be And it feels just like theres A warrant out for my arrest Got me checkin in my rearview mirror And I'm always on the run Thats why I changed my name And I didn't think you'd ever find me here To send me blue valentines Like half forgotten dreams Like a pebble in my shoe As I walk these streets And the ghost of your memory Is the thistle in the kiss And the burgler that can break a roses neck It's the tatooed broken promise That I hide beneath my sleeve And I see you every time I turn my back She sends me blue valentines Though I try to remain at large They're insisting that our love Must have a eulogy Why do I save all of this madness In the nightstand drawer There to haunt upon my shoulders Baby I know I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go With a blind and broken heart That sleeps beneath my lapel She sends me my blue valentines To remind me of my cardinal sin I can never wash the guilt Or get these bloodstains off my hands And it takes a lot of whiskey To take this nightmares go away And I cut my bleedin heart out every nite And I die a little more on each St. Valentines day Remember that I promised I would Write you... These blue valentines blue valentines blue valentines
