  By using the complex angular momentum approach, we prove that the quasinormal
mode complex frequencies of the Schwarzschild black hole are Breit-Wigner type
resonances generated by a family of surface waves propagating close to the
unstable circular photon (graviton) orbit at $r=3M$. Furthermore, because each
surface wave is associated with a given Regge pole of the $S$-matrix, we can
construct the spectrum of the quasinormal-mode complex frequencies from Regge
trajectories. The notion of surface wave orbiting around black holes thus
appears as a fundamental concept which could be profitably introduced in
various areas of black hole physics in connection with the complex angular
momentum approach.
