Tom Waits Album

(Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan)

I like my town with a little drop of poison
Nobody knows they're lining up to go insane
I'm all alone, I smoke my friends down to the filter
But I feel much cleaner after it rains

She left in the fall, that's her picture on the wall
She always had that little drop of poison
She left in the fall, that's her picture on the wall
She always had that little drop of poison

Did the devil make the world while God was sleeping
Someone said you'll never get a wish from a bone
Another wrong goodbye and a hundred sailors
That deep blue sky is my home

She left in the fall, that's her picture on the wall
She always had that little drop of poison
She left in the fall, that's her picture on the wall
She always had that little drop of poison

A rat always knows when he's in with weasels
Here you lose a little every day
I remember when a million was a million
They all have ways to make you pay
They all have ways to make you pay

Well, your skeletons in the closet are introducing themselves
The knick-knacks wisecrack there on the shelf
You told him that you loved him, but he's hissin' at you
What else is new, what else is new, what else is new

Cause your old man's a counterfeit, your daughter's a lush
It's you and Mickey Spillane, and the lady's in a hush(?)
Someone's stealin' your heart, someone's stealin' your car
What else is new

Well now, your creditors hate you, and so do your kids
Your footballin' sweetheart is down on the skids
And now the parks are full of fugitives, the trees are on fire
What else is new, what else is new

Now you see, the cigarette machines are busted, you can't get no change
And somebody cancels everything you arrange
For every invitation gets your RSVP
What else is new, what else is new, what else is new, what else is new

Well now, the rockin' chair's busted, your ashtrays are full
Your evenings and your afternoons are usually dull
So you toast to the Toastmaster toaster and you
What else is new, what else is new, what else is new, what else is new

You gotta tell me, what else is new
What else is new
What else is new, what else is new, what else is new
What else is new

Poor little lamb, now his fleece is all cold
Wakes up in the morning alone
Poor little lamb knows what's coming
Life is an empty cup

Poor little lamb, watch your shoulder
Coyote's waiting out there
Nobody will get any older
If we don't find a way out of here

So let's go on a bummer this summer
Where we won't have to be afraid
The world will be on a hummer, boys
And we'll laugh and we'll drink lemonade

got no time for the corner boys, down in the street makin' all that noise,
don't want no whores on eighth avenue, cause tonight i'm gonna be with you.

cause tonight i'm gonna take that ride, across the river to the jersey side,
take my baby to the carnival, and i'll take you on all the rides, sing sha la
la la la la sha la la la.

down the shore everything's alright, you with your baby on a saturday night,
don't you know that all my dreams come true, when i'm walkin' down the street
with you, sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.

you know she thrills me with all her charms, when i'm wrapped up in my
baby's arms, my little angel gives me everything, i know someday that she'll
wear my ring.

so don't bother me cause i got no time, i'm on my way to see that girl of
mine, nothin' else matters in this whole wide world, when you're in love with
a jersey girl, sing sha la la la la la la.

and i call your name, i can't sleep at night, sha la la la la la la.

With a suitcase, and a couple of bucks
I'm gonna skip this rhubarb, slide down the boulevard
I ain't gonna take that dame with me
She's full of malarkey
Just as soon as it's dark, I'll get a one-way token
On the first thing smokin' out of town

And I'm goin' out to East St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago
Wichita, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Miami, Florida
Downtown Tulsa, Champaigne-Urbana
Bangor, all aboard, Houston and Atlanta
Goin' to Joliet, Bernadette, maybe Philadelphia
'Picket out to Tittsburgh' , any burgh, hamburger
Springfield Junction, Primrose Lane
I may get me a nose-job and change my name

Cause she drinks all my liquor and she steals all the covers
And she swears like a sailor
If I ever have to bail her out of jail again, I'm gonna lose my mind
Who needs the aggravation
Charlie, take me to the station
Get a one-way token on the first thing smokin' out of town

And go out to East St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago
Wichita, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Miami, Florida
Downtown Tulsa, Champaigne-Urbana
Bangor, all aboard, Houston and Atlanta
Goin' to Joliet, Bernadette, maybe Philadelphia
'Picket out to Tittsburgh', any burgh, cheeseburger
Springfield Junction, Primrose Lane
I may get me a nose-job and change my name

When the hawk's in the kitchen and the sirens in bloom
And the losers have been swept from the gin mills
Hello sucker, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
34th Street good tidings to you

And will you meet me in Paradise Alley tonight
We'll leave town in a bottle of whiskey
And come on, you old scarecrow, and be a wheel, not a lamppost
Just put a saddle on a wishbone, and you're halfway there

You know, the heroes will wait where their dreams used to be
Go on and ask the hooligans as they sweep down the midway
I'm going waltzing tonight with the Statue of Liberty
And come on, you old lazy-bones, let's get out of this place

Will you meet me in Paradise Alley tonight
We'll leave town in a bottle of whiskey
And come on, you old scarecrow, and be a wheel, not a lamppost
Just put a saddle on a wishbone, and you're halfway there

Now there's a counterfeit moon, and I'm seeing right through it
Cause the dawn spent it all in one place
And we'll rise to the top of the morning tonight
You can ride on my shoulders, and I'll show you the way

If you meet me in Paradise Alley tonight
We'll leave town in a bottle of whiskey
So come on, you old scarecrow, and be a wheel, not a lamppost
Just put a saddle on a wishbone, and you're halfway there

In the evening he stumbles home with his tie undone
And as the moon sweeps 7th Avenue as usual
You lie awake at night
You remember when
now that Annie's back in town

Well I know why you're drinking
I know your alibi
Don't make up excuses
for those are tears in your eyes
And you're falling back in love again
now that Annie's back in town

And it came down through the grapevine
It put your business on the street
I hear you've been hanging out 'til dawn
in some lunch room
Well you thought you've gotten over her
but that was 'til you found
that Annie's back in town

And all the corner boys are trouble-makers
and the sailors are all fools
You know it seems like some things round here
I guess they'll never change
Oh but it's always good for business
Guess we'll be seeing you around
now that Annie's back in town

With a suitcase, and a couple of bucks
I'm gonna skip this rhubarb, slide down the boulevard
I ain't gonna take that dame with me
She's full of malarkey
Just as soon as it's dark, I'll get a one-way token
On the first thing smokin' out of town

And I'm goin' out to East St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago
Wichita, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Miami, Florida
Downtown Tulsa, Champaigne-Urbana
Bangor, all aboard, Houston and Atlanta
Goin' to Joliet, Bernadette, maybe Philadelphia
'Picket out to Tittsburgh' , any burgh, hamburger
Springfield Junction, Primrose Lane
I may get me a nose-job and change my name

Cause she drinks all my liquor and she steals all the covers
And she swears like a sailor
If I ever have to bail her out of jail again, I'm gonna lose my mind
Who needs the aggravation
Charlie, take me to the station
Get a one-way token on the first thing smokin' out of town

And go out to East St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago
Wichita, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Miami, Florida
Downtown Tulsa, Champaigne-Urbana
Bangor, all aboard, Houston and Atlanta
Goin' to Joliet, Bernadette, maybe Philadelphia
'Picket out to Tittsburgh', any burgh, cheeseburger
Springfield Junction, Primrose Lane
I may get me a nose-job and change my name

[No lyrics]

Well, I'm standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by
I'm always standin' on the corner, underneath the springtime sky
Well, you can't go to jail for what you're thinkin'
Or for the "wooo" look in your eye
You been standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by

And it's Saturday and I'm so broke
And I couldn't buy a girl a nickel Coke
I'm goin', so what, I'm feelin' just like a millionaire
Now just take me down to Main Street
And I'll survey the harem waitin' for me there

I'm gonna be standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by
Oh baby, what you do now?
Standin' on the corner, givin' all the girls the eye
Well this ain't much of an occupation
Give it a whirl, give it a try
And you'll be standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by

You know that I'm the cat that's got the cream
And I ain't got me a girl, but I can dream
I ain't got me a girl, but I can wish
Now just take me down to Main Street
And I'll select my own imaginary dish

I'm standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by
I'm gonna be standin' on the corner, underneath the springtime sky
You know you can't get arrested for what you're thinkin'
Or for the "wooo" look in your eye
You been standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by

I'm gonna watch 'em go by
Oh, hubba hubba, man
Go by, yeah
I'm gonna watch 'em go by

KN: I was talking to Tom about this movie that nobody wants me to make. It's a musical called 'M', starring Siamese twins connected by the lips.
TW: Connected by the lips? That's...
KN: I figured out how to do that too. You see, I have this dentist friend, a very religious guy. In fact he believes in the laying on of hands. He really would touch your tooth, and they'd get better. That's why I go to him, I can't stand pain.
TW: Right! Hehehe...
KN: But I'm getting off the track. He has a... you know, I think he'd go along. He could be in the movie, okay? I think he should be in the movie.
TW: All right. Does he have any acting experience?
KN: No no no.
TW: No?
KN: He'd be a re-actor.
TW: Ah! Ah!
KN: He has this yellow mask that he wears.
TW: Yeah.
KN: And yellow gloves. He's afraid, you know... he's very nervous.
TW: Oh.
KN: But I'd get the camera on him, wide-angled camera, and I'd ask him if he could make a double mouth piece.
TW: Mhm.
KN: What I'm thinking of, you've seen these things that they use in the circus, where the girl bites into this mouth piece and they pull her up to...
TW: Ah yeah, yeah. They suspend her by it, and she's biting on to some kind of a stick or something.
KN: Up to the top of the tent.
TW: Yeah, right.
KN: Well, he'd make a double thing with a little rubber holding it together. And then we'd audition these identical twins, and that would hold them together, so it would seem... you know, it would look like what I'm talking about.
TW: Right. Hmm.
KN: Maybe we should have a boy and girl. Are there boy and girl identical twins?
TW: I'd rather not... I wouldn't call them identical if they were boy and girl.
KN: Maybe they could be. And then they could get separated in the film. See, the idea is not just that though. That's just part of it. There's another guy in the film that I try to help. Cause I thought of calling the movie 'The Devout Catalyst'. There's the title. And there's another guy who is a tattoo artist, and... but he's avant-garde, he wants to do something very special.
TW: Something new... in a way.
KN: Yeah, so we go to this chemist that I know, and he makes a slippery ink, so the tattoo, you know, it just doesn't sit there. It moves slowly across the surface of the skin towards the nearest opening. You see, there's... how many openings are there?
TW: Oh, you mean orifice? Uh... how many actual...?
KN: One two three...
TW: Two three four five uh... six
KN: Whichever one it's closest to, it goes in there, and then it moves inside your body through the Endothelium, and... Say it was an eagle. It gets inside of you and it gets digested. Maybe it gets stuck behind your right knee cap.
TW: Right, yeah!
KN: You rub it, it gets lose and when it comes out it looks like a Klee, or maybe a Rouault or, you know... or Thurber. You know...
TW: That's wild. Oh yeah, I got a little money laying around that... I've been... you know...
KN: What we have to have with that is... Well, that's a special effect. We'll have to get some kind of decal slide across this... But the trouble is when I tell anyone about this, they laugh and...
TW: Hehe...
KN: So what I figured I'd do is put my own money in it.
TW: Yeah! There! There you go, yeah...
KN: In the movie, the kids, my three kids, and my wife wanna have me committed. That's the plot. If you really do what you wanna do, they'll commit you!
TW: Yeah... Wow...
KN: It'd be a great movie.
TW: Well, are you gonna direct...?
KN: Well, if we can get Jerry to do the music track...
TW: The music, yeah.
KN: And you could, you know...
TW: Yeah, I could play a part.
KN: Well, you could be the guy I'm talking to you about.
TW: Yeah.
KN: Get a far-out bar and sit there and... star!
TW: Yeah.
KN: Yeah. In a musical called 'M'.
TW: Well, I'm looking to diversify my investment portfolio, and I've been looking to get into something strange, you know, so...
KN: Hey! What we could do is, we could have you in it, you take out your wallet, and moths fly out.
TW: Yeah...
KN: That's a special effect too.
TW: Hehehehe. You get a bug guy for that. They have bug guys in Hollywood. All they do is, they work in the insect world. You're gonna have a lot of medical footage in this too, I guess?
KN: Yeah, I could put that thing in about the January flies too, in our bedroom.
TW: January flies, what...?
KN: That was insane.
TW: What are January flies?
KN: Well, we don't have them in Chicago, but in the middle of January, you went to the bedroom and there were twenty of these... almost as big as horse flies, on the pink walls, and...
TW: That's annoying.
KN: Oh, it's terrible. And they were sluggish, cause it was January.
TW: They were a little slow.
KN: And I couldn't hit them with the paper, cause they'd splat.
TW: Yeah.
KN: And I couldn't spray them... you know...
TW: You're going to sleep, you don't want that in the room.
KN: No, I'd kill myself that way. So I got the bright idea to get the vacuum cleaner and, with the long hose, we sucked them into the vacuum cleaner. And then they were all gone.
TW: Well, but they were in the vacuum cleaner really.
KN: Yeah, and still alive too. Cause that's like a wind tunnel. They went down there... so we... I put some, you know, tissue paper at the end so that they wouldn't get out. But they'd come back! The next night there were twenty or thirty more. So... well, what I did then, I called the chimney sweep.
TW: Chimney sweep?
KN: Yeah, there's a girl by the name of Debbie Dove.
TW: She's a chimney sweep?
KN: Yeah, from Vermont.
TW: Ah!
KN: And she said, let me check your chimney!
TW: Yeah yeah, that's a good place to start. I mean, if you have a fly problem, a lot of people will look at the chimney first.
KN: And she took the barricade that I had so that nobody could come in through the chimney. There were two dead squirrels inside there, you know. That's the... sad end.
TW: Aaawww...
KN: The flies belonged to the squirrels.
TW: All right, yeah...
KN: Yeah. She sold us three squirrel traps for the chimney and... we're safe now!
TW: Yeah, no more flies!
KN: Do you think we could get her in the film?
TW: Gee, I don't know. We could write a part for her.
KN: Yeah, we should!
TW: Does she have any film experience?
KN: Guess we'd have to get two dead squirrels in the film too.
TW: Yeah well, you get an animal guy for that.
KN: Yeah. Gee, I'm so glad that you're interested in this, really!
TW: Yeah, I think... I'm ready to go into production, so you just let me know.
KN: Ah, great. We'll call it 'The Devout Catalyst'.
TW: I love it!
KN: Yeah, good title.
TW: A lot of action in the film too, I guess?
KN: Oh yeah yeah yeah. I have one thing. I have this picture window ant colony, that I'll have for the titles.
TW: So the ants will actually spell out the title of the film, and the credits?
KN: Well, they'll actually pull little tissue paper credits through it.
TW: Nice.
KN: Yeah. Or a fly with a little trailer, with the title of the film on, flying around the bed.
TW: Nice, nice...
KN: Well, Tom, you've made me feel a lot better. Thanks, I... seriously, I thought no one cared, but... thanks!
TW: I'm there for you, Ken!
KN: You're a pal.
TW: Thanks.

Crack a mean whip, carry a big gun
Cast a long shadow till the day is done
Do ninety miles an hour down the Devil's trail
Done hard time in a hundred jails
No one can forgive me but my baby
No one can forgive me but my baby
No one can forgive me but my baby

Now Jesus don't know, Mary don't know
Preacher don't know, Momma don't know
Daddy don't know, my brother don't know
St. John don't know, St. Peter don't know
No one can forgive me but my baby

I took a hundred dollars from a blind man's hand
I slept with the whores on the burnin' sand
Got twenty-seven children I've never seen
Got blood on my hands that will never come clean
I got long arms, tell big lies
Stole the pennies from my dear mother's eyes
I'm tall in the saddle, about six foot nine
I beat up revenuers all the time
No one can forgive me but my baby
Oh, no one can forgive me but my baby

I got a mean temper, I'm a big liar
Broke all the laws, set the house on fire
When I stand before Jesus and he asks me to kneel
I'll tell him maybe we can make a deal
No one can forgive me but my baby
No one can forgive me but my baby

I don't pay no bills, I don't say no prayers
Give back nothin', and I take all dares
Stole a car and I got me a gun
If there ain't no road I'm gonna make me one
Broke my baby's heart, and I whip my dog
I don't say nothin' when I meet my God
No one can forgive me but my baby
No one can forgive me but my baby

No one can forgive me but my baby
No one can forgive me but my baby
No one can forgive me but my baby
Forgive me, baby

I'm playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
I can't walk cool when I got books underneath my arm
I'm playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
And I'm afraid I will be failing to be hearing the alarm

I refuse to go to school, think I'll play a little pool
And I will pass on the curriculum today
I apologize to educational supplies
Statistics just keep getting in my way
How will they teach me how to learn I don't want to be no attorney
Or receive a credential just like Raymond

I'm playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
I can't walk cool when I got books underneath my arm
Playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
And I'm afraid I would be failing to be hearing the alarm

Maximum security is some peculiarity
My educationality has brought me to a conclusion
Institutionality that tries to blow the malady
Can never seem to go to the release
So can you blame me if I'm tempted
And the chug down is pre-empted

Playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
I can't walk cool when I got books underneath my arm
I'm playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
And I'm afraid I would be failing to be hearing the alarm

Counselors said I'm maladjusted and I never can be trusted
Irreconcilable differences cause problems with the faculty
Conflicting interests in the area
But I should intend to be considering vocationally
I must be dealt with very gently and I might say incidentally
Playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
Can't walk cool when I got books underneath my arm
I'm playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
And I'm afraid I would be failing to be hearing the alarm

About this [?] called detention, with the captives aforementioned
Assuming the dilemma's to rile the guard
Here's a memo to communicate or maybe you should demonstrate
Instead of just divulging information in regard
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, you can trample yourself out

Playin' hooky, playin' hooky
I can't walk cool when I got books underneath my arm
I'm playin' hooky, I'm playin' hooky
And I'm afraid I would be failing to be hearing the alarm

Well, the shoeshine boy's got lines around the block
The bloodhound's let the convicts get away
And after you're asleep, all the cheerleaders weep
And the ham-and-eggers win the Irish Sweepstakes every day

The paper boys make headlines and the janitors are winking
As they're filling up their dustpans full of hundred dollar bills
The never-do-wells and stingy-pins all ride around in taxis
In the style that they have grown accustomed to

And the parking lot attendants leave the money in the drawer
And take that Corvette Stingray with a four-on-the-floor
And pull into the filling station and instead of gasoline
Say, 'Hey buddy, can you fill it with a nickel's worth of dreams?'

(previously unreleased)

Mr. Henry stumbles home
When the evening's done
He's as poor as a church mouse
High on the Meyer's rum
Tugging at his shirttail
Jiggling a church key
Chewing on a toothpick
On another binge
Trampling the rosebush
Whistin' to himself...
Now don't wake up the neighbours
Spitting on the hinge
Rattling the milkbottles
Tripping on a skate
Hidin' from the Newsboys
Before it's too late
The Screen door's open
Don't make no noise in the Kitchen
Got no excuse
For a cold, grey wife that starts bitchin'
That the no good bum's at it again
After she's given him
The best years of her life
He'll tell her he was celebrating
Savage's divorce
Played a hunch out at Yonkers
You can never trust a horse
And thrown in jail
Swore he'd never do these things again
He's got an alibi
But never tells her where he's been

"Henry! Henry!"

Daggers of moonlight
Murder the sheets
in the stink of a four dollar room
And Daddy's gone a-hunting
for a dimebag of schoolboy
Tied up with a yellow balloon

So hush little baby
daddy must go
I'll cover you up with a blanket of snow
By the time I make Jersey
you'll be in heaven
In a pretty blue shoe box, I know

So sing a song of ten grand
with a pocket full of dough
And I can't take you to Baltimore
Wake God up in heaven
Have him look down below
There's a little lost angel
blooming in the snow

Once more before I go
Out to Killarney
Once more before I go
Beg me to stay

As the wind blows across my grave
I will be calling
Once more before I go
Once more forever more

Once more before I go
I will remember
Once more before I go
Beg me to stay

Once more before I go
I will be calling
La la la la la la la
La la la ever more

Once more before I go
I will be calling
Once more before I go
Beg me to stay

That old stray hound dog by the meat market now
Lickin' his chops for some greasy chow
Top sirloin, pork chops, New York cut
Salisbury ground 'round, hangin' 'round downtown

Dropped out of school, naturally cool
Liftin' his leg on a fireplug
With greasy gravy drippings and the gristle on his mug
Stray dog, help yourself

Now he's scratchin' his ass, he be swattin' them flies
Gettin' involved with his dinnertime, and that's no lie
I said, stray dog, be cool boy, go on pull your caper
Usin' yesterday's paper for a table cloth

That old stray hound dog by the meat market now
Lickin' his chops for some greasy chow
And if they catch him on a trash can bin
Stray dog, help yourself

Catch him on a trash can bin
Stray dog, help yourself
Stray dog, help yourself

On the Big Rock Candy Mountain
The cops have wooden legs
The bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs

(...edit...)

On the Big Rock Candy Mountain
You never change your socks
And little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks

I'm bound to go
Where the wind don't blow
On the big rock Candy Mountain

On the big rock Candy Mountain
It's a land that's fair and bright
Handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night

I'm bound to go
Where the wind don't blow

You used to dream yourself away each night
To places that you've never been
On wings made of wishes that you whispered to yourself
Back when every night the moon and you would sweep away
To places that you knew you would never get the blues

Now whiskey gives you wings to carry each one of your dreams
And the moon does not belong to you
But I believe that your heart keeps young dreams
Well, I've been told to keep from ever growing old
And a heart that has been broken will be stronger when it mends

Don't let the blues stop your singing
Darling, you only got a broken wing
Hey, you just hang on to my rainbow
Hang on to my rainbow
Hang on to my rainbow sleeves