---------- NUMERICAL--------

2:19

(Wicked Grin version, 2001)

I lost everything I had in the '29 flood

The barn was buried 'neath a mile of mud

Now I've got nothing but the whistle and the steam

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



I said, hey, hey, I don't know what to do

I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



Now there's a fellow that's preaching 'bout hell and damnation

Bouncing off the walls of the Grand Central Station

I treated her bad, I treated her mean

Baby's leaving town on the 2:19



I said, hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, I don't know what to do

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



Now I've always been puzzled by the yin and the yang

It'll come out in the wash, but it always leaves a stain

Sturm and Drang⁽¹⁾, the luster and the sheen

My baby's leaving town on the -



Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I will remember you

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



Lost the baby with the water⁽²⁾, and the preacher stole the bride

Sent her out for a bottle, but when she came back inside

She didn't have my whiskey, didn't have my gin⁽³⁾

With a hat full of feathers and a wicked grin⁽⁴⁾



I said, hey, hey, I will remember you

Yeah baby, I will remember you

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



On the train you get smaller, as you get farther away

The roar covers everything you wanted to say

Was that a raindrop or a tear in your eye?

Were you drying your nails or waving goodbye?



Hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Oh baby

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



I will remember you

I don't know what to do, baby



Written and produced by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2001

Official release: Wicked Grin, John Hammond. 2001. Emd/Virgin

John Hammond: Acoustic Guitar and Vocal. Stephen Hodges: Drums, Larry Taylor: Bass. Augie Meyers: Piano

Assistant producer: Marla Hammond. Executive producer: Michael Nash. Engineered and mixed by Oz Fritz

Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording Studios, Cotati, CA or Alpha & Omega Studios, San Rafael, CA

Transcription by Ulf Berggren. Yahoo Groups Tom Waits Discussionlist. July 2, 2001

2:19

(Orphans studio version, 2006)

I lost everything I had in the '29 flood

The barn was buried 'neath a mile of mud

Now, I've got nothing but the whistle and the steam

My baby leaving town on the 2:19



Now there's a fellow that's preaching 'bout hell and damnation

Bouncing off the walls in the Grand Central Station

I treated her bad, I treated her mean

My baby leaving town on the 2:19



I said: hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

My baby leaving town on the 2:19



Now I've always been puzzled by the yin and the yang

[...?...] It'll come out in the wash, but it always leaves a stain

Sturm and Drang⁽¹⁾, the luster and the sheen

My baby leaving town on the 2:19



Lost the baby with the water⁽²⁾, and the preacher stole the bride

Sent her out for a bottle, but when she came back inside

She didn't have my whiskey, she didn't have my gin⁽³⁾

With a hat full of feathers and a wicked grin⁽⁴⁾



Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



On the train you get smaller, as you get farther away

The roar covers everything you wanted to say

Was that a raindrop in the corner of your eye?

Were you drying your nails or waving goodbye?



I said: hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, hey, I will remember you

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19



I said: Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19

I said: Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

Hey, hey, I will remember you

Hey, hey, I don't know what to do

My baby's leaving town on the 2:19

I said: Hey.



Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2001/ 2006

Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording studios. Cotati, CA/ USA, 2006

Official release: Orphans (Brawlers), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

Wicked Grin. John Hammond. March 13, 2001. Emd/ Virgin

Down-Home & Home-Made. Ben Prestage. April 25, 2006. Self-released

Sour Mash. Rich Cohen & The Blues Prescription. July 1, 2006. StoneTone Records

Bangin' On The Table With An Old Tin Cup. Pascal Fricke. April 12, 2007. Self-released (Germany) 

Too Busy to Work. Lance Brown. June 12, 2009. Self-released

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Sturm und Drang: (literally: "storm and stress") was a Germany literary movement that developed during the latter half of the 18th century. It takes its name from a play by F. M. von Klinger. While the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau were a major stimulus of the movement, it developed more immediately as a reaction against what was seen as an overly rationalist literary tradition. Sturm und Drang was revolutionary in its stress on personal subjectivity and on the unease of man in contemporary society, and it firmly established German authors as cultural leaders in Europe at a time when many considered France to be the center of literary development. The movement was also distinguished by the intensity with which it developed the theme of youthful genius in rebellion against accepted standards and by its enthusiasm for nature. The greatest figure of the movement was Goethe, who wrote its first major drama, G�tz von Berlichingen (1773), and its most sensational and representative novel, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774). Other writers of importance were Klopstock, J. M. R. Lenz, and Friedrich M�ller. The last major figure was Schiller, whose Die R�uber and other early plays were also a prelude to romanticism. (Source: Wikipedia/ studies by R. Pascal (1953, repr. 1967) and M. O. Kirsten (1969))

⁽²⁾ Lost the baby with the water: variation on "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water" or its parallel proverbial expression "To throw the baby out with the bath water" meaning: to reject the good with the bad. (Thanks to Leroy Larson for pointing out this reference. October, 2005)

⁽³⁾ She didn't have my whiskey, didn't have my gin: "She didn't have my whiskey, didn't have my gin" is very similar to the line "Send out for whiskey, baby, send out for gin" in the Jackson C. Frank song "The Blues Run The Game". Jackson Carey Frank was a relatively unknown folk musician whose life was wrought with depression and medical problems. Although he only released one album, his music has influenced a large number of contemporary folk musicians. Jackson C. Frank died on March 3, 1999. Lyrics (December, 1965): "Catch a boat to England baby maybe to spain. wherever i have gone wherever i have gone. wherever i've been and gone the blues run the game. send out for whiskey baby send out for gin. me and room service oh we're living the life of sin me and room service honey. When i ain't drinking baby you are on my mind me and room service babe when i ain't sleeping honey, when i aint sleeping mama. when i aint sleepin oh you know you'll find me crying. Catch a boat to England baby maybe to Spain. wherever i've been and gone wherever i have gone wherever i have gone the blues run the game. livin is a gamble, baby lovins much the same wherever i have played wherever i throw those dice wherever i have played the blues run the game. maybe when i'm older, baby someplace down the line i'll wake up older so much older mama i'll wake up older and i'll just stop all my tryin. Catch a boat to England baby wherever i have gone wherever i've been and gone maybe to Spain wherever i have gone the blues, they're all the same." (Thanks to Leroy Larson for pointing out this reference. October, 2005)

⁽⁴⁾ A wicked grin: Being the title of the 2001 John Hammond album

$ 29.00

Little black girl, in a red dress, on a hot night, with a broken shoe

Little black girl, you should've never left home

There's probably someone still waitin' up for you

It's cold back in Chicago, but the Los Angeles street is worse

All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

See that vulture in the Fleetwood⁽²⁾, with the chartreuse hood

Sees you're tryin' to get your bearings⁽³⁾

Say, 'Hey baby, which way's the main stem?'⁽⁴⁾

Wherever you say you're from, he'll say he grew up there himself

He gonna come on and make you feel like you grew up right next door to him

'Take a left on Central', he gonna throw it in reverse

All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

He gonna come on just like a gentleman

And oh baby, you're gonna be a little shy

You say your ex-old man was a sax player

He says, 'Baby, I used to play bass with Sly'⁽⁵⁾

And you say you like his Cadillac⁽²⁾

Says 'Honey, I got two or three

Sweetheart, you're sure fortunate that you ran into me'

You've done a dime in the joint⁽⁶⁾, you figure nothin' could be worse

than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

Got Pharoh⁽⁷⁾ on 8-track, you start smokin' a little boo⁽⁸⁾

Thinkin' gettin' out of Chicago was just about

the best thing that's ever happened to you

You startin' to like it already, this cat seems to be cool

He says, 'Baby, I know a good old jailhouse⁽⁹⁾ in West-Hollywood

be just right for you'

He ain't no good Samaritan⁽¹⁰⁾, he gonna make sure he's reimbursed

A lot more than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

And when the streets get hungry baby, and you almost hear 'em growl

Someone's savin' a place for you, when the dogs begin to howl

And the streets are dead, they creep up and take whatever's left on the bone

And remember suckers always make mistakes

when they're far away from home

Chicken in the pot⁽¹¹⁾, whoever gets there first, is gonna get themselves

twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse⁽¹²⁾

And the siren's just an epilog, the cops here always get there too late

They always stop for coffee on their way to the scene of the crime

They always try so hard to look just like movie stars

But they couldn't catch a cold

Baby, don't waste your dime

'She's lucky to be alive', the doctor whispered to the nurse

'She only lost half a pint of blood, twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse...'

Written by: Tom Waits⁽¹⁾

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP),� 1978

Official release: Blue Valentine, Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1978

Known covers:

Saving All My Love For You (a tribute to Tom Waits). Claudia Bettinaglio. January, 2001. Taxim Records (Germany)

Pornoshow - Laura Fedele Interpreta Tom Waits. Laura Fedele. May, 2003. Auditorium, AUD 00902 (in Italian)

Careless Love. 2 Blue Shoes. 2004. Self-released (re-release in 2006)

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ $ 29.00:

- Tom Waits (1978): "Brand new song called $29, which was originaly inspired by my neighbor. I live next door to two pimps and one night about three in the morning I heard somebody screaming on the phone. 'Twenty-nine dollars! Twenty- nine dollars! Twenty-nine DOLLARS!! One of his girls had her dress ripped by a trick and she wanted him to reimburse her for the dress and the dress cost $29. "So I heard $29 for an hour and I was trying to watch the Twilight Zone. So I opened the window and I said fuck a whole bunch of $29, and they got quiet. Months later it stayed abreast in my imagination and I wrote $29." (Source: "Tom Waits - Little Murders" Twin Cities Reader. November 17, 1978. By Greg Linder)

⁽²⁾ Fleetwood: Classic car from Cadillac Fleetwood series c1965 (Source: ClassicCars.net). The "Fleetwood" name was used from 1965 to designate a group or series of Cadillac models at the top of the price range.

⁽³⁾ Bearings: 1. Direction (especially angular direction measured from one position to another using geographical or celestial reference lines). 2. Awareness of one's position or situation relative to one's surroundings. Often used in the plural: lost my bearings after taking the wrong exit (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

⁽⁴⁾ Stem n.: A, or usu. the, major street in a town or city. Orig. hobo use; now associated with theatrical use (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽⁵⁾ Sly: Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart) from "Sly and the family Stone". Music came early to Sylvester Stewart, who at age four recorded his first side as a gospel singer with his nuclear family group, the Stewart Four (bass player unknown). By high school, in Vallejo, California, he'd taken on the nickname Sly and played rock 'n' roll with Joey Piazza and the Continentals (bass player unknown). Already a multi-instrumentalist. Sly recruited siblings Freddie and Rosie, cousin Larry Graham (bass player !), white high school buddy Jerry Martini and his cousin Greg Errico, and former high school horn player Cynthia Robinson to form the Family Stone. Sly's successful melt-down of formerly segregated genres helped pave the way for the funk, glam and disco of future decades. Sly's image appeal helped to bring black youth over to rock, and may have encouraged black militants to try and make him an agent of their cause. Under their pressure and internal group friction, Sly began to exhibit signs of a bleeding ulcer, and sought relief through drugs. Racial rage and inner turmoil resurfaced late in 1971 with the release of the disturbing but compelling album, "There's a Riot Goin' On", which featured guitar work by Bobby Womack. It brought the Family its last number one hit, "Family Affair" and Sly became more overindulgent in drugs making records at less frequent intervals.

⁽⁶⁾ Dime in the joint: 

- Dime. A ten-year prison sentence. Some underworld use (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner). 

- Joint: Slang. A prison. Often used with ' the' (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

⁽⁷⁾ Pharoh: Pharoah Sanders of the "John Coltrane Quintet". A respected jazz horn player (Submitted by El RayoX. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. September, 2000)

⁽⁸⁾ Smokin' a little boo: Boo/ bu: n. [1950s+] (drugs) Marijuana, [abbr. abooby]. (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

⁽⁹⁾ I know a good old jailhouse: Blue Valentine linernotes have this transcribed as: "... I know a good hotel".

⁽¹⁰⁾ Samaritan: A good Samaritan. A philanthropist, one who attends upon the poor to aid them and give them relief. (Luke x. 30-37.) (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

⁽¹¹⁾ Chicken in the pot: 

- Chicken: 1. An attractive young woman. 2. A victim of a robbery, kidnaping, confidence game, etc. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) 3. [late 19C+] A weak or naive person (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

⁽¹²⁾ And when the streets... and an alligator purse: verse not transcribed in original linernotes

16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six

(Swordfishtrombones studio version, 1983)

I plugged⁽²⁾ sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six⁽³⁾

And a black crow snuck through a hole in the sky

So I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule

Oh, and I made me a ladder from a pawn shop marimba⁽⁴⁾

And I leaned it up against a dandelion tree

Leaned it up against a dandelion tree

Leaned it up against a dandelion tree

Ma, cook them feathers on a tire iron spit

And I filled me a sachel⁽⁵⁾ full of old pig corn⁽⁶⁾

And I beat me a billy⁽⁷⁾ from an old French horn

Whoa, and I kicked that mule to the top of the tree

Kicked that mule to the top of the tree

Blew me a hole 'bout the size of a kickdrum⁽⁸⁾

And I cut me a switch from a long branch elbow

I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin''⁽⁹⁾

Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Whittle you into kindlin'

Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Well, I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed

And I tore out the buckets from a red Corvette⁽¹⁰⁾

Tore out the buckets⁽¹¹⁾ from a red Corvette

Lionel and Dave and the Butcher made three

Oh, you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree

With the strings of a Washburn⁽¹²⁾ stretched like a clothes line

Oh, you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole

Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole

I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'

Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Whittle you into kindlin'

Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Now I hold him prisoner in a Washburn jail

That I strapped on the back of my old kick mule

Strapped it on the back of my old kick mule

I bang on the strings just to drive him crazy

Oh, I strum it loud to rattle his cage

Strum it loud just to rattle his cage

Strum it loud just to rattle his cage

Strum it loud just to rattle his cage

Whoa, I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'

Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Whittle you into kindlin'

Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music admin. by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), � 1983-1998

Official release: "Swordfishtrombones", Island Records Inc., 1983 &

"Beautiful Maladies", Island Records Inc., 1998

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six

(Big Time live version, 1988)

Good evening!

Plugged⁽²⁾ sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six⁽³⁾

And a black crow snuck through a hole in the sky

And I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule

And I made me a ladder from a pawn shop marimba⁽⁴⁾

I leaned it all up 'gainst a dandelion tree

I leaned it all up 'gainst a dandelion tree

Gonna whittle you into kindlin''⁽⁹⁾

Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Whittle you into kindlin'

Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Now, I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed

And I tore out the buckets from a red Corvette⁽¹⁰⁾

Tore out the buckets⁽¹¹⁾ from a red Corvette

Lionel and Dave, Butcher made three

Meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree

With the strings of a Washburn⁽¹²⁾ like a clothes line

Now, me and that mule, right through the hole

Me and that mule, right through the hole

Whittle you into kindlin'

Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Whittle you into kindlin'

Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

I will whittle you into kindlin'

Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Whittle you into kindlin'

Sixteen shells from a thirty-ought six

Gonna take a

38 hours long gone train

I just

Long gone train

Just long gone train

I just long

I just long

I just long

Long

Hey-hey. 

Good evening!

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music, Admin. by Ackee Music, Inc. (ASCAP), � 1983-1988

Official release: "Big Time", � Island Visual Arts Inc. (P) Island Records Inc., 1988

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Further reading: Big Time full story

Known covers:

The Piano Has Been Drinking. The Piano Has been Drinking. April, 1990. Chlodwig/ BMG Germany (in German/ K�lsch)

It's A Mystery. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. 1995. Capitol/ EMI Records

Bukowski Waits For Us - Vol. 2. Michael Kiessling. September 25, 2000. Buschfunk (Germany)

Wicked Grin. John Hammond. March 13, 2001. Emd/ Virgin

God Is A Tom Waits Fan. The Box Spring Hogs. May 2004. Self-released demo

For My Smoke. Shiloh Lindsey. July 30, 2004. Self-released

Koskenkorvapuusti. The Mescaline Smugglers. 2006. Self-released

Wailin´Inc. Live. Wailin´Inc. (James Wailin). May 16, 2006. No Cover Productions (NCPR42)

<object height="344" width="425"></object> 

Music video promoting: "16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six" taken from the Big Time concert video.

Recorded live at the Warfield Theatre. San Francisco/ USA. November 5, 1987.

PolyGram Video (Island Visual Arts)/ Fries Home Video (Fries Entertainment Inc.), 1988.

With: Michael Blair, Ralph Carney, Greg Cohen, Marc Ribot and Willy Schwarz.

Stage show concept: Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits. Directed by Chris Blum.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ 16 Shells From A Thirty Ought Six

- Tom Waits (1983): "I tried to get a 'chain gang work song-feel holler. Get a low trombone to give a feeling of a freight train going by. It's Stephen Hodges on drums, Larry Taylor on acoustic bass, Fred Tackett on electric guitar, Victor Feldman on brake drum and bell plate and Joe Romano on trombone. So, I wanted to have that kind of a sledgehammer coming down on anvil. Originally I saw the story as a guy and a mule going off looking for this crow. He has a Washburn guitar strapped on the side of his mule and when he gets the crow he pulls the strings back and shoves this bird inside the guitar and then the strings make like a jail. Then he bangs on the strings and the bird goes out of his mind as he is riding off over the hill. So I tried to make the story a bit impressionistic but at the same time adding some very specific images in there. I worked a long time on this. The feel of it was really critical. I added snare and we pulled the snare off 'cause it made it shuffle too much. I liked the holes in it as much as I liked what was in them. It was a matter of trying to get that feeling of a train going. Originally I tried it just with organ and bass. Then I was afraid to add too much to it 'cause sometimes you get a feel that's appropiate. If you try to heap too much on it then it crumbles into the strain" (Source: "Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones". Island Promo interview, 1983)

- Tom Waits (1983): "16 Shells - I wanted a chain gang sort of a feel - banging a hammer on an anvil - Huuh - like a work song -Huuh. used brake drum and bell plate and tried to take it outside -certain instruments bring you indoors, other instruments take you outdoors, trying to get that kind of feel on it" (Source: Unidentified Swordfishtrombones Interview (interviewer's tape). Date: 1983/ 1984)

- Tom Waits (1983): "16 Shells From A 30.6" is a field holler done with a hammer on an anvil. It's about this guy who captures this black crow and puts it in his guitar and then bangs on the strings and drives the bird mad on the side his mule as he goes off. Originally, I was going to put 16 shells in the belly of a scarecrow and blame it all on him. It was about a farmer in Kansas and it wouldn't rain, so he got despondent and shot his scarecrow"  (Source: "The Beat Goes On" Rock Bill magazine (USA). October 1983, by Kid Millions)

-  Quoting from "Scarecrow" (Unreleased track, from 'Foreign Affairs' sessions, July through August, 1977): "... And pump sixteen shells in the belly of a scarecrow. And blame it all on him."

⁽²⁾ Plug v.: To shoot someone, esp. to kill by shooting (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽³⁾ Thirty Ought Six: Rifle designed in 1906 with a bullet/ barrel gauge of 30. Ought is colloquial for the number zero.

⁽⁴⁾ Marimba: A row of tuned wooden bars mounted in a box and played with mallets - similar to a xylophone or vibraphone (Source: The Folk File, Bill Markwick)

⁽⁵⁾ Sachel: (satchel) n. A small bag, often having a shoulder strap, used for carrying books or clothing (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

⁽⁶⁾ Pig corn: Genetically modified low-phytate corn grown for feeding pigs and chickens. Not meant for human consumption

⁽⁷⁾ Billy: "A billy or billy-can is a kettle that a traveller or hiker would take along. So it's a small kettle that one would use over an open fire. A popular reference for this would be the Austrailian song Waltzing Matilda (...and he sang as he sat and waited while his billy boiled, you'll come a waltzing Matilda with me...) So in the Waits song - he makes a kettle (billy) out of the bell of a French horn." (Submitted by Phil Kane as sent to Tom Waits Library. Library. July 2, 2004)

⁽⁸⁾ Kick drum n.: The bass drum in a drum kit, operated by a foot pedal (Source: The Folk File, Bill Markwick)

⁽⁹⁾ Whittle (you) into kindlin': Whittle is to carve delicately with a knife, kindling a small piece of wood with which to start a fire. Another way to say this would be to cut you down to size, to put you in your place (Submitted by Mark Cook, eGroups discussionlist. September, 2000)

⁽¹⁰⁾ Corvette: American sportscar produced by Chevrolet.

- Corvette: also mentioned in: A Nickel's Worth Of Dreams, 1977: "And take that Corvette Stingray with a four-on-the-floor.", Gun Street Girl, 1985: "Blew a hole in the hood of a yellow Corvette."

⁽¹¹⁾ Buckets: car front seats

⁽¹²⁾ Washburn: Brand of a guitar maker

9th & Hennepin

Well, it's 9th and Hennepin

All the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes

And the moon's teeth marks are on the sky

Like a tarp thrown all over this

And the broken umbrellas are like dead birds

And the steam comes out of the grill

Like the whole goddam town is ready to blow

And the bricks⁽³⁾ are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos

And everyone is behaving like dogs

And the horses are coming down Violin Road

And Dutch is dead on his feet⁽⁴⁾

And all the rooms they smell like diesel

And you take on the dreams of the ones who have slept there

And I'm lost in the window

And I hide in the stairway

And I hang in the curtain

And I sleep in your hat

And no one brings anything small into a bar around here⁽⁵⁾

They all started out with bad directions

And the girl behind the counter has a tattooed tear

One for every year he's away she said

Such a crumbling beauty

Ah, there's nothing wrong with her a hundred dollars won't fix

She has that razor sadness that only gets worse

With the clang and the thunder of the Southern Pacific going by

And the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet

Till you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin⁽⁶⁾

And you spill out over the side to anyone who'll listen

And I've seen it all

I've seen it all through the yellow windows of the evening train

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1985

Official release: Rain Dogs, Island Records Inc., 1985

Also included in Big Time movie (1988). Further reading: Big Time full story

Known covers:

The Silverhearts Play Raindogs. The Silverhearts. October 5, 2005. Banbury Park Records

<object height="344" width="425"></object> 

"9th And Hennepin" as featured in the Big Time concert video. 

Not recorded before a live audience

PolyGram Video (Island Visual Arts)/ Fries Home Video (Fries Entertainment Inc.), 1988.

With: Michael Blair, Ralph Carney, Greg Cohen, Marc Ribot and Willy Schwarz.

Stage show concept: Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits. Directed by Chris Blum.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ 9th and Hennepin: Hennepin Avenue and 9th Street Minneapolis, Minnesota

- Tom Waits (1985): "New York is really stimulating. You can get a taxi and just have him drive and start writing down words you see, information that is in your normal view: dry cleaners, custom tailors, alterations, electrical installations, Dunlop safety center, lease, broker, sale...just start making a list of words that you see. And then you just kind of give yourself an assignment. You say, "Im going to write a song and I'm going to use all these words in that song." That's one way. Or you can get in character, like in acting, and let the character speak. The song "9th and Hennepin" came out like that. GB. Where's Hennepin? TW. Minneapolis. But most of the imagery is from New York. It's just that I was on 9th and Hennepin years ago in the middle of a pimp war, and 9th and Hennepin always stuck in my mind. "There's trouble at 9th and Hennepin." To this day I'm sure there continues to be trouble at 9th and Hennepin. At this donut shop. They were playing "Our Day Will Come" by Dinah Washington when these three 12-year-old pimps came in in chincilla coats armed with knives and, uh, forks and spoons and ladles and they started throwing them out in the streets. Which was answered by live ammunition over their heads into our booth. And I knew "Our Day Was Here." I remember the names of all the donuts: cherry twist, lime rickey. But mostly I was thinking of the guy going back to Philadelphia from Manhattan on the Metroliner with the New York Times, looking out the window in New York as he pulls out of the station, imagining all the terrible things he doesn't have to be a part of." (Source: "Tom Waits for no man". Spin Magazine: Glenn O'Brien. November 1985)

- Tom Waits (1987): "I haven't been around 9th and Hennepin in a while, and I only know these things from my own experience. Though I think there must be a place where it all connects. I like where Bukowski says "I'm not quoting exactly"... "It's not the big things that drive men mad. It's the little things. The shoelace that breaks when there's no time left." It makes it very difficult for me to drive, you know. 'Cause I'm always looking around. It makes for a very dangerous ride with the family." (Source: "Tom Waits is flying upside down (on purpose)". Musician (a Billboard publication) Mark Rowland October, 1987)

- Tom Waits (1993): "An all night donut shop at Ninth and Hennepin in Minneapolis. Chuck Weiss and I are having coffee at the counter, late, caught in the middle of a pimp war between two 13-year-old kids. One outside on the street, firing live ammunition, the other running into the cafe, diving behind the counter, unarmed, and screaming, "Leon you're a dead man!" A toothpick dispenser hurls toward the street, the beater of a blender, a spatula, and a handful of forks. Bullets hit the stove, a framed dollar bill, a china dog. Chuck and I drop to the floor while the jukebox pounds out "Our Day Will Come" by Dinah Washington. Each bullet changes the selection on the Wurlitzer to a different song, each more poignant than the one before." ("Tom Foolery - Swapping stories with inimitable Tom Waits". Buzz Magazine: May, 1993)

- Jon Bream (1999): "Then there was the time Waits was in a late-night cafe in Minneapolis and "I got in the middle of a pimp war. There was like this 11-year-old pimp defending himself with a handful of silverware against live ammunition, which was rather dramatic. He would reach into the drawer and grab a handful of forks and hurl them out into the street and then he'd duck behind the counter, and then you'd hear like an automatic weapon, and the mirror inside would crack and hit the ground. None of us were armed. And on the jukebox they were playing 'Our Day Will Come.' " (Source: "Beatnik Bard Waits Uses Twin Cities As Source For Songs, Stories" Star Tribune (Minneapolis/ USA), by Jon Bream. Date: New York. August 27, 1999)

- Tom Waits (introducing "Ninth & Hennepin", 1999): "This is about a scary corner... It's a place called "Ninth & Hennepin". The ironic thing about this is, that it's no longer scary. That's how long I've been around. It went from scary... to kinda fun! And it really kinda upset me. Eh, you know, now they've got the unisex hair parlor there and eh,... you know the yogurt ehm... the eh... the funny shoes with eh... you know. But in the old days, it was no place you wanted to be. It was a little donut shop, a 12-year old pimp came in one night. I was in the middle of a war. Another guy firing live ammunition outside. All he had was knives and forks and spoons. And he incorporated the donut shop as his... barricade. And I just happened be... well having a donut. I haven't had my donut since... . (laughter). Cause I know where donuts lead! On the jukebox it was playing "Our Day Will Come". It was too perfect. Well it's "Ninth & Hennepin". (Source: SxSW festival. Paramount Theater, Austin. March 20, 1999)

⁽³⁾ Bricks

- n.: The pavement or sidewalk; the street

- The world outside prison walls. Prison use (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Also mentioned in "Little Boy Blue" (Don't sit home and cry on the Fourth of July, Around now you're hittin' the bricks)

⁽⁴⁾ Dead on one's feet: phr. [late 19C+] utterly drained, exhausted (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

⁽⁵⁾ Nobody ever brings anything small into a bar: "I happened to be watching the 1950 movie "Harvey" yesterday. There's one good scene well into the film where Jimmy Stewart explains what he does all day (that is, go to bars with his invisible rabbit friend to wet their whistles and talk to strangers). In this scene, Stewart says: "Nobody ever brings anything small into a bar." (Submitted by Matt Garretson. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. April, 1997)

⁽⁶⁾ Blue ruin/ rag water 

- Blue ruin: Utter ruin; also, gin (Eng. slang) - Carlyle (Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, � 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.). Gin. Called blue from its tint, and ruin from its effects. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd). Inferiour liquor, esp. gin (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

- Rag water: Gin, or any other common dram: these liquors seldom failing to reduce those that drink them to rags (Source: “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue”, Francis Grose 1811). Whisky. (Thieves’ jargon.) (Source: “Dictionary of Phrase and Fable”. E. Cobham Brewer, 1898).

---------- A--------

Adios Lounge

I know an oldtimer

Just a nickel-and-dimer⁽¹⁾

At the bar down the Adios Lounge

And for whiskey and smokes

Recites poems and jokes

But he's not just your average clown

And he's entertaining nightly

Down the Adios Lounge

And he puts it politely

But he does lay it down

Now I lie here alone in my bed

With these words running wild in my head

He said...

Don't let nobody go there for you

Don't be satisfied with a second-hand life

Don't let nobody stifle or bore you

Handle your troubles or take on your strife

Don't let nobody live your life for you

Not your friends, not your kids, no not even your wife

If you want to know where the rainbow ends

It's you who�ve got to go there and find it my friend

So I'm going back down

To the Adios Lounge

Where there's no one to wait up for me

I hope he's still around

Oh, that crazy old scrounge

To tell us how things ought to be

He said...

Don't let nobody go there for you

Don't be satisfied with a second-hand life

Don't let nobody stifle or bore you

Handle your troubles or take on your strife

Don't let nobody live your life for you

Not your friends, not your kids, no not even your wife

If you want to know where the rainbow ends

It's you who've got to go there and find it my friend

So I buy him more drinks

Just to hear what he thinks

Oh, it's worth it to see him almost smile

It's worth feeling free for a while

At the bar down the Adios Lounge

At the bar down the Adios Lounge

At the bar down the Adios Lounge

Written by: Bob Kuhn and George M. Kuhn

Published by: Langis Songs / Kuhn Publishing, � 1992

Official release: Thelonious Monster - Beautiful Mess, 1992

Performed by Thelonious Monster, chorus sung by Tom Waits

Waits vocals recorded at Prairie Sun Recording studios. Cotati, CA/ USA, 1991

Known covers:

N/A

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Nickel-and-dimer: n. [1960s+] (US) a contempible or insignificant person [nickel-and-dime]. Nickel-and-dime: adj. [1940s+] (US) petty, small-time, insignificant. [the low value of the coin] (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

(Woyzeck theatre version, 2000)⁽²⁾

I lit a wooden match; I let it all burn down

I've broken every rule; I've wrecked it all down

There are no words in the wind, the trees are all bare

Life's mean as a needle; but why should I care?

A good man is hard to find

Only strangers sleep in my bed

My favorite words are good-bye

And my favorite color is red

I always play Russian Roulette in my head

It's seventeen black and twenty-nine red

How far from the gutter; how far from the pew

I'll always remember to forget about you

A good man is hard to find

Only strangers sleep in my bed

My favorite words are good-bye

And my favorite color is red

A long dead soldier looks out from the frame

No one remembers his war; no one remembers his name

Go out to the meadow; scare off all the crows

It does nothing but rain here, and nothing will grow

A good man is hard to find

Only strangers sleep in my bed

My favorite words are good-bye

And my favorite color is red

As published in the Woyzeck songbook (Betty Nansen Teatret, 2000)

Written by: Tom Waits/ Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Publishing (ASCAP), � 2000

Further reading: Woyzeck Full Story

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

(Blood Money studio version, 2002)

Well, I always play Russian Roulette in my head

It's seventeen black or twenty-nine red

How far from the gutter; how far from the pew

I will always remember to forget about you

A good man is hard to find

Only strangers sleep in my bed

My favorite words are: good-bye

And my favorite color is red

A long dead soldier looks out from the frame

No one remembers his war; no one remembers his name

Go out to the meadow; scare off all the crows

It does nothing but rain here, and nothing will grow

A good man is hard to find

Only strangers sleep in my bed

And my favorite words are: good-bye

And my favorite color is...

my favorite color is...

 my favorite color is red

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2000

Official release: Blood Money, Anti, 2002

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Blood Money" (Amsco Publications, 2002)

Further reading: Woyzeck Full Story

Known covers:

A Little Yearning. Camille O'Sullivan. 2002/ 2003. cat-o-stripes records (hidden track)

The Love List. Kaya Brüel. April 21, 2008. Stunt Records

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Listen to audio excerpt of A Good Man Is Hard To Find as performed in the theatre play Woyzeck.

Sung by Kaya Br�el (as Marie).

Betty Nansen theatre. Copenhagen/ Denmark. November 20, 2000.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ A Good Man Is Hard To Find: One might assume this song is named after "A Good Man Is Hard to Find, and Other Stories (1955)" by Flannery O'Connor (American writer: 1925-1964): "In the title story a grandmother, her son and daughter-in-law and their three children, are on a car journey. They encounter an escaped criminal called the Misfit and his two killers, Hiram and Bobby Lee. The family is casually wiped out by them when the grandmother recognizes the Misfit from his ''Wanted'' poster. The hallucinating grandmother murmurs: "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" The Misfit shoots her and says: "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." (Source: Pegasos, 2000)

⁽²⁾ A Good Man Is Hard To Find (Early theatre version): Sung by Marie in act 2, scene 1

Ain't Goin' Down To The Well

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down

Momma to the well, momma to the well, momma to the well,

momma to the well, no more

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down

Momma to the well, momma to the well, momma to the well,

momma to the well, no more

Ain't goin' down.

I'm a true believer, I'm a true believer, believer

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down

Momma to the well, momma to the well, momma to the well,

momma to the well, no more

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down.

If I ever get able, if I ever get able, able, to pay this debt I owe

Ain't goin' down

I ain't goin' down

Momma to the well, momma to the well,

momma to the well, no more

Ain't goin' down

Momma to the well, momma to the well, momma to the well, momma to the well,

momma to the well, no more

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down

Ain't goin' down.

Written by: Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter 1885-1949) ca. 1935. John A. Lomax/ Alan Lomax

Published by: TRO-Folkways Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI)

Official release: Orphans (Brawlers), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.⁽¹⁾

Known covers:

N/A

<object height="344" width="425"></object> 

Waits performing "Ain't Going Down To The Well"

Taken from the Irish documentary "Freedom Highway" (directed by Philip King).

Date: Prairie Sun studios. Cotati/ USA, 2001.

Credits: Hummingbird productions

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Original tape (vocals, banjo and tambourine) from "Freedom Highway - Songs That Shaped a Century/ Songs of Resistance and liberation" (2001). Irish documentary on pop and politics, made for RTE, the BBC, the Irish Film Board and ARTE. Directed by Philip King (Hummingbird Productions, 2001). Interview and performs "I Know I've Been Changed" and "I Ain't Goin' Down To The Well No More"  

- Tom Waits intro (2001): "Uhm... Ain't Goin' To The Well No More...Originally It probably WAS about a well. Someone went down to the well and someone got sick. He said: "I ain't goin' down the well no more." [...?...] something you did, you no longer wanna do again: "I went down to town, lost all my money and I'm not goin' down to the well no more. " I heard Leadbelly sing it... on the record of course. (laughs)"

- Leadbelly/ Ain't Goin' To The Well: oldest known recording "Wilton, Connecticut March, 1935." Also featured on "Leadbelly's Last Sessions" (4 CD box, 1953/ 1994) 

- Philip King (2004): "Tom Waits walked into the room with the barn door and he threw it onto the ground and he threw a chair on it and he sat up on it. And the door creaked and the chair creaked and he threw that tambourine into the door and he put his foot on it and a banjo in his hand and he said: 'I'm ready'. I knew he was ready, but I wasn't ready. Because his voice was like a whirlwind that just blew me across the room when he started to sing. He was consumed by the act of doing what he was doing... It's at those times that you feel the five-year wait is worth it. The 117 phone calls were worth it. The cajoling, the knocking on the door, the inevitable rejection, which is a constant part of this work, is worth it." (Source: "Philip King tells Shane Hegarty about recording Tom Waits" The Irish Times, October 29, 2004)

A Little Rain

(For Clyde)⁽²⁾

Well, the ice man's mule

is parked outside the bar

Where a man with missing fingers⁽³⁾

plays a strange guitar

And the German dwarf

dances with the butcher's son

And tonight a little rain never hurt no one

Well, they're dancing on the roof

and the ceiling's coming down

And I sleep with my shovel and my leather gloves

and a little trouble makes it worth the going

And a little rain never hurt no one

Oh, the world is round

and I'll go around

You must risk something that matters

Oh, my hands are strong

I'll take any man here

If it's worth the going

it's worth the ride

She was 15 years old

and she'd never seen the ocean

She climbed into a van

with a vagabond

And the last thing she said

was "I love you mom"

And a little rain never hurt no one

And a little rain never hurt no one

Da da da da da

Da da da da

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan⁽¹⁾

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), 1992

Official release: Bone Machine, Island Records Inc., 1992

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Known covers:

Ravenswood. Jeff Lang. 1994. Black Market Music (re-released in 2001)

A Little Rain. David Weaver. 1998. Bridge Records

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ A Little Rain:

- Tom Waits (1992): "Around here, these smalltown newspapers, they cover a lot of murders and a lot of car accidents. I don't know if there are more car accidents and more murders, or if they just get more upset over them. There's something in the way they write about them...it's like a warning. For some, you know, murder is the only door through which to enter life. That's a rough one to think about. Maybe in the cities it seems more commonplace because it's against a backdrop that is also violent. Here, where you see the golden fields or whatever, it's in greater relief. Stark contrast." (Source: "Tom Waits at work in the fields of song". Reflex nr. 28: Peter Orr. October 6,1992)

- Tom Waits (1992): "Oh, l love those expressions. I'm always writing those things down - a little rain never hurt no one. Kathleen had this melody, and I saved it from the fire. She has all these Irish melodies. Then we read one of those terrible articles in a newspaper about a kid in a van that went out of control and went over a cliff, and they all died. Goes through some different time periods. Starts out with the ice man's mule, then it goes to the dancing on the roof with the ceiling coming down, and ends up in the van. So I think it comes forward in time, a little bit, with the images. But it's a song you can add another verse to, if you want." (Source: Bone Machine press kit, Rip Rense. Late 1992) 

- Tom Waits (2006): "Well she's [Kathleen] from the Midwest. Like the song A Little Rain, which is on Bone Machine. [Sings in a bleary manner] "Well, the ice-man's mule is parked outside the bar/ Where a man with missing fingers plays a strange guitar/ And the German dwarf dances with the butcher's son/ And a little rain never hurt no one..." She says, 'Why do you have to take his fingers off? Why can't you just let him play the guitar like a normal guy in a bar? God! And why does the German guy have to be dwarf? And if he is, why do we have to know? It's not a film!" "But honey, sometimes you gotta shorten people, lop off a limb. It's just artistic licence." (Source: "My Wild Years And The Woman That Saved My Life", Word magazine (UK), November 9, 2006. By Mick Brown)

⁽²⁾ Clyde: 

Q: I notice it's dedicated to Clyde. Who the hell is Clyde? Tom Waits: "A friend of ours who drives a dump truck. He's bigger than most human beings." (Source: Bone Machine press kit, Rip Rense. Late 1992)

⁽³⁾ A man with missing fingers:

- One tends to relate this to Django Reinhardt: "Django Reinhardt was an accomplished musician working in Paris when at the age of eighteen the caravan in which he was sleeping was ravaged by fire. Apparently his wife had filled the caravan that day with bunches of dried flowers. During the night Django got up and knocked a candle over setting the flowers ablaze. His left leg, and the third and forth digits on his left hand were terribly burnt. The doctors wanted to amputate the leg as it was so badly damaged, but Django refused. This was the end, thought by his contemporaries, to a promising career. Due to the foresight of Djangos doctor, he recommended that Django be given a guitar as therapy. Django rose to the challenge and persevered, giving rise to the style of playing that was eventually to create a storm the world over." (Source: The Django Reinhardt Swing Page. Steve/ Michael Dregni, 2003) 

- Further reading: The Django Reinhardt Swing Page, Django Picture Gallery, Django reinhardt at JazzImprov

All Stripped Down

Ooooooh yeah yeah yeah

Ooooh yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah

Well, the time will come

When the wind will shout

All stripped down All stripped down

And all the sinners know

What I'm talking about

All stripped down All stripped down

When all the creatures of the world

Are gonna line up at the gate

All stripped down All stripped down

And you better be on time

And you better not be late

All stripped All stripped All stripped down

All stripped down

Well, you know in your heart

What you gotta bring

All stripped down All stripped down

No big mink coat

No diamond ring

All stripped down All stripped down

Well, take off your paint

And take off your rouge

All stripped down All stripped down

And let your backbone flip

And let your spirit shine through

All stripped down All stripped down

I want you all stripped

All stripped

All stripped down

Ooh!

All the men we got

Well, they're goin' down the drain⁽²⁾

All stripped down All stripped down

And when I see your sadness

On a river of shame

All stripped down All stripped down

You got to raise up

Both the quick and the dead⁽³⁾

All stripped down All stripped down

With no shoes on your feet

No hat on your head

All stripped down All stripped down

I want you all stripped All stripped All stripped All stripped All stripped

All stripped down

Ain't nothin' in my heart

But fire for you

All stripped down All stripped down

With my rainy hammer

And a heart that's true

All stripped down All stripped down

All stripped All stripped All stripped All stripped down

All stripped down

Oh, they were all stripped down

Oh, people all stripped down, yeah

Well, they were all stripped

All stripped

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), 1992

Official release: Bone Machine, Island Records Inc., 1992

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ All Stripped Down:

- Tom Waits (1992): "You didn't hear it, but I have this song called "All Stripped Down", kind of half-gospel, half-love song. "I want you all stripped down," but it's also about Jesus: "Can't get into heaven unless you're all stripped down." That type of thing. We recorded it at home. I have this tape recorder at home that I love so much. I recorded all these really rough tapes on it and loved the grit that I got. And I was really trying to find the same feeling in a studio. That was the challenge." (Source: "Tom Waits at work in the fields of song". Reflex nr. 28: Peter Orr. October 6, 1992) 

- Tom Waits (1992): I think it's about death, but it's also a sexy thing, too. It's like Jerry Lee Lewis. Walk a line between Jesus and girls. Q: That's Lewis' cousin, Jimmy Swaggart. TW: Swaggart, yeah ... Maybe it would be more of a Swaggart approach. Because they say that's what you have to do before you can get into heaven. You have to be all stripped down. You can't go to heaven with your body on. You just go up there with your spirit. I guess it's going to be like a mayonnaise jar with some smoke in it. So I save jars. You want to save different sized jars for different family members. I think it's like a Prince song." (Source: Bone Machine press kit, Rip Rense. Late 1992)

⁽²⁾ Goin' down the drain:

- Down the drain: phr. [1930s+] lost, wasted, useless (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000).

- Notice the same phrase being used in Get Behind The Mule, 1999: "She's goin' to the bottom and she's goin' down the drain."

⁽³⁾ You got to raise up both the quick and the dead: The phrase "The quick and dead" appears numerous times in the King James version of the Bible: Acts 10:42-- And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. Timothy 4:1--I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Peter 4:5-- Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. The earliest meaning of the word "quick" in English is "alive." When a baby was first felt to move in its mother's womb it was considered to have come to life, and this moment was called "quickening." This original meaning of the word "quick" has now died out except in the phrase "the quick and the dead," kept alive by the King James translation of Acts 10:42, which speaks of Jesus as judge "of quick and dead," but even more by the continued recitation of the Apostles' Creed, which says of Jesus that "he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.") (Source: Email by Leroy Larson to Tom Waits Library. October, 2005)

All The Time

You're the tree that you can't eat the fruit from

I heard horses came to ride me away

I want shade and a good place to shoot from

If it's a clock I'd be the end of the day

You know you're not the boss of me

You can lift your skirt, you can shake your hair

But I got all the time in the world

You're the ditch in the road where wheels keep spinning

You're the same dead cat, clawing its way back grinning

You know, you got a bad reputation and your nine lives way down the line

I got a jacket to put on and a hat to wear

I wouldn't waste a gallon on you out there

And I got all the time in the world

A bridge is only there for you to jump off of

And there ain't no rain clouds that are blue

I do declare my independence baby

I shot off all my fireworks for you

The river's burning and the trees are on fire

There's lots of good rubber left on these tires

And I've got all the time in the world

Baby, you're the light that won't change, that I got stuck at

You're the fan that won't work at the motel

They were all out of red so I got me a blue one

Baby, you're always using mine, why don't you get you one

I know you won't go very far, you left your blonde wig in the car

And I got all the time in the world

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2006

Official release: Orphans (Brawlers), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

Grapefruit Moon: Songs of Tom Waits. Southside Johnny & La Bamba's Bigband. September 19, 2008. Evangeline (Soulfood Music)

All The World's Green

(Woyzeck theatre version, 2000)⁽¹⁾

As published in the Woyzeck songbook (Betty Nansen Teatret, 2000)

Written by: Tom Waits/ Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Publishing (ASCAP), � 2000

Further reading: Woyzeck Full Story

All The World's Green

(Blood Money studio version, 2002)

I fell into the ocean

When you became my wife

I risked it all against the sea

To have a better life

Marie you are the wild blue sky

And men do foolish things

You turn kings into beggars

And beggars into kings

Pretend that you owe me nothing

And all the world is green

We can bring back the old days again

But all the world is green

The face forgives the mirror

The worm forgives the plow⁽²⁾

The question begs the answer

Can you forgive me somehow

Maybe when our story's over

We'll go where it's always spring

The band is playing our song again

And all the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing

And all the world is green

Pretend we can bring back the old days again

But all the world is green

The moon is yellow silver⁽⁴⁾

On the things that summer brings

It's a love you'd kill for

And all the world is green

He's balancing a diamond

On a blade of grass⁽³⁾

The dew will settle on our grave

And all the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing

And all the world is green

We can bring back the old days again

But all the world is green

He's balancing a diamond

On a blade of grass

The dew will settle on our graves

And all the world is green

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2000

Official release: Blood Money, Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Tom Waits Blood Money" (Amsco Publications, 2002)

Further reading: Woyzeck Full Story

Known covers:

Vilka Tror Vi Att Vi �r. Bo Kaspers Orkester, 2003. Columbia/Sony (Norway). Allt �r Som F�rut

Something..Old, New, Borrowed, Blue. Ytre Suløens Jass-Ensemble. October 21, 2005. Herman Records (Norway) 

The Adventure Through Liquid Space. The Long Holidays. February 11, 2010. Self-released

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Listen to audio excerpt of All The World's Green as performed in the theatre play Woyzeck.

Sung as by Jens J�rn Spottag (as Woyzeck) in act 2, scene 2.

Betty Nansen theatre. Copenhagen/ Denmark. November 20, 2000.

<object height="344" width="425"></object> 

"All The World Is Green" (excerpt) as performed in the theatre play Woyzeck

With Kaya Br�el (as Marie) and Jens J�rn Spottag (as Woyzeck) act 3, scene 1. 

Betty Nansen theatre (Copenhagen/ Denmark) promo, 2000.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Sung as a duet by Woyzeck and Marie in act 3, scene 1

⁽²⁾ The worm forgives the plow: Quoted from William Blake's Proverbs From Hell. Excerpt from "Proverbs of Hell" (William Blake: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, c. 1790): "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. Drive your cart and your plough over the bones of the dead. The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by Incapacity. He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence. The cut worm forgives the plough. Dip him in the river who loves water. A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star. Eternity is in love with the productions of time."

⁽³⁾ He is balancing a diamond on a blade of grass: Also mentioned in Bottom Of The World (Orphans, Brawlers, 2006): "Well, God's green hair is where I slept last He balanced a diamond on a blade of grass."

⁽⁴⁾ Silver moon: Notice the same phrase being mentioned in: Drunk On the moon, 1974: "And the moon's a silver slipper, It's pouring champagne stars." The World Keeps Turning, 2001: "The world don't care and yet it clings to me, And the moon is gold and silvery." Flower's Grave, 2002: "Someday the silver moon and I, Will go to Dreamland.

Altar Boy

(Alice demo version. Also known as: What Became Of Old Father Craft?)⁽¹⁾

Now he's an altar boy, bound up in leather and chains

What became of old Father Craft

I'll never forget the Sunday he left

And gave me something special in the rectory

He's an altar boy

Corrected me in the rectory

And that's why I'm feeling so blue

Cause I'm an altar boy, what about you?

  - "Pater noster, qui es in coelis⁽²⁾

  Sanctificetur nomen tuum

  Adveniat regnum tuum..."

  - "'Pater Noster', yeah"

  - "Yeah"

I can order in Latin

Make 'em au gratin, Joe

Cause I'm an old altar boy

That's why I'm so depressed

I never got the rest of the dream

Just the ritual

Now I'm habitual

Majoring in crimes that are unspeakable

I'm an altar boy

That's what happened to me, yeah

He's just an old altar boy

Laying out there in the street

He's an altar boy (anyone he can meet)

Hoping he can meet a woman dressed like a nun

He knows there's got to be some around here

Drinking across from the church

Just a little Father Cribari wine

On a Sunday morning time

Remembering when he was busier

Now he's getting dizzier

Fill it up, Joe

You know the routine, yeah

I'm an altar boy, oh yeah

Out there in the bar, the old altar boy

[untranscribable]

Making the scena with a novena

Why is he winking at this time in his life

He never took a wife, cause he's an old altar boy

Drinking Cribari wine

An altar boy, down here in his prime

What became of him

Well, he's looking up the dress of Sister Marie

He's rather depressed, as you can see

He hasn't been to mass since nineteen forty-three

Cause he's an old altar boy

He figures he got enough religion already in him

Now he's leafing through the dirty magazines

He's an altar boy, what became of him

He's an altar boy, yeah

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan, 1992

Unofficial release: "Alice, The Original Demos", 1999 and "Alice PMS", 1999

Demo recording. Recorded in Hamburg, Germany, 1992

Further reading: Alice full story

Altar Boy

(Orphans studio version, 2006)

He's an ol' altar boy

Lying out there in the street

He's an ol' alter boy

Bound up in leather and chains

That's why I'm feeling so blue

I'm an old altar boy

What about you?

Now, I can order in Latin

Make 'em au gratin, Joe

I'm an old altar boy

That's why I'm so depressed

I never got the rest of the dream

Just the ritual

Now I'm habitual

Majoring in crimes that are unspeakable

Cause I'm an old altar boy

That's what happened to me.

I'm an old altar boy

He's hoping he can meet a woman dressed like a nun

He knows there's got to be some around here

Drinking across from the church

A little Father Cribari wine

On a Sunday morn' time.

I'm an old altar boy.

Why is he winking at this time in his life?

He never took a wife, cause he's an old altar boy

Oh, yeah...

What about you?

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan, 1992

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2006

Official release: Orphans (Bastards), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

None

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Listen to audio excerpt of Altar Boy.

Demo recording. Recorded in Hamburg/ Germany, 1992.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Sung by Duchess and Mad Hatter in knee 7. 

- Stage directions from the play: Knee 7 Letters II, "The Cheshire Cat walks slowly across the grass, dropping Dodgson's letters as he goes. Several Chessmen, the Queen's gardeners, enter. They find the letters and pick them up. Other Chessmen set up wickets for a croquet game. Meanwhile, the Duchess and the Mad Hatter, on their way to the croquet party, appear in a stage box. Duchess and Mad Hatter sing:"

- Tom Waits (2006): "On Orphans there is a mambo about a convict who breaks out of jail with a fishbone, a gospel train song about Charlie Whitman and John Wilkes Boothe, a delta blues about a disturbing neighbor, a spoken word piece about a woman who was struck by lightening, an 18th century Scottish madrigal about murderous sibling rivalry, an American backwoods a cappella about a hanging. Even a song by Jack Kerouac and a spiritual with my own personal petition to the Lord with prayer... There's even a show tune about an old altar boy and a rockabilly song about a young man who's begging to be lied to." (Source: Anti Records Orphans promo pack. August 2006)

⁽²⁾ PATER noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum: The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name (Submitted by Alicia Fontana, eGroups discussionlist. September, 2000)

And No One Knows I'm Gone

(Alice demo version, 1992)⁽¹⁾

Hell above and heaven below

All the trees are gone

The rain has such a lovely sound

To those who are six feet under ground⁽²⁾

The leaves will bury every year

And no one knows I'm gone

Live me golden tell me dark

Hide from Graveyard John

The moon is full here every night

And I can bathe here in his light

The leaves will bury every year

And no one knows I'm gone

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan, 1992

Unofficial release: "Alice, The Original Demos", 1999 and "Alice PMS", 1999

Demo recording. Recorded in Hamburg, Germany, 1992

(Transcribed by Ulf Berggren. Listserv Raindogs discussionlist. October, 1999)

Further reading: Alice full story

No One Knows I'm Gone

(Alice studio version, 2002)⁽¹⁾

Hell above and heaven below

All the trees are gone

The rain made such a lovely sound

To those who are six feet under ground⁽²⁾

The leaves will bury every year

And no one knows I'm gone

Live me golden tell me dark

Hide from Graveyard John

(But) The moon is full here every night

And I can bathe here in his light

The leaves will bury every year

And no one knows I'm gone

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 1992

Official release: Alice, Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Alice - Tom Waits" (Amsco Publications, 2002)

Further reading: Alice full story

Known covers:

Summerland. Your Favorite Horse (Chris Jeely). 2004. Scareslight (USA)

Now We Are Dead & Other Stories. Jeremy Smoking Jacket. 2005. Self-released

Bangin' On The Table With An Old Tin Cup. Pascal Fricke. April 12, 2007. Self-released (Germany)

Anywhere I Lay My Head. Scarlett Johansson. May 20, 2008. Atco Records

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ No One Knows I'm Gone: also known as: "Live Me Golden, Tell Me Dark". Sung by Alice in scene 1

⁽²⁾ Six feet under: phr. [1930s+] {orig. US) dead and buried (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

A Nickel's Worth Of Dreams

Well, the shoeshine boy's got lines around the block

The bloodhound's⁽¹⁾ let the convicts get away

And after you're asleep, all the cheerleaders weep

And the ham-and-eggers⁽²⁾ win the Irish Sweepstakes⁽³⁾ every day

The paper boys make headlines and the janitors⁽⁴⁾ are winking

As they're filling up their dustpans full of hundred dollar bills

The never-do-wells and stingy-pins⁽⁵⁾ 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⁽⁶⁾ with a four-on-the-floor⁽⁷⁾

And pull into the filling station and instead of gasoline

Say, 'Hey buddy, can you fill it with a nickel's worth of dreams?'

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: [?], � 1977

No official release: Foreign Affairs sessions, July - August 1977

at Filmways/ Heider Recording, Hollywood

Known covers:

None

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Listen to audio excerpt of A Nickel's Worth Of Dreams.

Foreign Affairs sessions, July - August 1977

at Filmways/ Heider Recording, Hollywood.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Bloodhound: n. [early 19C+] a policeman. [reverse anthropomorphism] (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

⁽²⁾ Ham-and-egger: An average person; a worker limited to routine tasks; one as common as ham and eggs or one who may make average wages or live an average, unexciting life (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Also mentioned in "Potter's Field": "Past the frozen ham-and-eggers at the penny arcade."

⁽³⁾ Irish Sweepstakes: "The Sweepstakes was a long-distance gambling event that took advantage of the love of the Irish around the world for a good horse race. Established in 1930, it was a government scheme to raise money to build Irish hospitals. At a time when gambling was generally illegal in the United States and Canada, the tickets were "marketed" internationally and sold on the black market, reaping considerable funds for the hospital program. The Irish Sweepstakes was held four times a year, and based on the results of four well-known horse races. As explained in the Columbia Encyclopedia, sweepstakes winners are the lucky ones who purchase one of the few tickets tied to the horse who would win the race! International popularity faded when gambling was legalized in other countries. Still, before it was disestablished under a cloud in 1987, the Sweepstakes had earned �135 million for Irish hospitals and paid �265 million in prizes" (Source: "Whatever Happened to the Irish Sweepstakes?" by Pat Friend. AllAboutIrish.com. Copyright � 2000-2003 Pat Friend.) 

⁽⁴⁾ Janitor: 1. One who attends to the maintenance or cleaning of a building. 2. A doorman (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company) 

⁽⁶⁾ Corvette Stingray: Sportscar model from Chevrolet Corvette series. Experimental concept car designed and first built in 1959 by then vice president of General Motors Styling. Famous for its unique thin shelled fiberglass body and hidden head lights. Introduced in 1964, as a commercial car. Completely re-styled in 1969. Over 500,000 Corvettes produced made it one of Chevrolet's most popular models.

- Corvette: also mentioned in: 16 Shells From A Thirty Ought Six, 1983: "And I tore out the buckets from a red Corvette.", Gun Street Girl, 1985: "Blew a hole in the hood of a yellow Corvette."

⁽⁷⁾ Four on the floor: Four on the floor means four gears on the stick shift. In the history of the modern manual transmission (1950s+) multiple gears have been the thing to have. Prior to the 50s, it was not uncommon to find a car with a two-speed transmission. During the muscle car era, three and four speed transmission setups were popular. Nearly every car built with a manual transmission came with a "four on the floor." Some trucks and family cars sported a "three on the tree"

Annie's Back In Town

In the evening he stumbles home with his tie undone⁽¹⁾

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⁽²⁾

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⁽³⁾ 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

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. � 1978

Official release: "Paradise Alley" soundtrack. MCA 1500 (MCA 1696), 1978.⁽⁴⁾

Recorded September 7, 1978

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ In the evening he stumbles home with his tie undone

- Notice the same opening being used for Mr Henry/ Tie Undone (Foreign Affairs Sessions, July to August, 1977)

- Clip from Paradise Alley the movie (Transcription by Luke Martin as sent to Raindogs Listserv Discussionlist on May 8, 2000)

Tom sings: ...wake at night again, now that Annie's back in town..

Sly: Mumbles!

T: Yeah? Whaddayawant??

S: When was the last time you were with a woman?

T: Probably the Depression.

S: What you saving it for?

T: I dunno man, maybe A big finish.

S: Now you better get out a bit more, your're starting to look grey...I'm off

to visit the best lookin' tomato in the neighbourhood. 'night mumbles.

T: (singing) ...all the cornerboys still lollygag, the sailors shoot the

breeze.. well, some things around here never change... 

⁽²⁾ Street, put it on the: To give out information; to disclose a personal confidence or secret to many people; to let something be known (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽³⁾ Cornerboy

- n. [late 19C+] (orig. US) an idler who whiles away the time hanging around on street corners (corner cove, corner cowboy, corner man, drugstore cowboy, lounge lizzard, saloon-bar cowboy) (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000).

- Also mentioned in "Jersey Girl": "Got no time for the corner boys."

⁽⁴⁾ In the late 1970s Waits often used to perform this song as a medley quoting from "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" and "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'"

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

(Written by: Douglass Cross. Music by: George Cory.

Originally made famous by: Tony Bennett Performed as part of: Annie's Back In Town (Sydney, 1979))

The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay,

The glory that was Rome is just another day,

I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan,

I'm going home to my city by the bay

Chorus:

I left my heart in San Francisco, high on a hill it calls to me

To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.

The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care

My love waits there in San Francisco,

above the blue and windy sea,

When I come home to you, San Francisco,

your golden sun will shine for me

It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'

Quoting: It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'. Traditional.

Words and music by Wendell Hall. First performed by Wendell Hall in 1923

Chorus:

"Oh, it ain't gonna rain no more, no more, it ain't gonna rain no more

It rained last week and the week before, it ain't gonna rain no more

Mary had a little lamb, so goes the tale of yore

She loved that little lamb so much, she passed the plate for more

A bullfrog sat on a lily pad, looking up in the sky

He fell right off that lily pad, and got water in his eye

Oh, a peanut sat on a railroad track, it's heart was all a-flutter

Along came the 5:05 - Oops! peanut butter

A cow walked on the railroad track, the train was coming fast

The train got off the railroad track to let the cow go past!

I woke up in the morning, I glanced upon the wall

The roaches and the bedbugs were having a game of ball

The score was six to nothing, the roaches were ahead

A bedbug hit a home run and knocked me out of bed!

A doctor fell into a well and broke his collar bone

We think that he should tend the sick and leave the well alone

A farmer slipped on the old barn roof when rotten boards gave way

And as as he fell, he shrugged and said, "It's time to hit the hay"

Humpty Dumpty fell right down and landed on his head

So, all the horses and the men had scrambled eggs and bread"

ALTERNATE VERSION:

("There Ain't No Bugs On Me", traditional.

Recorded by Jerry with David Grisman for "Not For Kids Only")

Oh there ain't no bugs on me

There ain't no bugs on me

There may be bugs on some of you mugs

But there ain't no bugs on me

Well, the Juney bug comes in the month of June

The lightning bug comes in May

Bed bug comes just any old time

But, they're not going to stay

Oh there ain't no bugs on me

There ain't no bugs on me

There may be bugs on the rest of you mugs

But there ain't no bugs on me

Well, a bull frog sittin' on a lily pad

Looking up at the sky

The lily pad broke and the frog fell in

He got water all in his eye...ball

Mosquito he fly high

Mosquito he fly low

If old mosquito lands on me

He ain't a gonna fly no mo'

A peanut sittin' on a railroad track

His heart was all a flutter

Along come a choo-choo on the track

Toot! Toot! Peanut butter!

Well little bugs have littler bugs

Up on their backs to bite 'em

And the littler bugs have still littler bugs

And so ad infinitum

As I went walking through the woods

Humming a tune so gaily

The wind come whistling through the trees

And froze my ukelele

Oh there ain't no flies on me

There ain't no flies on me

There may be flies on some of you guys

But there ain't no flies on me

Oh there ain't no lobsters on me

There, ain't no lobsters on me

There may be lobsters on some of you mobsters

But there ain't no lobsters on me

Oh it ain't gonna rain no more no more

It ain't gonna rain no more

How in the heck can I wash my neck

When it ain't gonna rain no more?

Oh it ain't gonna rain no more, no more

It ain't gonna rain no more

How in the hell can the old folks tell

If it ain't gonna rain no more?

Another Man's Vine

(Woyzeck theatre version, 2000)⁽¹⁾

Bougainvillea's⁽²⁾ bloom and wind

Be careful mind the strangle vines

The rose is climbing over blind

'Cause the sun is on the other side

The bees will find their honey

The sweetest every time

Around a Red Rose

I see a red rose, a red rose

Blooming on another man's vine

Golden Willie's gone to war

He left his young wife on the shore

Will she be steadfast everyday?

While Golden Willie is far away

Along the way her letters end

She never reads what Willie sends

Now I see a red rose

I smell a red rose

I'll pick a red rose

Blooming on another man's vine

As published in the Woyzeck songbook (Betty Nansen Teatret, 2000)

Written by: Tom Waits/ Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Publishing (ASCAP), � 2000

Further reading: Woyzeck Full Story

Another Man's Vine

(Blood Money studio version, 2002)

Bougainvilleas⁽²⁾ bloom and wind

Be careful mind the strangle vines

The rose is climbing over blind

'Cause the sun is on the other side

The bees will find their honey

The sweetest every time

Around a red rose

I see a red rose

A red rose blooming on another man's vine

Golden Willie's gone to war

He left his young wife on the shore

Will she be steadfast everyday?

While Golden Willie is far away

Along the way her letters end

She never reads what Willie sends

I see a red rose

I smell a red rose

A red rose blooming on another man's vine

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2000

Official release: Blood Money, Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Tom Waits Blood Money" (Amsco Publications, 2002)

Further reading: Woyzeck Full Story

Known covers:

None

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Listen to audio excerpt of Another Man's Vine as performed in the theatre play Woyzeck.

Sung by Tom Jensen (as drum major).

Betty Nansen theatre. Copenhagen/ Denmark. November 20, 2000.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Another Man's Vine (Early theatre version): Sung by Drum Major in act 1, scene 4

⁽²⁾ Bougainvilleas: "In 1768 when Admiral Louis de Bougainvillea began his long journey to the Pacific Ocean and discovered the vine that now bears his name, it was a botanical highlight of the voyage. Through the ensuing years, this Brazilian beauty has assumed its rightful place as one of the most popular, spectacular and beautiful tropical plants. The modern day hybrids of Bougainvillea spectabilis (B. Brasiliensis) and B. glabra are among the most beautiful of flowering vines. These tropical members of the Nyctaginaceae (Four-O'Clock) family, are very vigorous, evergreen, woody vines with spines... The blooms as we know them are not true flowers, but are 3 large papery bracts that encircle small, white, tubular inconspicuous flowers." (Source: Texas A&M Horticulture program, Aggie Horticulture Network). Further reading: Bougainvillea Info Page

Anywhere I Lay My Head

My head is spinning round

my heart is in my shoes⁽²⁾, yeah

I went and set the Thames on fire⁽³⁾, oh

now I must come back down

She's laughing in her sleeve⁽⁴⁾ boys

I can feel it in my bones

Oh, but anywhere, anywhere I'm gonna lay my head

I'm gonna call my home

Well I see that the world is upside-down

Seems that my pockets were filled up with gold⁽⁵⁾

And now the clouds, well they've covered over

And the wind is blowing cold

Well I don't need anybody

because I learned, I learned to be alone

Well I said anywhere, anywhere, anywhere I lay my head, boys

Well I gonna call my home

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1985

Official release: Rain Dogs, Island Records Inc., 1985

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Known covers:

Blue-Eyed Fool. Sugartown. November 2000. Self-released

Ain't Even Lonely. Brian Keane. May 20, 2005. Mix-O-Rama Records

Shoreline. Anna Ternheim. June 1, 2005. Self-released (EP CD, Sweden)

The Silverhearts Play Raindogs. The Silverhearts. October 5, 2005. Banbury Park Records

Goodbye Cool World. Bomb The Music Industry. June 18, 2006. Self-released

20 Jahre Saxuelle Befreiung. K�lner Saxophon Mafia. January 6, 2006. Jazz Haus Musik (NRW)

Live From Momo�s. The Band Of Heathens. October 1, 2006. Fat Caddy records (USA)

Bobby Dazzler's Different Guns. Bobby Dazzler. March 21, 2007. Unicornsounds

Anywhere I Lay My Head. Scarlett Johansson. May 20, 2008. Atco Records

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Anywhere I Lay My Head

- Tom Waits (1985): "Anywhere I Lay My Head is a gospel thing, the Uptown Horns played on that" (Source: "Rain Dogs Island Promo Tape". Date: late 1985)

⁽²⁾ Heart is in my shoes: Experiencing great fear. (Source: "2,107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings and Expressions" by Charles Earle)

 ⁽³⁾ Thames on fire, set the:

- To build up a reputation for oneself; to do something wonderful (Submitted by Cheryl Dillis, Tom Waits eGroups discussionlist. October, 2000. From "2,107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings and Expressions" by Charles Earle)

- phr. [18C+] to accomplish a noteworthy feat (cf. Set the Hudson on fire) (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

- To make a figure in the world; plant one's footsteps on the sands of time. The popular explanation is that the word Thames is a pun on the word temse, a coru-sieve; and that the parallel French locution He will never set the Seine on fire is a pun on seine, a drag-net; but these solutions are not tenable. There is a Latin saw, "Tiberim accendere nequaquam potest, " which is probably the fons et origo of other parallel sayings. Then, long before our proverb, we had "To set the Rhine on fire" (Den Rhein anz�nden), 1630, and Er hat den Rhein und das Meer angez�ndet, 1580. "There are numerous similar phrases: as "He will never set the Liffey on fire;" to "set the Trent on fire;" to "set the Humber on fire;" etc. Of course it is possible to set water on fire, but the scope of the proverb lies the other way, and it may take its place beside such sayings as "If the sky falls we may catch larks." (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd) 

⁽⁴⁾ Laugh in one's sleeve: To ridicule a person not openly but in secret; to conceal a laugh by hiding your face in the large sleeves at one time worn by men. The French is: "Rire sous cape, " or "Rire sous son bonnet. " The German is: "Ins fa�stchen lachen. " The Latin is: "In stomacho ridere. " These expressions indicate secret derision: laughing at one, not with one. But such phrases as "In sinu gaudere " mean to feel secret joy, to rejoice in one's heart of hearts. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd) 

⁽⁵⁾ Pockets filled with gold: Notice the same phrase being used in More Than Rain, 1987: "None of our pockets are filled with gold, nobody's caught the boquet."

Apartment For Rent

Well, it ain't no use, it ain't no good

And there's too many ghosts in this neighborhood

A quaint⁽¹⁾ little walk up is bringing me down

I have to find another crib⁽²⁾ on the other side of town

The old Murphey bed⁽³⁾and the empty chest of drawers

And a little dinette set, I'll stroll across the floor

And the trash cans in the alley, well they're rattlin' and sayin'

That, there's an apartment for rent

On a rainy September day

Apartment for rent

Furnished with blue lights⁽⁴⁾, baby

Apartment for rent

And the market's open all night

Well you see, I'm sweeping out the cobwebs

The lady she got away

There's an apartment for rent

On a rainy September day

Well, I'm pouring over the classified section

You see, she's lost all her affection for me

I was drinking and smoking

I was staying out all night long

When you needed me here with at home

There's an apartment for rent

Furnished with blue lights baby

Apartment for rent

And the market's open all night

Yeah, I've been sweeping up the cobwebs

The lady got away

There's an apartment for rent

There's an apartment for rent

There's an apartment for rent

On a rainy September day

Apartment for rent

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: [?], � 1975

Unofficial release: A Nickle's Worth of Dreams, Triangle/ PYRAM PYCD 081

"WMMR Radio", The Main Point. Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia/ USA. June 25, 1975.

Known covers:

None

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Listen to audio excerpt of Apartment For Rent.

The Main Point. Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia/ USA. June 25, 1975.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Quaint: Means odd, peculiar. A quaint phrase means a fanciful phrase, one not expressed in the ordinary way. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

⁽²⁾ Crib n.: A room, apartment, or other living quarters; a "pad" (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽³⁾ Murphey bed: Trademark for beds manufactured by "Murphey" (beds that fold into a wall or closet for storage). Later held to be incapable of serving as trademark because it had become, in the minds of consumers, a generic term for that product.

⁽⁴⁾ Blue light: n. [1940s] (W.1) an obcenity, a swearword, a coarse, vulgair expression.(Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

Army Ants

The Whirligig Beetles are wary and fast with an organ to detect the ripples.

The Arachnid Moths lay their eggs inside other insects along the borders of fields or roads in clusters of white cocoons.

The Ribbed Pine Borer is a longhorn beetle, their antenna's are half the length of their body and they feed on dead red pine.

Robber Flies, with their immobile heads, inject a paralyzing fluid into their prey that they snatch from life in mid-air.

The Snow Flea's mode of locomotion, strange and odd, with a spiny tail mechanism with hooks and a protracted tube from the abdomen to enable moisture absorption.

The female Praying Mantis devours the male while they are mating. The male sometimes continues copulating even after the female has bitten off his head and part of his upper torso.

Every night wasps bite into the stem of a plant, lock their mandibles into position, stretch out at right angles to the stem and, with legs dangling, they fall asleep.

If one places a minute amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

The Bombardier Beetle, when disturbed, defends itself by emitting a series of explosions, sometimes setting off 4 or 5 reports in succession. The noises sound like miniature popgun blasts and are accompanied by a cloud of reddish coloured vile smelling fluid.

It is commonly known that ants keep slaves. Certain species, the so-called Sanguinary Ants in particular, will raid the nests of other ant tribes and kill the queen and then kidnap many of the workers. The workers are brought back to the captor's hive where they are coerced into performing menial tasks.

And as we discussed last semester, the Army Ants will leave nothing but your bones⁽¹⁾.

Perhaps you've encountered some of these insects in your communities, displaying both their predatory and defense characteristics, while imbedded within the walls of flesh and passing for, what is most commonly recognized... as human.

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan.

 "Insect facts gathered from The World Book Encyclopedia, Audubon Field Guide, reliable sources and the naked eye"⁽²⁾

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2006 (spoken word)

Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording studios. Cotati, CA/ USA, 2006

Official release: Orphans (Brawlers), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

(Thanks to Dorene LaLonde for help with transcript)

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ The Army Ants will leave nothing but your bones: Waits referring to Earth Died Screaming (Bone Machine, 1992): "And the army ants, they leave nothin' but the bones."

⁽²⁾ Army Ants:

- Tom Waits (2006): "It's just a dissertation. A lot of it is out of the field guides from the Audubon Society. It still requires organizing the facts in a meaningful fashion. I'm interested in all those things. They're all true, y'know." (Source: "Songwriter's Wandering Orphans' Will Always Find A Musical Home", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland/ USA), telephone interview by John Soeder, published November 19, 2006)

- Tom Waits (2006): "Well, most of that is from uhm... the Audubon Society field guides for insects, you know? So, you know I think we both like uh the arcane measures of life, you know? And the little things that hold us all together. And uh, I don't know. Those are "fascinating facts". And uh, I guess I'm hooked on "fascinating facts". ... But, I don't know. I thought those were interesting things about the insects, because they do live paralel lives with us I guess." (Source: "Tom Waits: Rock Classics, With A Gravelly Rasp", NPR's World Caf� from WXPN (USA) by David Dye. December 15, 2006)

A Sight For Sore Eyes

A sight for sore eyes⁽¹⁾, it's a long time no see

Workin' hard hardly workin', hey man, you know me

Water under the bridge, did you see my new car?

Well, it's bought and it's payed for, parked outside of the bar⁽²⁾

And hey barkeep, what's keepin' you, keep pourin' drinks

For all these palookas⁽³⁾, hey, you know what I thinks

That we toast to the old days and DiMaggio⁽⁴⁾ too

And old Drysdale⁽⁵⁾ and Mantle⁽⁶⁾, Whitey Ford⁽⁷⁾ and to you

Oh, you know, the old gang ain't around, everyone has left town

'cept for Thumm and Giardina, said they just might be down

Oh, half drunk all the time and I'm all drunk the rest

Yeah, Monk's⁽⁸⁾ still the champion, oh but I am the best

And hey barkeep, what's keepin' you, keep pourin' drinks

For all these palookas, hey you know what I thinks

That we toast to the old days and DiMaggio too

And old Drysdale and Mantle, Whitey Ford and to you

Guess you heard about Nash, he was killed in a crash

Oh, that must have been two or three years ago now

Yeah, he spun out and he rolled, he hit a telephone pole

And he died with the radio on

No, she's married, with a kid, finally split up with Sid

He's up North for a nickel's worth⁽⁹⁾ for armed robbery

And I'll play you some pinball, no you ain't got a chance

Then go on over and ask her to dance

And hey barkeep, what's keepin' you, keep pourin' drinks

For all these palookas, hey you know what I thinks

That we toast to the old days and DiMaggio too

And Drysdale and Mantle, Whitey Ford and to you

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP),� 1977

Official release:" Foreign Affairs", Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1977 &

"Anthology Of Tom Waits", WEA/ Elektra, 1984

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Anthology" (Amsco Publications, 1988/ Nuova Carisch, 2000)

Known covers:

The Piano Has Been Drinking. The Piano Has been Drinking. April, 1990 Chlodwig (BMG Germany). Performed in German/ K�lsch

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Sight for sore eyes: 1. Informal. One whom it is a relief or joy to see (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin - Third Edition) 2. n. [early 19C+] a welcome appearance, often used as an affectionate greeting, you're a sight for sore eyes

⁽²⁾ Notice the extensive use of variations on tired cliches in the first verse: "Sight for sore eyes" and "Long time, no see" are both overused cliches. "Workin' hard, hardly workin'" comes from an extremely overused cliche "Are you working hard or hardly working?". "Water under the bridge" is another cliche and "It's bought and paid for" is another redundant cliche. (Source: Email from Leroy Larson to Tom Waits Library. October, 2005)

⁽³⁾ Palooka, paluka, palooker n.: 1. Any stupid or mediocre person, esp. if big or strong; An oafish hoodlum (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner). 2. A large and stupid person. [coined by Jack Conway (d.1928) of Variety magazine, and given wide currency by Ham Fisher's comic strip 'Joe Palooka' (launched 1930)] (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

"The word has two main senses. One refers to an unsuccessful boxer, especially one who is both large and stupid, the other to any large and stupid or clumsy person, an oaf or lout. Many older people first came across the word as the name of the boxer in Ham Fisher's famous comic strip. This first appeared in 1928; it featured the eponymous Joe Palooka as a slow-witted and inarticulate boxer, even though "his heart was pure and his ideals high". But Ham Fisher didn't invent the word: it had been around for several years as a slang term and is first recorded in print in 1925. The boxing associations seem to have been particularly strong, to judge from the magazine The Ring, which in November 1926 glossed the word to mean "A tenth rater, a boxer without ability, a nobody" and which implied it had been known for some time. It's often said that palooka was the invention of Jack Conway, a former baseball player who became the editor of Variety magazine; he is credited by some with creating a whole group of slang terms that include pushover and baloney. Whether he actually invented palooka, or popularised it, we have no way of knowing, nor do we have any idea what it was based on. Some of Joe Palooka's adventures were made into films, and Palookaville came to be a slang term for a hick town full of gentle losers." (Source: World Wide Words is copyright � Michael Quinion, 1996-2004. All rights reserved)

⁽⁴⁾ Dimagio: Joseph Paul DiMaggio (misspelled in the tracklisting). Born: Martinez,Ca. November 25 1914 - Died: 1999. American base ball legend. He played from 1936 til 1951 for the NY Yankees. With this team he won the American Baseball League Championships 10 times and the World Series 9 times. Had a shortlived affair with Marylin Monroe

⁽⁵⁾ Drysdale: Don Drysdale. American sports announcer. Born: July 23 1936. Ex-pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers

⁽⁶⁾ Mantle, Mickey

- Mickey Charles Mantle. Born: Spavinaw, Ok, October 20 1931 - Died: Dallas, Tx, August 13 1995. A famous American baseball player in the 1950's (successor of Joe DiMaggio with the New York Yankees). He was a friend of Whitey Ford. In 1969 he resigned from professional baseball.

- Also mentioned in Jitterbug Boy (Small Change, 1976): "I taught Mickey Mantle everything he knows."

⁽⁷⁾ Ford, Whitey: American baseball player from the 50's. He was a friend of Mickey Mantle

⁽⁸⁾ Monk

1. Most likely refers to some American sportsman nicknamed "Monk" (or Monck?), but could refer to Thelonious Monk. Monk is recognized as one of the most influential figures in the history of Jazz. He was one of the architects of bebop and his impact as a composer and pianist has had a profound influence on every genre of music. Born on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, but his parents, Barbara Batts and Thelonious Monk, soon moved the family to New York City. Monk began piano lessons as a young child and by the age of 13 he had won the weekly amateur contest at the Apollo Theater so many times that he was barred from entering. At the age of 19, Monk joined the house band at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and a handful of other players, he developed the style of jazz that came to be known as bebop. In the decade that followed, Monk played on recordings with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Sonny Rollins and recorded as a leader for Prestige Records and later for Riverside Records. He passed away on February 5, 1982.

2. "Tom Waits, Artist Choice". HearMusic.com. October 1999. TW: "Monk said "There is no wrong note, it has to do with how you resolve it." He almost sounded like a kid taking piano lessons.. I could relate to that when I first started playing the piano, because he was decomposing the music while he was playing it. It was like demystifying the sound, because there is a certain veneer to jazz and to any music, after a while it gets traffic rules, and the music takes a backseat to the rules. It's like aerial photography, telling you that this is how we do it. That happens in folk music too. Try playing with a bluegrass group and introducing new ideas. Forget about it. They look at like you're a communist. On "Solo Monk", he appears to be composing as he plays, extending intervals, voicing chords with impossible clusters of notes. "I Should Care" kills me, communion wine with a twist. Stride, church, jump rope, Bartok, melodies scratched into the plaster with a knife. A bold iconoclast. "Solo Monk" lets you not only see these melodies without clothes, but without skin. This is astronaut music from Bedlam."

⁽⁹⁾ Nickels worth, Up north for a

- Tom Waits (1976): "And 'He went up north for a nickel's worth' means he went up north to jail for five years - usually for armed robbery. I learned that when I was in jail. I go there a lot and they just know me." (Source: "The Ramblin' Street Life Is The Good Life For Tom Waits", from "Rambler" magazine. Chicago. December 30, 1976. Interview by Rich Trenbeth)

A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun

Well, it's raining it's pouring⁽²⁾

you didn't bring a sweater

Nebraska will never let you come back home

Now on Hollywood and Vine⁽³⁾

by the Thrifty Mart sign

any night I'll be willin' to bet

There's a young girl

with sweet little dreams and pretty blue wishes

standin' there just gettin' all wet

Now there's a place off the drag⁽⁴⁾

called the Gilbert Hotel⁽⁵⁾

and there's a couple letters

burned out in the sign

And it's better than a bus stop

they do good business every time it rains

for little girls with nothing in their jeans

but pretty blue wishes and sweet little jeans

And it's raining it's pouring

the old man is snoring

Now I lay me down to sleep⁽⁶⁾

I hear the sirens in the street

All my dreams are made of chrome

I have no way to get back home

I'd rather die before I wake

like Marilyn Monroe⁽⁷⁾

and you could throw my dreams out in the street

and let the rain make 'em grow

Now the night clerk he got a club foot

he's heard every hard luck story

at least a hundred times or more

He says: check out time is 10 am

and that's just what it means

Go on up the stairs

with sweet little wishes and pretty blue dreams

And it's raining it's pouring

and Hollywood's just fine

Swindle a little girl out of her dreams

another letter in the sign

Now never trust a scarecrow wearin' shades⁽⁸⁾ after dark

be careful of that old bow tie he wears

It takes a sweet little bullet from a pretty blue gun⁽⁹⁾

to put those scarlet ribbons in your hair⁽¹⁰⁾

No that ain't no cherry bomb

4th of July's all done

Just some fool playin' that second line

from the barrel of a pretty blue gun

No that ain't no cherry bomb

4th of July's all done

Just some fool playin' that second line

from the barrel of a pretty blue gun

Written by: Tom Waits⁽¹⁾

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP),� 1978

Official release: Blue Valentine, Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1978

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Anthology" (Amsco Publications, 1988/ Nuova Carisch, 2000)

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun:

- Tom Waits (1978): "I've got a song on the album called 'Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun. It's about a suicide on Hollywood Blvd. About a year ago, this 15 year old girl jumped out of a 17th floor window with a guitar. Never made Crawdaddy magazine. You never hear those stories." (Source: "Tom Waits - Little Murders" Twin Cities Reader. November 17, 1978. By Greg Linder)

- Live intro from Austin City Limits. March 24, 1979: "This is a story about Hollywood Boulevard. And uh... Now you know there's all these young girls from the mid-west. Still pick up a Modern Screen magazine, get on a Greyhound bus, come on up looking for Clark Gable. And uh... they end up down on uh Wilcox Avenue. And uhm... there's a pimp feeding icecream to a dog. You know? It's uh... "Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen". This is about any night, when it's raining and it's pouring... "

⁽²⁾ Quoting nursery rhyme: "It's raining, it's pouring":

- Version 1: "It's raining, it's pouring; The old man is snoring. He went to bed and he Bumped his head And he couldn't get up in the morning"

- Version 2: "It's raining, it's pouring; The old man is snoring Bumped his head And he went to bed And he couldn't get up in the morning Rain, rain, go away; Come again another day; Little Johnny wants to play." (Source: Zelo Nursery Rhymes ( (c) 1996-2000 C. Thomas Wright III)

⁽³⁾ Hollywood and Vine: The corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, Hollywood/ Los Angeles California

⁽⁴⁾ Drag n.: A town or city street, esp. the main street (Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽⁵⁾ Gilbert Hotel: These days there's a "Gilbert Hotel" on 1550 N. Wilcox ave Hollywood/ California

⁽⁶⁾ Quoting a children's prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake. I pray the Lord my soul to take." (Submitted by Ulf Berggren. Tom Waits eGroups discussionlist, 2000)

⁽⁷⁾ Monroe, Marilyn: Norma Jean Mortenson. Born Los Angeles /Cal. 01-06-1926. Died Brentwood /Cal. 05-08-1962. American actress and sex-symbol. Was married to Joe Dimaggio for a while.

- Also mentioned in Jitterbug Boy, 1976: "Because I slept with the lions, and Marilyn Monroe" and Hold On, 1999: "With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips she went and took that California trip"

⁽⁸⁾ Shades n. pl.: A pair of sunglasses. Orig. bop musician use c1948-c1955; now mainly beat and student use (Dictionary Of American Slang - Supplement, Wentworth/ Flexner). Also mentioned in "Burma Shave" (And when they pulled her from the wreck You know, she still had on her shades)

⁽⁹⁾ Blue gun:

- 'Blueing' is a treatment applied to gunmetal, to keep it from rusting among other things. It leaves the metal with a characteristic lustre, more of a deep smoky charcoal than blue (Submitted by Russell Fischer. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. September, 2000)

- Gunsmiths use a process called blueing which coats the surfaces of the gun with a very thin coat of oxidized iron compound, which prevents rust and corrosion, and which gives a blue-black color to the steel. The heat which comes from frequent use of the weapon can cause loss of the blueing, and a gun can be re-blued. This may imply that the gun in question was new. Or it had been reprocessed recently (Submitted by Gary Duncan. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. September, 2000)

⁽¹⁰⁾ Scarlet ribbons: could be referring to the classic song Scarlet Ribbons, made famous by Harry Belafonte in 1952/ 1955. Words and Music by: Jack Segal and Evelyn Danzig (1952): "I peeked in to say good-night When I heard my child in prayer "And for me, some scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for my hair" All our stores were closed and shuttered All the streets were dark and bare In our town, no scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for her hair Through the night my heart was aching Just before the dawn was breaking In our town, no scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for her hair I peeked in and on her bed In gay profusion lying there Lovely ribbons, scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for her hair If I live to be a hundred I will never know from where Came those lovely scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for her hair."

---------- B--------

Babbachichuija

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, ba,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, ba, Babbachichuija

chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu...

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, ba,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, ba, Babbachichuija

chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu...

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, ba,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu,

Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu, babba, babba, ba, Babbachichuija

chu, Babbachichuija chu, Babbachichuija chu...

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by:[?], � 1999

Tom Waits: freeform singing

Official release: Orbitones, Spoon Harps & Bellowphones. Ellipsis Arts, 1999

Known covers:

None

Baby Gonna Leave Me

Well I stood on the corner

Until my feet got wet

I stood by the faucet

Till the sink filled up

I stood by the window

Until the moon came up

My baby's bought a ticket

Long as my clothes line

Na na na na, na-na-na

Na na na na

My baby went and left me in a '49 Ford

Going down the highway in a 49 sword

My baby ripped my heart out

with every turn of the moon

Somebody told me

there's never been a rose without a thorn

Na na na na, na-na-na

Na na na

Well I'm just another sad guest

on this dark earth⁽¹⁾

And if I was a tree

I'd be a cut down tree

And if I was a bed 

I'd be an unmade bed

I'll get my 32/20 and it'll have to do⁽²⁾

Na na na na, na-na-na

Na na na na

Gone like the wind in the meadow

And the rain on the hill

You even left your lipstick

And your powder and your blush

Baby gonna leave me

on a Grey Hound bus⁽³⁾

The stars are melting

all across the sky

Na na na na, na-na-na

Na na na na

I let the dog out

But he didn't come back

Stood on the corner until

my feet got wet

Baby leave me in a '49 Ford

I stood by the window

untill the moon came up

Na na na na, na-na-na

Na na na na

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2004

Official release: Real Gone, (P) & � 2004 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ I'm just another sad guest on this dark earth: quoting from Make It Rain: "Since you're gone Deep inside it hurts, I'm just another sad guest on this dark earth ." Could be quoted from Goethe: "Und so lang du das nicht hast, Dieses: Stirb und werde! Bist du nur ein tr�ber Gast, Auf der dunklen Erde." (Trans: And so long as you haven't experienced this, to die and so to grow. You are only a troubled guest, on this dark earth.) From: "Selige Sehnsucht", 1814.

⁽²⁾ I'll get my 32/20 and it'll have to do: refers to the Robert Johnson song "32-20 Blues" (recorded on 26 November 1936 in San Antonio, Texas). "I sent for my baby, and she don't come I sent for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none And if she gets unruly, thinks she don't want do If she gets unruly, and thinks she don't want do Take my 32-20, and cut her half in two She got a thirty-eight special, but I believe it's most too light She got a thirty-eight special, but I believe it's most too light I got a 32-20, got to make the camps alright If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my Gatlin' gun I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my Gatlin' gun You made me love you, now your man have come Aw baby, where you stay last night? Ah baby, where you stay last night? You got your hair all tangled, and you ain't talkin' right Got a thirty-eight special, boys, it do very well Got a thirty-eight special, boys, it do very well I Got a 32-20 now, and it's a burnin' -- If I send for my baby, man and she don't come If I send for my baby, man and she don't come All the doctors in Wisconsin sure can't help her none Hey hey baby, where you stay last night Hey hey baby, where you stayed last night You didn't come home until the sun was shinin' bright Ah boys, I just can't take my rest Ah boys, I just can't take my rest With this 32-20 layin' up and down my breast."

⁽³⁾ Greyhound bus: American Greyhound bus line, featuring Greyhound logo. Apparently associated with economy/ low class traveling. Greyhound began its operations in 1914 as the Mesaba Transportation Company in Hibbing, Minnesota, when Carl Eric Wickman began transporting miners from Hibbing to Alice, Minnesota. Further reading: Don's Greyhound Bus Memories, Greyhound official site

Back In The Good Old World (Gypsy)

When I was a boy, the moon was pearl

The sun a yellow gold.

When I was a man, the wind blew cold

The hills were upside down.

But now that I have gone from here

There's no place I'd rather be

Than to float my chances on the tide

Back in the good old world

On October's last I'll fly back home

Rolling down winding way

Scarecrows are all dressed in rags

Out at the edge of the field I lay

And all I've got's a pocket full

Of flowers on my grave

Oh but summer is gone, I remember it best

Back in the good old world

All I've got's a pocket full

Of flowers on my grave

Oh but summer is gone, and I remember it best

Back in the good old world

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), � 1991

Official release: Night On Earth (Original Soundtrack Recording), Island Records Inc., 1992

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Known covers:

Bangin' On The Table With An Old Tin Cup. Pascal Fricke. April 12, 2007. Self-released (Germany)

Good Old World (Night On Earth)

Bad Liver And A Broken Heart

Well, I got a bad liver and a broken heart

Yeah, I drunk me a river since you tore me apart

And I don't have a drinking problem 'cept when I can't get a drink

And I wish you'd known her, we were quite a pair

She was sharp as a razor and soft as a prayer

So welcome to the continuing saga

She was my better half, and I was just a dog

And so here am I slumped

I've been chipped and I've been chumped on my stool

So buy this fool some spirits and libations⁽²⁾

It's these railroad station bars

And all these conductors and the porters

And I'm all out of quarters

And this epitaph is the aftermath

Yeah, I choose my path, hey come on, Kath

He's a lawyer, he ain't the one for ya

No, the moon ain't romantic, it's intimidating as hell

And some guy's trying to sell me a watch

And so I'll meet you at the bottom of a bottle of bargain Scotch⁽³⁾

I got me a bottle and a dream, it's so maudlin⁽⁴⁾ it seems

You can name your poison⁽⁵⁾

Go on ahead and make some noise I ain't sentimental

This ain't a purchase, it's a rental, and it's purgatory

And hey, what's your story, well I don't even care

Cause I got my own double-cross to bear⁽⁶⁾

And I'll see your Red Label, and I'll raise⁽⁷⁾ you one more

And you can pour me a cab, I just can't drink no more

cause it don't douse the flames

that are started by dames, It ain't like asbestos

It don't do nothing but rest us assured

And substantiate the rumors that you've heard

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music (ASCAP), � 1976

Official release: Small Change, Elektra/ Asylum Records, 1976

Known covers:

None

<object height="385" width="480"></object> 

Waits performing "Bad Liver And A Broken Heart". With: Frank Vicari (tenor saxophone), Fitz Jenkins (upright bass), Chip White (drums). Taken from Rockpalast, WDR television concert documentary. WDR Studio's/ Studio-L. Cologne/ Germany (aired April 18, 1977.  

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Tom Waits (1976): "I put a lot into 'Bad Liver and a Broken Heart'. I tried to resolve a few things as far as this cocktail- lounge, maudlin, crying-in-your-beer image that I have. There ain't nothin' funny about a drunk. You know, I was really starting to believe that there was something amusing and wonderfully American about a drunk. I ended up telling myself to cut that shit out. On top of everything else, talking about boozing substantiates the rumours that people hear about you, and people hear that I'm a drunk. So I directed that song as much to the people that listen to me and think they know me as much as I directed it to myself." (Source: "Smelling like a brewery, lookin' like a tramp". Rolling Stone: David McGee. 1976) 

⁽²⁾ Libation n.: 1. The pouring of a liquid offering as a religious ritual; the liquid so poured. 2. A beverage, especially an intoxicating beverage, informal (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin - Third Edition)

⁽³⁾ And so I'll meet you at the bottom of a bottle of bargain Scotch: 

- Tom Waits (1978): "I don't drink when I'm working. John, my road manager, does. He buys bargain stuff, like Frank's Scotch, or Bensen & Hedges brewed in Rochester. He was my inspiration for my line, "I'll meet you at the bottom of a bottle of bargain Scotch." (Source: "Sleazy Rider - A man who works at being a derelict". RELIX magazine by Clark Peterson. May - June, 1978. Vol. 5 No. 2) 

⁽⁴⁾ Maudlin: Stupidly sentimental. Maudlin drunk is the drunkenness which is sentimental and inclined to tears. Maudlin slip-slop is sentimental chitchat. The word is derived from Mary Magdalen, who is drawn by ancient painters with a lackadaisical face, and eyes swollen with weeping. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd) 

⁽⁵⁾ Poison: n. [19C+] an ironic term for drink in general; thus [1910+] (Aus.) poison-shop, a public house (name your poison). (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9) 

⁽⁶⁾ Cause I got my own double-cross to bear: "Double-cross to bear" is a play on two common expressions - "double cross" (a deliberate betrayal; violation of a promise or obligation) and "cross to bear" (a heavy burden: referring to the account in the Bible where Jesus was made to carry his own cross to the hill where he was crucified). (Source: Email by Leroy Larson to Tom Waits Library. October, 2005)

⁽⁷⁾ Raise v.: After someone has opened betting in a round, to increase the amount of the bet is to raise. For example, if the betting limit is $5 and player A bets $5, player B can fold, call the $5, or raise it to $10 (Source: Dan's poker dictionary, Dan Kimberg)

Barber Shop

Good morning Mister, snip snip snip

With your hair cut just as short as mine

Good morning Mister, snip snip snip

With your hair cut just as short as mine

Bay Rum, Lucky Tiger, Butch Wax, Crackerjacks⁽¹⁾

Shoe shine, jaw breaker, magazine racks

Hangin' round the barber shop, a side-burnin' close crop

Mornin' Mr. Furgeson, what's the good word with ya?

Stayin' out of trouble like a good boy should

I see you're still cuttin' hair, I'm still cuttin' classes

I got a couple passes to the Ringle Bros. Barn Bail circus⁽²⁾ afternoon

You lost a little round the middle and you're lookin' real good

Sittin' on the wagon⁽³⁾ 'stead of under the hood

What's the low-down⁽⁴⁾, Mr. Brown, I heard your boy's leavin' town?

I bought myself a Struggle Buggy⁽⁵⁾, sucker's powder blue⁽⁶⁾

Throw me over th' sports page, Cincinnati lookin' good

I always been for Pittsburgh, and I lay you 10 to 1

The Pirates get the pennant and the series 'fore their done

The hair's gettin' longer, you know the skirts are gettin' shorter

And don't you know that you can get a cheaper haircut if you wanna cross the border

If your mama saw you smokin', well she'd kick your ass

Now you put it out, you juvenile, and put it out fast

Well, if I had a million dollars, what would I do?

I'd probably be a barber, not a bum⁽⁷⁾ like you

Still got your paper route, now that's just fine

And you can pay me double, 'cause you gypped me last time

And don't you know that you can keep a little circus money and spend it on a girl

And just remember that I give the best haircuts in the whole wide world

I give the best haircuts in the whole wide world

Good morning Mister, snip snip snip

With your hair cut just as short as mine

Good morning Mister, snip snip snip

With your hair cut just as short

You got your hair cut just as short

You got your hair cut just as short as mine

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP),� 1977 ⁽⁷⁾

Official release: Foreign Affairs, Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1977

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Bay Rum, Lucky Tiger, Butch Wax, Crackerjacks: 

- Bay Rum is an aromatic liquid originally prepared by distilling the leaves of the bay rum tree in rum and water. 

- Lucky Tiger is a brand name for a line of haircare products including Butch Wax (also mentioned in "Swordfishtrombone": "With Lucky Tiger in his angel hair, and Benzedrine for getting there.") 

- Cracker Jack is the brand name of a snack food (Thanks to Leroy Larson for pointing out these references. October, 2005)

⁽²⁾ Ringle Bros. Barn Bail circus:"Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus". P.T. Barnum the flamboyant 19th century American entrepreneur/ swindler born: 1810 - died: 1891. The first and perhaps greatest showman of the US. In 1842 he opened his "American Museum of Curiosities" in NY city, in which he displayed all kinds of real but also fake curiosities and freaks. In 1871 he opened his circus "The greatest show on earth" in Brooklyn. The original circus was called simply the "P. T. Barnum Circus". He then merged with his competitor and formed the Barnum & Bailey Circus. When Barnum died, Bailey ran the circus. When Bailey died, the Ringling Brothers bought them out. That's how we get the incredibly long "Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus".

⁽³⁾ Wagon, on the: Not drinking alcoholic beverages, either for a short or a long period (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽⁴⁾ Low-down, lowdown

- n.: The real truth; confidential or authentic information; relevant facts; little known intimate facts; info; dope (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Notice the same phrase being mentioned in intro to Emotional Weather Report, 1975: "Slip me a little crimson Jimson. Gimme the lowdown, Brown."

⁽⁵⁾ Buggy n.: A car, esp. an old and rickety one (Source: New dictionary of American slang, Chapman)

⁽⁶⁾ Powder blue

- n. A moderate to pale blue or purplish blue. Etymology: From the color of powdered smalt (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company).

- Also mentioned in "On A Foggy Night" (1975): "Cause there's no consolation, what kind of situation to be aimlessly skewed amidst a powder blue." and "Downtown" (1980): "Just another dead soldier in a powder blue night."

⁽⁷⁾ Inspired by or refering to "Good Morning Mr. Zip-Zip-Zip". Good Morning Mr. Zip-Zip-Zip is a ragtime song written by Robert Lloyd and published as sheet music in 1918 by Leo Feist Inc. of New York City. It was a popular if quirky tune with United States soldiers during the WW-I. In 1918, both Victor Records (VI18510) and Columbia Records (A-2530) issued a recording of the song by Arthur Fields and the Peerless Quartet. The reference to "Camels" and "Fatimas" are references to popular cigarettes of the time. "Verse 1 - We come from ev'ry quarter, From North, South, East and West, To clear the way to freedom For the land we love the best. We've left our occupations and home, so far and dear, But when the going's rather rough, We raise this song in cheer: Chorus - Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip, With your hair cut just as short as mine, Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip, You're surely looking fine! Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, If the Cam-ls don't get you, The Fatimas must, Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip, With your hair cut just as short as, your hair cut just as short as, your hair cut just as short as mine. Verse 2 - You see them on the high-way, You meet them down the pike, In olive drab and khaki Are soldiers on the hike; And as the column passes, The word goes down the line, Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip, You're surely looking fine." (Submitted by Tricia Hubert, as sent to the Tom Waits Yahoo discussionlist. January 19, 2005)

Barcarolle

A cloud lets go of the moon

Her ribbons are all out of tune

She is skating on the ice in a glass

in the hands of a man

That she kissed on a train

And the children are all gone into town

to get candy and we are alone in the house here

And your eyes fall down on me

And I belong only to you

The water is filling my shoes

In the wine of my heart there's a stone

In a well made of bone

That you bring to the pond

And I'm here in your pocket

curled up in a dollar

And the chain from your watch

around my neck

And I'll stay right here until it's time...

The girls all knit in the shade

before the baby is made

And the branches bend down to the ground

here to swing on

I'm lost in the blond summer grass

And the train whistle blows

And the carnival goes

Till there's only the tickets and crows

And the grass will all grow back

And the branches spell "Alice"⁽²⁾

And I belong only to you⁽³⁾

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan⁽¹⁾

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), C 1992

Official release: Alice, Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Alice - Tom Waits" (Amsco Publications, 2002)

Alternate early demo version known as: Untitled track 13, from the "Alice demos"

Further reading: Alice full story

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Barcarolle: Sung by White Sheep and Alice from Knee 10 "Barcarolle". Directions from the play: "Alice and the White Sheep sail away singing as they go. WHITE SHEEP AND ALICE sing:..."

⁽²⁾ And the branches spell Alice. Notice analogy with: "And the skates on the pond, they spell: Alice" (Alice, 1992/ 2002)

⁽³⁾ Directions from the play: "As they sail, a wall appears, with a large egg sitting upon it. Alice leaps from the boat, and it sails off with the White Sheep".

Bend Down The Branches

The sky's as deep as it can be

Bend down the branches

Close your eyes and you will see

Bend down the branches

You're like a willow

Once you were gold

We're made for bending

Even beauty gets old

Climb the stairs they're not so steep

Bend down the branches

Close your eyes and go to sleep

Bend down the branches

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1998/ 2006

Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording studios. Cotati, CA/ USA, 1998

Official release: from the soundtrack of the animated movie Bunny, directed by Chris Wedge 1998 (no soundtrack album available)⁽¹⁾

Re-released on: Orphans (Bawlers), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Bunny music credits:

- "Music Arranger Francis Thumm, Sound Engineer Jacquire King. Musicians Andrew Borger, Trevor Dunn, Matt Brubeck, Joe Gore, Ralph Carney, Carla Kihlstedi Nik Phelps. Foley Artist Ginger Geary, 2nd Engineer Jeff Sloan. Audio Recording and Mixing by Kessler Media Productions, Ltd. Sound Designer Robert Kessler, Sound Engineer Scott Cresswell. Sound Engineering and Mixing Engineer Paul Goodrich. Sound Transfer Sound One, Dolby Sound Consultant Eric A. Christoffersen Film Recording by Pacific Ocean Post Special Thanks to Pat Repola". Further reading: Bunny at Blue Sky Studios (part of FOX Entertainment Group).

Better Off Without A Wife

All my friends are married

Every Tom and Dick and Harry⁽²⁾

You must be strong if you're to go it alone

Here's to the bachelors and the Bowery⁽³⁾ bums⁽⁴⁾

Those who feel that they're the ones

That are better off without a wife

Cause I like to sleep until the crack of noon⁽⁵⁾

Midnight howlin' at the moon

Goin' out when I want to,

And I'm comin' home when I please

Don't have to ask permission

If I wanna go out fishin'

Never have to ask for the keys

I've never been no Valentino⁽⁶⁾

But I had a girl who lived in Reno⁽⁷⁾

Left me for a trumpet player

Well, it didn't get me down

He was wanted for assault

And though he said it weren't his fault

You know the coppers⁽⁸⁾ rode him right out of town⁽⁹⁾

I'll be sleeping until the crack of noon

Midnight howlin' at the moon

And I'll be goin' out when I want to

Comin' home when I please

Don't have to ask permission

If I wanna go out fishin'

Never have to ask for the keys

Yeah, you see I'm kinda selfish about my privacy

Now as long as I can be with me

We get along so well I can't even believe it

I love to chew the fat⁽¹⁰⁾ with folks

I'll be listening to all your dirty jokes

I'm so thankful for these friends I do receive

I'll be sleeping until the crack of noon

Midnight howlin' at the moon

And I'll be goin' out when I want to

Comin' home when I please

Don't have to ask permission

If I wanna go out fishin'

Never have to ask for the keys, no

Hey, I got this girl I know, man, and I just...

She's been married several times and...

I don't wanna end up like her.

I mean, she's been married so many times

she's got rice-marks all over her face.

Yeah, you know the kind...

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music Inc. (ASCAP), �1975

Official release: Nighthawks At The Diner, Elektra/ Asylum Records, 1975⁽¹¹⁾

Known covers:

Stilte Als Refrein. Johan Verminnen. 1976 (Beter Zonder Wijf). Jean Kluger (Belgium)

The Piano Has Been Drinking. The Piano Has been Drinking. April, 1990. Chlodwig /BMG Germany (in German/ K�lsch)

Live 1989-1993. The Piano Has Been Drinking. November 15, 1993. Chlodwig /BMG Germany (in German/ K�lsch)

Step Right Up (The Songs Of Tom Waits). Various artists. November, 1995. Manifesto Records. Performed by Pete Shelley

East Of Sunset - Soundtrack. Various artists. September 13, 2005. Manifesto Records. Performed by Pete Shelley (same version as on Step Right Up, 1995)

Dolphin Blue Live. Dolphin Blue. December, 2007. Rising Sun Productions (German CDR)

<object height="385" width="480"></object> 

Waits performing "Better Off Without A Wife". Solo at the piano. Taken from "Soundstage" PBS television show on Tom Waits and Mose Allison. Chicago/ USA (aired December 22, 1975, recorded November 3, 1975 or earlier).  

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Intro from "Nighthawks At The Diner": "For all the bachelors out there tonight. Yeah, for anybody who's ever whistled this song (plays the wedding march). Or maybe you've whistled it but you've lost the sheet music. Eh-heh-heh-heh. This is eh.... Well, actually, I don't mind going to weddings or anything. As long as it's not my own, I show up. But, eh... I've always kind of been partial to calling myself up on the phone and asking myself out. You know... (whoops from the audience). Oh yeah, you call yourself up too, huh? Yeah... Well, one thing about it, you're always around! Yeah, I know. Yeah, you ask yourself out, you know. Some class joint somewhere. The Burrito King or something. You know... Well, I ain't cheap, you know. Take yourself out for a couple of drinks maybe, you know. Then you'll be... some provocative conversation on the way home. And park in front of the house, you know, and you... Oh yeah, you�re smooth with it... you know, you put a little nice music on. Maybe you put on like... you know... like shopping music, something that's not too interruptive, you know. And then, you know, and eh... slide over real nice, you know, say, 'Oh, I think you have something in your eye'. Eh-heh-heh. Well, maybe it's not that romantic with you, but Christ, I... you know! It ain't... you know... Take myself up to the porch, and take myself inside. Oh, maybe... I make a little something, a brandy snifter or something. Would you like to listen to some of my back records. I got something here... Well, usually about 2.30 in the morning you've ended up taking advantage of yourself and... there ain't no way around that, you know. Yeah, making the scene with a magazine, there ain't no way around... I'll confess, you know, I'm no different, you know. I'm not weird about it or anything. I don't tie myself up first, I just... you know. I just kind of... spend a little time with myself. So this is kind of a little anthem here..." (Submitted by Ulf Berggren as sent to Raindogs Listserv Discussionlist, October 31, 1999) 

Make the scene with the magazine, to: phr. [1900s] to masturbate, [joc. use of make the scene + assonance, with ref. to the 'men's magazines' used for stimulation] (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)

Tom Waits (Intro from Coffee Break radio show, 1975): "Well here's one about eh... matrimony... Eh, it's kind of an old song I kept working around eh... I used to do it like a blues and it ended up like a little ballad, like a little anthem. But this is kind of a eh... Well I don't have any personal vendetta against the constipation of holy matrimony, but this is just kind of a... " (Source: Coffee Break Concert Interview: The Coffee Break Concert radio show on WMMS-FM (Cleveland/ USA). Conducted by Kid Leo (Lawrence James Travagliante). December 3, 1975)

⁽²⁾ Every Tom and Dick and Harry: 1a. Fig., just any youth or man (men) regardless of worth; a nobody. Usu. in the expression "every Tom, Dick and Harry." (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) 1b. A set of nobodies; persons of no note; persons unworthy notice. Jones, Brown, and Robinson are far other men: they are the vulgar rich, especially abroad, who give themselves airs, and look with scorn on all foreign ways which differ from their own. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

⁽³⁾ Bowery, The: America's most famous Skid Row (New York City). The Bowery gets it name from boweryij, the Dutch word for farm, because it was part of a farming area north of the city during the late 17th century. As the city grew northward, the Bowery grew in elegance and prominence, Philanthropist Peter Cooper and songwriter Stephen Foster were among those who called the street home. The Great Bowery Theatre opened in 1826 as the largest auditorium on the continent and came to play a major role in the theatrical life of the city. After the Civil War, much of the commercial and residential bustle of the city shifted to Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Elevated trains above the Bowery spewed oil and hot coals on the sidewalks below, making the street undesirable for pedestrians. Cheap entertainment and cheap lodging replaced homes and businesses, drawing visiting sailors and a steady crowd of vagrants. The Bowery's seedy reputation earned it a prominent place in the culture of the times. The Luc Sante novel Low Life focused on the neighborhood. And the work of painter Reginald Marsch was linked with the street life of New York, including the Bowery. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Bowery was featured prominently in films including the popular Bowery Boys series. More recently, the famous street received mentions in the Broadway musicals Guys and Dolls and The Will Rogers Follies. (Source: "The Bowery Mission" at http://bowery.org/. Copyright � 1997-2000 Christian Herald, Site Designed and Maintained by Admatha)

⁽⁴⁾ Bum

- n.: Generally, a beggar, tramp, hobo, vagrant, or loafer; also, any jobless man or youth having little or no income; a poor, poorly dressed, and unkempt frequenter of saloons; a down-and-outer; sometimes , a hoodlum

- A drifter; a grifter 3. Any male without a professional occupation, goal in life, or social prestige; any disreputable or disliked youth (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Also mentioned in "Barber Shop" (Well, if I had a million dollars, what would I do? I'd probably be a barber, not a bum like you), "Mr. Henry/ Tie Undone" (That the no good bum is at it again. After she's given him all the best years of her life)

 ⁽⁵⁾ Sleep until the crack of noon: "Sleep until the crack of noon" is an ironic play on the phrase "Wake up at the crack of dawn" meaning "to wake up at sunrise." (Source: Email by Leroy Larson to Tom Waits Library. October, 2005)

⁽⁶⁾ Valentino: Cliche expression meaning: a passionate lover. From American actor Rudolph Valentino. Born: 1985 Rodolpho Guglielmi di Valentina D'Antonguolla in Castellaneto Italy. Died: New York 1926. Became the stereotype Latin-lover

 ⁽⁷⁾ Reno: also mentioned in: Wrong side of the road, 1978: "And we'll drive all the way to Reno on the wrong side of the road.", Hang on St. Christopher, 1987: "Hang on St. Christopher now don't let me go, get me to Reno and bring it in low."

⁽⁸⁾ Copper n.: A policeman; esp., a tough policeman or one who is intent on enforcing the law to its fullest (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

 ⁽⁹⁾ Town, out of: In prison. Some underworld use. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) 

⁽¹⁰⁾ Chew the fat: 1. To talk; to gossip; to chat at lenght, esp. about trivial matters. 2. A visit, esp. for the purpose of discussing "old times." Orig. British Army sl., W.W.I. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽¹¹⁾ Song could be inspired by: "Doin' What I Please". Fats Waller, Andy Razaf. Transcribed from Don Redman and His orchestra, vocals by Don Redman; recorded October 6, 1932: "I'm staying single, Conscience at ease, I'm free to mingle, I do what I please! When I'm out late nights, No one has my keys, Yeah, I keep my dates nights Doin' what I please. You know, I don't have no starved waters, (?) Because they keep you on the shelf, And I ain't takin' orders, So I just go along enjoyin' myself. Should I go sailing 'Cross the seven seas? No one can stop me, Doin' what I please! You know I have romances, Just like a dog has fleas, And I take in all the dances, That's because I do what I please. I blow in at these parties, Just like a reckless breeze; I outsmart all these other smarties, Because I do just what I please. You know, where there's no action, You'll find that there's blues about, And I get my satisfaction Only when I'm steppin' out. And whenever I get tipsy Out at one of these jamborees, No one can stop me, 'Cause I do what I please!"

Big Black Mariah

(Raindogs studio version, 1985)

Well, it's cuttin' through the cane break⁽²⁾, rattling the sill⁽³⁾

Thunder that the rain makes when the shadow top the hill

Big light on the back street, hill to Evermore⁽⁴⁾

Packin' down the ladder⁽⁵⁾ with the hammer to the floor

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

I see the Big Black Ford

Well, he's all boxed up⁽⁶⁾ on a red bell dame

Hunted Black Johnny with a blind man's cane

A yellow bullet with a rag⁽⁷⁾ out in the wind

An old blind tiger⁽⁸⁾ got an old bell Jim

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Ford

Sent to the skies on a Benny Jag Blue⁽⁹⁾

Off to bed without his supper like a Lindabrides⁽¹⁰⁾ do

He got to do the story with the old widow Jones

He got a wooden coat⁽¹¹⁾, this boy is never coming home

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

I see that Big Black Ford

Cut through the cane break...

Oh yeah

Oh yeah

Well, he's all boxed up on a red bell dame

Fat Blue Charlie with a blind man's cane

A hundred yellow bullets, shook a rag out in the wind

An old black tiger on a pair of blue wings⁽¹²⁾

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Mariah

Here come the Big, yeah, Black Ford

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1985

Official release: Rain Dogs, Island Records Inc., 1985

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Big Black Mariah

(Big Time live version, 1988)

I'm cutting through the cane break⁽²⁾, rattling the sill⁽³⁾

Thunder that the rain makes when the shadow tops the hill

Big light on the back street, hill to Evermore⁽⁴⁾

Packing down the ladder⁽⁵⁾ with the hammer to the floor

Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah baby

Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the big black Ford

Well I'm all boxed up⁽⁶⁾ on a red belle dame

Flat Blue Johnny with a blind man's cane

A yellow bullet with a rag⁽⁷⁾ out in the wind

That old blind tiger⁽⁸⁾, an old bell

Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah baby, here come the big black Ford, yeah

Now we're all boxed up on a red belle dame

Flat Blue Johnny with a blind man's cane

A yellow bullet with a rag out in the wind

That old blind tiger, an old bell

Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah baby

Here come the Big Black Mariah, here come the big black Ford

Oh yeah, Big Black Mariah, here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Here come the Big Black Mariah

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music, Admin. by Ackee Music, Inc. (ASCAP), � 1985-1988

Official release: "Big Time", � Island Visual Arts Inc. (P) Island Records Inc., 1988

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Also included in Big Time the Movie. Further reading: Big Time full story

Known covers:

Wicked Grin. John Hammond. March 13, 2001. Emd/ Virgin

The Carnival Saloon Live. The Carnival Saloon. October, 2001. Self-released (Ireland)

The Silverhearts Play Raindogs. The Silverhearts. October 5, 2005. Banbury Park Records

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Big Black Mariah/ Black Maria, Black Mariah

- n.: A police wagon or truck used to take arrested persons to jail (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975)

- The black van which conveys prisoners from the police courts to jail. The French call a mud-barge a "Marie-salope." The tradition is that the van referred to was so called from Maria Lee, a negress, who kept a sailors' boarding house in Boston. She was a woman of such great size and strength that the unruly stood in dread of her, and when constables required help, it was a common thing to send for Black Maria, who soon collared the refractory and led them to the lock-up. So a prison-van was called a "Black Maria." (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd). 

- n.: A hearse (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975)/ Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

- "We can dispose of the fashionable London lady straightaway, as the expression for a police or prison van is quite certainly American in origin. The Boston story is about Maria Lee, a large black woman who kept a boarding house in the 1820s with such severity that she became more feared than the police, who called on her to help them catch and restrain criminals. The story almost certainly became attached to her much later because she was well-known, black, and was named Maria, but there's no evidence that she was actually the source of the name for the police vans. The first reference we have to such a vehicle in Boston is dated 1847, which might seem to be rather too long after her heyday for there to be a direct connection. The book that Eric Partridge mentions is Peter Ploddy, and Other Oddities of 1844, by Joseph Clay Neal, a well-known American journalist and humorist of the period. It contains the story The Prison Van; or, The Black Maria, whose title was until recently thought to be the first known use of the term. In it, the author wrote: "In Philadelphia ... the popular voice applies the name of 'Black Maria' to each of these melancholy vehicles". However, we now know, as the result of research by George Thompson, that the term was in use in New York about a decade earlier, since the term was used in at least two newspaper reports, one of 1835 and the other of 1836. The former was in the New York Transcript of 24 Dec 1835 and said "A man named Henry Stage ... contrived to make his escape on Saturday last while on his way from Bellevue prison to the city in the carriage generally known as 'Black Maria' ". One sidelight on the term which many World Wide Words subscribers have pointed out is that it is universally pronounced (as in "I call the wind Maria"), and not the more common American (as in "Ave, Maria"). This is probably a perpetuation in this fixed phrase of a way of saying the name that was once more common than it is now. Douglas G Wilson has suggested a possible association with a famous black racehorse of the period, also named Black Maria, which was foaled in Harlem, New York, in 1826. She won many races (her purse winnings alone amounted to nearly $15,000, a very large sum for the period), but it seems that her most famous exploit was on 13 October 1832, when she won the race for the Jockey Club purse of $600 at the Union Course. In 1870, an article about her in Harper's New Monthly Magazine noted that "The track was heavy, and yet, to achieve a victory, twenty miles had to be run. We wonder if there is a horse on the turf to-day that could stand up under such a performance as this?". The dates are highly suggestive. Here is a black racehorse whose most famous exploit is in New York in 1832, and only three years later her name is used for a police van in the same city. There can be no proof without further evidence-which may never be forthcoming-but like her many admirers, I'd put my money on her to be first past the post." (Source: World Wide Words is copyright � Michael Quinion, 1996-2004)

- The different explanations of "a Black Maria(h)" being either a police wagon or a prison van or a hearse (or even an ambulance) have led to different interpretations of the song. 1. An arrested person being taken to jail. 2. A prisoner being taken to death row. 3. A deceased person being driven to the graveyards. Though the first interpretation (police wagon/ paddy wagon) is most common, there's several clous in the song that seem to suggest this is about a black hearse (Boxed up, Sent to the skies, Of to bed without his supper, Do the story with the old widow Jones, He got a wooden coat, This boy is never coming home) (Thanks to Fran Mironchik for pointing to these alternative interpretations. September 17, 2003)

- Tom Waits (1985): "A Mariah is - originally it was the woman that ran some kind of a cathouse in New Orleans I guess and every time it got popped they figured she was the one that blew the whistle so the paddy wagon pulled up out in front and down through the years they started referring to it as the Black Mariah. Now it's the hearse or whatever." (Source: "Rain Dogs Island Promo Tape" (taped comments on songs as sent to radio stations). Date: late 1985)

- Rip Rense: "One on which Richards appears is a menacing thing called "Big Black Mariah," which was explained as being about (take your pick) a fabled New Orleans madam, the police, a hearse or Mr. Death" (Source: "Enigmatic Waits survives, thrives" The San Diego Union-Tribune. By Rip Rense. November 1, 1985)

- Tom Waits (1986): "There was something in there that I thought he {Keith Richards] would understand. I picked out a couple of songs that I thought he would understand and he did. He's got a great voice and he's just a great spirit in the studio. He's very spontaneous, he moves like some kind of animal. I was trying to explain Big Black Maria and finally I started to move in a certain way and he said, "Oh, why didn't you do that to begin with? Now I know what you're talking about.' It's like animal instinct." (Source: "Waits Happening" Beat magazine 1986, by Pete Silverton)

- Notice the excessive use of words starting with the letter "B": cane Break, Big light, Back street, Big Black Mariah, Big Black Ford, Boxed up, Bell dame, Black Johnny, Blind man's cane, yellow Bullet, Blind tiger, Bell Jim, BigBlack Mariah, Big Black Ford, Benny jag Blue, off to Bed, Linda Brides, this Boy, Big Black Mariah, Big Black Ford, cane Break, Boxed up, Bell dame, Blue Charlie, Blind man's cane, yellow Bullets, Black tiger, Blue wings, Big Black Mariah, Big Black Ford

⁽²⁾ Cane break n.: A field that is not planted between two fields that are planted with sugar cane. (Source: Tom Waits Digest, Seth Nielssen)

⁽³⁾ Sill n.: The shaft or thill of a carriage (Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, � 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)

⁽⁴⁾ Evermore (ever more?): Might be quoting from Tolkien's trilogy The Lord Of The Rings. "The Battle of Evermore" is an acoustic guitar and mandolin track from Led Zeppelin's album: "Four Symbols, Runes, Zoso", 1971. It is based on events in the third of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books, The Return of the King

⁽⁵⁾ Ladder: n. [16C] the gallows (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

⁽⁶⁾ Boxed up: 1. adj. [20C.] (N.Z.) imprissoned (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000) 2. v. enclosed or confined as if in a box/ coffin

⁽⁷⁾ Rag n.: A flag. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

⁽⁸⁾ Blind tiger: [1920s] the owner of an illicit bar. (ety. unknown) (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975). Though this is the common explanation found in dictionaries, it doesn't seem to be the right interpretation for this song

⁽⁹⁾ Benny Jag Blue:

- Benny: 1. Any amphetamine pill, esp. benzedrine. Addict and student use since c1945. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975) 2. Intoxication as a result of using Benzedrine, a trade name for an amphetamine. Drug culture. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975) Benny/ Bennie/ Bennies n. [1940s] (orig. US drugs) Benzedrine, thus Benny-head, a benzedrine user (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

- Jag: -jag. Similar to -fest, -jag = any session or period of uniterupted and unrestrained activity. The connotation however, is of a fit rather then a feast. the suffix word conveys a suggestion of compulsion (crying jag, candy jag, cigarette jag). (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975). Jag n. 1. A spree, usu. a drinking party. 2. Fig., a spree or splurge, a spell of unrestrained activity of any kind. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975). 3. [1950s+] the taking of a drug, usu. narcotic, but also cannabis or LSD. (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000) 4. [late 19C+] (US) a period of indulgence, a fit, a spree of any kind. [1910s+] (orig. US) a breakdown, an emotional collapse, often as a crying jag, lenghty and profound sobbing (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

- Blue: 1. Drunk (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975). 2. Melancholy; sad; depressed. Colloq. n. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975). 3. n. [1900s - 30s] a spree (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000) 4. (drugs) [1960s] usu. in pl. an amphetamine 5. [early 19C] (orig. US) a general intensifier, e.g. blue murder, scared blue  6. adj. [1910s-60s] euph. for BLOODY adj. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

⁽¹⁰⁾ Lindabrides: a euphemism for a female of no repute, a courtezan. Lindabrid�s is the heroine of the romance entitled The Mirror of Knighthood, one of the books in don Quixote's library (pt. I. i. 6), and the name became a household word for a mistress. It occurs in two of sir W. Scott's novels, Kenilworth and Woodstock (Source: Brewer's Readers Guide, revised edition, 1898)

⁽¹¹⁾ Wooden (over)coat: = wooden kimona. A coffin. Some underworld and fictional use since c1920 (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner, 1975)

⁽¹²⁾ The last verse is not included in the lyric sheet (transcription by Ulf Berggren as sent to Raindogs Listserv discussionlist, November 1, 1999).

Big Face Money

When the show is over and the work is through

I want the big face money

I'll get all that cash and bring it home to you

I'll get the big face money

I'll get the big face money

I want the big face money

I'll get the big face money

Written by: Tom Waits and Casey X. Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1999

Official release: Hold On, Anti Inc., 1999

Known covers:

None

Big In Japan

I got the style but not the grace

I got the clothes but not the face

I got the bread but not the butter

I got the window but not the shutter

But I'm big⁽²⁾ In Japan

I'm big in Japan

Hey, but I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I got the house but not the deed

I got the horn but not the reed

I got the cards but not the luck

I got the wheel but not the truck

But hey, I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

But hey, I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I got the moon, I got the cheese

I got the whole damn nation on their knees

I got the rooster, I got the crow

I got the ebb, I got the flow

I got the powder but not the gun

I got the dog but not the bun

I got the clouds but not the sky

I got the stripes but not the tie

But hey, I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

Hey-ho, they love the way I do it

Hey-ho, there's really nothing to it

I got the moon, I got the cheese

I got the whole damn nation on their knees

I got the rooster, I got the crow

I got the ebb, I got the flow

I got the sizzle but not the steak

I got the boat but not the lake

I got the sheets but not the bed

I got the jam but not the bread

But hey, I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

Hey! I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

I'm big in Japan

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1999

Official release: Mule Variations, Anti Inc., 1999

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Mule Variations" (Amsco Publications, 2000)

Known covers:

Bukowski Waits For Us - Vol. 2. Michael Kiessling. September 25, 2000. Buschfunk (Germany)

Nach mir die Sintflut - Ambros singt Waits. Wolfgang Ambros. October 9, 2000. Ariol/ Gig Records 74321 797002 (in German: "Gro� in Kagran")

Downhill. Satantango. 2002. Vinza (Italy)

You Have To Dig Deep To Bury Daddy. Jeff Lang. August, 2005. ABC Music (ABC 14512)

Faith & Science. Shane Nicholson. May 20, 2006. EMI / Essence

Bass Box Is Your Friend. Bass Box. March 25, 2007. Self-released

I've Been Waiting. David Ralston. December 2007. Self-released

Sentimental Horses. The Millionaires. June 15, 2008. Self-released (Australia)

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Big In Japan

- Rip Rense (1999): Are you really, as the opening track declares, "Big in Japan?" How do you know this? Ever been there? Tom Waits: "I see myself in the harbor, ripping up the electrical towers, picking up cars, going in like Godzilla and levelling Tokyo. There are people that are big in Japan, and are big nowhere else. It's like going to Mars. It's also kind of a junkyard for entertainment. You can go over there and find people you haven't heard of in 20 years, that have moved over there, and they're like gods. And then there are all those people that don't do any commercials, they have this classy image. And over there, they're hawking cigarettes, underwear, sushi, whiskey, sunglass es, used cars, beach blankets." Q: The beginning of "Big In Japan" is one of the more startling sounds you've ever put on record. TW: "I was in Mexico in a hotel, and I only had this little tape recorder. I turned it on, and I started screaming and banging on this chest of drawers really hard, till it was kindling, trying to make a full sound like a band. And I saved that. That was years ago. I had it on a cassette, and used to listen to it and laugh. It sounded like some guy alone in a room, which it was, trying his hardest to sound like a big, loud band. So we stuck that in the front." (Source: A Q&A about Mule Variations. MSO: Rip Rense, early 1999)

- Jody Denberg (1999): So, are you big in Japan? Tom Waits: "Well, I hope to be big in Japan after this. I don't know if I'm big in Japan. I've been over there several times, but I haven't been there in many years. This is a song about those people who can't work anywhere else but Japan, and, so it's just a goof, you know?" AC: "Big in Japan" is the first song on Mule Variations and there's some strange sounds the minute you put the CD on. Is that a sample of your own vocal percussion? What's happening there? TW: "It's just a contest I had with myself in a hotel room. I wanted to see if I could sound like a band all by myself, without any instruments. So I stood banging on the chest of drawers and the wall and headboard, just trying to, you know, get that sound -- like that full band sound. That's what I wound up with; looped it and sampled it. Or sampled it and looped it or whatever they call it." (Source: Mule Conversations. Austin Chronicle: Jody Denberg. April, 1999)

- Gil Kaufman (1999): Then you have a character like this guy in "Big In Japan." He seems like this guy who's bragging about all the things he has and all the things he doesn't have. He's trying to impress his buddies. He's got the sizzle but he doesn't have the steak. Who is that guy and what inspired you to write a song about that kind of character? Tom Waits: "I don't know. He's just a goof. "I'm big in Japan, baby. Check it out." Kaufman: You see a lot of people in the music business and elsewhere who are like that guy, who are always trying to impress people. It seems like you nailed that guy pretty well. TW: "Well, there are people that are big in Japan and not necessarily anywhere else. "You do a couple of Suntori whisky commercials, you can be big in Japan." Goldberg: That's true. Waits: Hey, there's nothing wrong with being big in Japan. It's OK. At least he's big somewhere. Goldberg: If he really is big, doesn't that come into question too? TW: "He's got the whole damn nation on its knees". Goldberg: That's what he says. TW: "Well, I don't know. [laughter]: Are you calling him a liar? Now I have to defend him? What is this? Is this a tribunal? Or a deposition? What's going on here?" [laughter] Kaufman: We're just trying to find out why this guy thinks he's so big in Japan. TW: "Yeah, well ... You do a couple of Suntori whiskey commercials, you can be big in Japan." (Source: Tom Waits '99, Coverstory ATN. Addicted to Noise: Gil Kaufman en Michael Goldberg. April, 1999)

- Jonathan Valania (1999): What about "Big In Japan"? How big are you in Japan? TW: "Haven't played there in a long time. Last time I was there, I was on a bullet train, had my little porkpie hat, my pointed shoes and my skinny tie. There was a whole car of Japanese gangsters dressed like Al Capone and Cagney, really zooted. Everyone says, "Don't go in there, don't go in there," but it was the only place with seats - everybody else was huddled together like cattle. And they are in this huge air-conditioned car, with tea and little cookies and six guys sitting around talking with cigars. I said, "Fuck, I'm gonna go in there and sit down." And I did. It was like this big, heavy stand-off, then they all started laughing, we all tipped our hats and did that little bow. It was pretty funny. Then I brought my guys in and we all sat down, my mob with the Japanese mob. They always want me to do ads for underwear and cigarettes, but I never did them. I did one and I'll never do it again. I used to see celebrities doing ads and my first reaction was, "Aw, gee he must have needed the money. That's tough." When somebody was on the slide, they would do an ad." (Source: "The Man Who Howled Wolf ". Magnet: Jonathan Valania. June/July, 1999)

⁽²⁾ Big: n. Underworld and teenage streetgang use since c1950. adj. 1. Important, the most important. 2. Successful; celebrated; influential; famous; popularly accepted, esp. said of entertainers or entertainment. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

Big Joe And Phantom 309

See, I just happened to be back on the East coast a few years back

I was tryin' to make me a buck like everybody else

I'll be damned if times didn't get hard, and Christ I got down on my luck

And I got tired of just roamin' and bummin'⁽²⁾ around

So I started thumbin' ⁽³⁾my way back to my old hometown

And you know, I made quite a few miles in the first couple of days

You know, I figured I'd be home in a week if my luck held out this way

You know, it was the third night, oh and I got stranded

And it was out at a cold lonely crossroads⁽⁴⁾

And as the rain came pouring down, man I was hungry

Yeah, I was hungry, tired and freezin', caught myself a chill

But it was just about that time

Yeah, it was just about that time that the lights of an ol' semi topped the hill

You should've seen me smile when I heard them air brakes come on

Yeah, and I climbed up into that cab where I knew it'd be warm

At the wheel... well, at the wheel sat a big man

And I'd have to say he must've weighed two ten

As he stuck out a big hand and he said with a grin

'Big Joe's the name, and this here rig's called Phantom 309'

Well, I asked him why he called his rig such a name

And you know, he turned to me and said '

Why son, don't you know this here rig'll be puttin' 'em all to shame

Nah, there ain't a driver

No, there ain't a driver on this or any other line for that matter that...

That's seen nothin' but the taillights of Big Joe and Phantom 309'

So we rode and we talked the better part of the night

And I told my stories and Joe told his

And I smoked up all his Viceroys as we rolled along

Pushed her ahead with 10 forward gears

Man, that dashboard was lit like the old Madam La Rue pinball

Serious semi truck

Till almost mysteriously...

Well, it was the lights of a truck stop that rolled into sight

Joe turned to me, said 'I'm sorry son, but I'm afraid this is just as far as you go, you see...

You see, I kinda gotta be makin' a turn just up the road a piece'

I'll be damned if he didn't toss me a dime as he threw her in low and said

'Go on in there son, and get yourself a hot cup of coffee on Big Joe'

I mean to tell you, when Joe and his rig pulled off into the night

Man, in nothing flat they was clean outta sight

So I walked into this stop, well I ordered me up a cup of mud⁽⁵⁾,

sayin' 'Big Joe's settin' this dude up',

but it got so deadly quiet in that place

Yeah, it got so deadly quiet in that place, you could've heard a pin drop

And as the waiter's face turned kinda pale I said,

'What's the matter, did I say somethin' wrong?'

I kinda said with a half way grin

He said, 'No son, you see it'll kinda happen every now and then

Cause every driver in here knows Big Joe, son, but...

But let me tell you what happened just 10 years ago out there

Yeah, it was 10 years ago, out there at that cold lonely crossroads⁽⁴⁾

And there was a whole bus load of kids

And then they were just comin' from school

And they were right in the middle when Joe topped the hill and...

They could've been slaughtered except Joe turned his wheels

And he jacknifed, yeah he jacknifed, and he went into a skid

And you know, folks around here, well...

They say he gave his life to save that bunch of kids

And out there at that cold lonely crossroads

Well, they're saying it was the end of the line for Big Joe and Phantom 309

'But it's funny you know, cause... cause every now and then

Yeah, every now and then when the moon's holdin' the water

Well, they say that old Joe'll stop and give you a ride

It seems, just like you, some hitchhiker'll be comin' by'

'So here, son,' he said to me, 'you get yourself another cup of coffee

It's on the house, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime

Yeah, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime as a souvenir

I want you to keep that dime as a souvenir of Big Joe

Of Big Joe and Phantom

Big Joe and Phantom 309'

Written by: Tommy Faile⁽¹⁾

Published by: Fort Knox Music (BMI), � 1967

Official release: "Nighthawks At The Diner", Elektra/ Asylum Records, 1975

Known covers:

N/A

Notes:

⁽¹⁾

- Intro to Big Joe & Phantom 309 (1973): "I don't know who wrote this, I don't know anybody who'd know who wrote this, in fact if somebody does know, maybe you could call and tell me. I first heard Ray Bierl do it, another San Diego musician. This is the first real folk song that just knocked me out. I heard Ray do it - it gave me chills up and down my back." (Source: Folkscene 1973, with Howard and Roz Larman (KPFK-FM 90.7). Date: Los Angeles/ USA. August 12, 1973)

- Live intro from "Nighthawks At The Diner": "Well now, it's story time again. I'm gonna tell you a story 'bout a truck driver. This story was written by a guy named Red Sovine, and it's called the Ballad of Big Joe and Phantom 309."

- Actually this song was written by Tommy Faile (Sovine made it famous). Tommy Faile had a number of hit songs, and topped the country charts with a version of Scotty Wiseman's "Brown Mountain Lights." He was also a member of Arthur Smith's Crackerjacks, where he, among other things, played the part of "Cousin Phudd" in a comedy routine. Sovine, born: Woodrow Wilson Sovine, July 17, 1918 in Charleston, West Virginia. Died: April 4, 1980, Nashville, Tennessee. From 1954 Sovine was a regular at the Grand Ole Opry and, in all, he had 31 US country chart entries. Sovine acquired the nickname of 'The Old Syrup Sopper' following the sponsorship by Johnny Fair Syrup of some radio shows, and the title is apt for such narration's as 'Daddy's Girl'. He was particularly successful with maudlin narrations about truck-drivers and his hits include 'Giddyup Go' (a US country number 1 about a truck-driver being reunited with his son), 'Phantom 309' (a truck-driving ghost story!) and his million-selling saga of a crippled boy and his CB radio, 'Teddy Bear' (1976). Red Sovine's country music owed nothing to contemporary trends but his sentimentality was popular in country clubs around the world. He had no big-time image. In 1980 Sovine died of a heart attack at the wheel of his car in Nashville. 

- Big Joe And Phantom 309. Written by: Tommy Faile. Published by: Fort Knox Music (BMI), © 1967: "I was out on the west coast tryin' to make a buck, And things didn't work out; I was down on my luck. Got tired o' roamin' and bummin' around So I started thumbin' back East, toward my hometown Made a lotta miles the first two days And I figured I'd be home in a week if my luck held out this way. But the third night I got stranded way outta town At a cold lonely crossroads; rain was pourin' down I was hungry and freezin' and done caught a chill When the lights of a big semi topped the hill. Lord, I sure was glad to hear them airbrakes come on, And I climbed in that cab, where I knew it'd be warm At the wheel sat a big man; he weighed about 210. He stuck out his hand and said with a grin,"Big Joe's the name," and I told him mine. And he said, "The name o' my rig is Phantom 309." I asked him why he called his rig such a name. He said, "Son, this old Mac can put 'em all to shame. There ain't a driver or a rig a-runnin' any line That's seen nothin' but taillights from Phantom 309." Well, we rode and talked the better part o' the night, When the lights of a truck stop came in sight. He said, "I'm sorry, son, this is far as you go 'Cause I gotta make a turn just on up the road." Well, he tossed me a dime as he pulled 'er in low And said, "Have yourself a hot cup on ol' Big Joe." When Joe an' his rig roared out into the night In nothin' flat he was clean outta sight Well, I went inside and ordered me a cup; Told the waiter Big Joe was settin' me up. Oh, you coulda heard a pin drop; it got deathly quiet, And the waiter's face turned kinda white "Well, did I say somethin' wrong?" I said with a halfway grin. He said, "No, this happens every now and then. Every driver in here knows Big Joe, But, son, let me tell ya what happened about ten years ago "At the crossroads tonight, where you flagged 'im down, There was a busload o' kids a-comin' from town, And they were right in the middle when Big Joe topped the hill. It could've been slaughter, but he turned his wheels "Well, Joe lost control, went into a skid, And gave his life to save that bunch o' kids. And there at that crossroads was the end of the line For Big Joe and Phantom 309 "But every now and then some hiker'll come by And, like you, Big Joe'll give 'im a ride. Here, have another cup, and forget about the dime; Keep it as a souvenir from Big Joe and Phantom 309."

- It seems Waits was already performing the song when hooting at the San Diego Heritage, ca. 1971/ 1972. Barney Hoskyns (2009): "Waits often ended his hoot sets with the old cowboy ballad "Happy Trails". He also began performing Red Sovine's country classic "Big Joe and Phanthom 309" thaught to hum by (Ray) Bierl - about a truck driver who swerves to avoid a group of school kids and dies in the resulting crash. "'Big Joe' was one of his set-pieces," says Bob Webb, "He enjoyed the dramatic story-telling and the supernatural material in that song" (Source: “Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. Faber/ Broadway, 2009)

⁽²⁾ Bum around

- To loaf; to wander idly; to do nothing (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Also mentioned in "Lucky Day" (But that Bonnie lass and her heart of glass Could not hold a candle to bummin' around)

⁽³⁾ Thumb v.: To hitch-hike (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽⁴⁾ Crossroads

- The term turns up in blues quite a bit, especially in the songs of Johnson, Robert. The crossroads were a place of mysticism, and the saying was that anybody who could play as well as Johnson must have sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in return for talent. According to the Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary of Folklore, crossroads have had superstituous connotations in most cultures - Europe, Asian, North American Indian, etc. Murderers and suicides were buried there, and it was the rendezvous point for witches - "anything could happen there." (Source: The Folk File, Bill Markwick)

- All (except suicides) who were excluded from holy rites were piously buried at the foot of the cross erected on the public road, as the place next in sanctity to consecrated ground. Suicides were ignominiously buried on the highway, with a stake driven through their body. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

⁽⁵⁾ Mud n.: Coffee prepared to drink. Orig. hobo use. Some lunch counter use and army use. Universally known (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

Black Market Baby

She lives in a house

That's way back off the road

There's a man with a lantern

And he carries her soul

A coal stove and a bed

A skillet⁽²⁾ and a hound

She drove a camel through a needle

In this sinking boardwalk town

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's a diamond who wants to stay coal

Wants to stay coal

I swang out wide with her

On hell's iron gate

Anything that you wanted

You could have

My eyes say their prayers to her

Sailors ring her bell

The way a moth mistakes a light bulb

for the moon and goes to hell

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's a diamond who wants to stay coal

Wants to stay coal

There's no prayer like desire

There's amnesia in her kiss

She's a swan and a pistol

And she will follow you like this

In Moberly, Missouri

At the Iroquois Hotel⁽³⁾

She checked in with the President

And she ran up quite a Bill⁽⁴⁾

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's a diamond who wants to stay coal

Wants to stay coal

Well, she's whiskey in a teacup

She gives blondes a lousy name

She's a Bonzai Aphrodite⁽⁴⁾

And a ticket back to Spain

She's a hard way to go

And there ain't no way to stop

Everytime you play the red

the black is coming up

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby)

She's a diamond who wants to stay coal (She's my baby)

She wants to stay coal (She's my baby)

My baby wants to stay coal, coal, coal

My baby wants to stay coal

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1999

Official release: Mule Variations, Anti Inc., 1999

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Mule Variations" (Amsco Publications, 2000)

Known covers:

None

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Black Market baby:

^- Tom Waits (1999): "Kathleen came home with "Black Market Baby." She had it almost all finished. She says, 'She's my black market baby, she's my black market baby, she's a diamond that wants to stay coal.' I thought she said cold. That was almost finished the minute that she said that. Just kind of filled it in." (Source: A Q&A about Mule Variations. MSO: Rip Rense, early 1999)

⁽²⁾ Skillet n.: A shallow, long-handled pan used for frying food. Also called, regionally fry(ing) pan, spider (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin - Third Edition)

⁽³⁾ In Moberly, Missouri at the Iroquois Hotel:

⁽⁴⁾ Bill: "She checked in with the President and she ran up quite a Bill" Might be refering to American President Bill Cinton and his amourous adventures

⁽⁵⁾ Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love. 

Tom Waits (1999): "Kathleen came up with that [Bonsai Aphrodite] . We know this little gal who's just a gorgeous chick, but she's about four-foot-10, looks like she's been bound, like the Chinese do with feet. Kathleen said, "She's a Bonsai Aphrodite." It was Patricia Arquette. We told her about that, she said, "I love that, I'm gonna open up a Flower shop and call it Bonsai Aphrodite," which she did. But, apparently, it didn't last, went under." (Source: "The Man Who Howled Wolf ". Magnet: Jonathan Valania. June/July, 1999)

Black Wings

Well, take an eye for an eye

A tooth for a tooth

Just like they say in the Bible⁽²⁾

Well, never leave a trace

Or forget a face

Of any man at the table

Any man at the table

When the moon is a cold chiseled⁽³⁾ dagger

And it's sharp enough to draw blood from a stone

He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses

And the fence posts in the moonlight look like bones

Well they've stopped trying to hold him

With mortar, stone and chain

He broke out of every prison

Well, the boots mount the staircase

The door is flung back open

He's not there for he has risen

He's not there for he has risen

Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string

He's been seen at the table with kings

Well, he once saved a baby from drowning

There are those that say beneath his coat there are wings

Well, some say they fear him

Well, some say they fear him

Others admire him

Because he steals his promise

Well, one look in his eye

And everyone denies

Ever having met him

Ever having met him

He can turn himself into a stranger

Well, they broke a lot of canes on his hide

He was born away in a cornfield

A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside

Some say they fear him

Others admire him

Because he steals his promise

One look in his eye

Everyone denies

Ever having met him

Ever having met him

Ever having met him

Ever having met him

Ever having met him

Ever having met him

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), 1992

Official release: Bone Machine, Island Records Inc., 1992

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)

Known covers:

Into Temptation - Astrid Seriese sings Waits, Weill & more. Astrid Seriese. October, 1996 (September, 2003). Brigadoon

Birds And Aeroplanes #1. Tunes For The Taking (TFTT). October, 1998. Self-released

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Black Wings:

- Tom Waits (1992): "Well, it's got another one of those little voices. I like that place with my voice. Little of that Marconi feeling. It's a story about phantom type of characters --- you know, the government does business with people like that all the time, but they deny ever having met them." (Source: Bone Machine press kit, Rip Rense. Late 1992)

⁽²⁾ A tooth for a tooth: Matthew 5:38-40 38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well."

⁽³⁾ Cold-chisel:

- A chisel of tempered steel for cutting cold metal. (Source: "The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E. Cobham Brewer. � 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd). 

- Also mentioned in "This One's From The Heart": "To pound a cold chisel through my heart."

Blind Love

Now you're gone

It's hotels and whiskey and sad-luck dames

And I don't care if they miss me

I never remember their names

They say if you get far enough away

You'll be on your way back home

Well, I'm at the station

And I can't get on the train

Must be blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

Blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

With your blind love

Oh, it's blind love

Stone blind love

It's your stone blind love

Now the street's turning blue

The dogs are barking and the night has come

And there's tears that are falling

From your blue⁽²⁾ eyes now

I wonder where you are

And I whisper your name

The only way to find you

Is if I close my eyes

Find you with my blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

With your blind love

Oh, your blind love

Your stone blind love

It's your blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

Stone blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

With your blind love

The only kind of love is stone blind love

Stone blind love

Stone blind love

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1985

Official release: Rain Dogs, Island Records Inc., 1985

Known covers:

Fjorton S�nger. Bad Liver & Hans Brustna Hj�rtan. 1989. Nonstop Records (1989), City Records (re-release May, 1993) NSM 33-15 (in Swedish: "Blind k�rlek")

The Fire Inside. Bob Seger, 1991. Capitol

The Silverhearts Play Raindogs. The Silverhearts. October 5, 2005. Banbury Park Records

West Of The West. Dave Alvin. May 30, 2006. Yep Roc Records

Diamonds In The Dark. Sarah Borges. June 12, 2007. Sugarhill

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Blind Love

- Tom Waits (1985): "Blind Love is one of my first country songs. I like Merle Haggard, most of those other guys, though, sound like they're all just drinking tea and watching their waist and talking to their accountant. This one I think subscribes to some of that roadhouse feel." (Source: "Rain Dogs Island Promo Tape" (taped comments on songs as sent to radio stations, late 1985)

- Tom Waits (1985): "That's a Country song, yeah! My first! (laughs) My firstborn countrysong I think really. With violins and everything... I like Merle Haggard and those guys y'know? Those roadhouse guys, I like... Robert Quine played on that. He saved the song for me. I was about ready to dump it. Eh Quine plays on albums y'know? He plays with Lou reed. And he came in and gave it that Jimmy Reed kind of a... a little bit of Jimmy Reed in there. And I was just "Goddamn, that's alright, cause I didn't know what the hell to do with it." It just had a bass and a guitar You know, I figured "Well maybe we ought to open this up and put a little story in here." You know, a little spoken (laughs) spoken part. And I thought I just played it a little straight. I thought it came off real straight. Cause I was down in Nashville and asked them down there and they said: "Forget it pall!" Y'know? You know: "You never get on the radio around here pall!" So eh, I don't know, I missed the mark. I thought ghee, I thought: "Ghee I've finally done it, we're gonna break out here and eh... " You know all these [...?...] you hear in the song. He said "No, It's a little tighter down there then you might... It's like "Jingles" y'know?" (Source: "Nightlines Interview" Nightlines on CBC Stereo (Canada) conducted by Michael Tearson. Date: New York. Late 1985) 

⁽²⁾ Blue eyed

- adj. Drunk. c1850; obs. Innocent, gullible; idealistic; unworldly. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Blue: adj. 1. [late 18C-19C] confused, terrified, disappointed. 2. [late 18C+] miserable, depressed (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)

Blow Wind Blow

Blow wind blow

Wherever you may go

Put on your overcoat

Take me away

You gotta take me on into the night

Take me on into the night

Blow me away

Blow me away

Mary's on the black top⁽²⁾

There's a husband in the doghouse⁽³⁾

In the middle of a shakedown⁽⁴⁾

I got quiet as a church mouse

Put my Raleigh's⁽⁵⁾ on the dashboard

Sugar daddy⁽⁶⁾ caught a polocar⁽⁷⁾

There's no solitary tap dance

Way down here

Blow wind blow

Wherever you may go

Put on your overcoat

Take me into the night

Take me into the night

Blow me away

I ride upon a field mouse

I was dancin' in the slaughterhouse

And if you swing along the beltway⁽⁸⁾

You skid along the all day

Cause I went a little crazy

And I sat upon a high chair

And I'm smokin' like a diesel

Way out here

And if you'll blow wind blow

Wherever you may go

Put on your overcoat

Take me away

You gotta take me on into the night

Well, you take me on into the night

Blow me away

Blow me away

You gotta blow me away

Blow me away

Yeah

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 1986-1987

Official release: Frank's Wild Years, Island Records Inc., 1987

Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Anthology 1983-2000" (Nuova Carisch s.r.l. Milan/ Italy, 2001)

Further reading: Frank's Wild Years the play

Known covers:

Secret World. Astrid Seriese. October, 1994 (re-released in 2003). Brigadoon

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Listen to audio excerpt of Blow Wind Blow as performed in the theatre play Frank's Wild Years.

The Briar Street Theatre (Steppenwolf Theatre Company). Chicago/ USA. June 17, 1986.

Ripped from low resolution audience tape

<object height="344" width="425"></object> 

Music video promoting: "Blow Wind Blow" (Island, ca. August, 1987)

With Val Diamond. Directed by Chris Blum. 

Shot at The Chi Chi Club run by former "exotic dancer" Miss Keiko, on 438 Broadway in San Francisco. 

Tom Waits (1987): "Kathleen and I put together the ideas for it. It was done up there at the Chi Chi Club ... in [San Francisco's] North Beach. Miss Keiko's Chi Chi Club right there on Broadway next to Big Al's. I worked with a girl named Val Diamond, who played a doll. She drew eyeballs on the outside of her eyelids and wore a Spanish dress and I unscrewed one of her legs and pulled a bottle out of it. It's got some entertainment value." (Source: "Morning Becomes Eclectic": KCRW-FM, Deirdre O' Donohue. August, 1987) 

Video blocked in Germany by Universal Music Group (UMG).

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Blow Wind Blow:

- Tom Waits (1987): "Little opera line, there. Got a little carnival thing in it. Glockenspiel, pump organ. Used the bullhorn on it." RR: It sort of continues the 'get out of town' theme? TW: "Yes. Those three songs are a guy raring up for his departure." (Source: "From the set of Ironweed, Tom Waits talks with Rip Rense". New York Post: Rip Rense. Early 1987)

⁽²⁾ Blacktop

- n [20C] (US) a minor road, a back road, [its black asphalt surface] (Blacktop: A bituminous material, such as asphalt, used to pave roads) (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9).

- Notice the same phrase being used in Potter's Field, 1977: "On a train through the Bronx that will take you just as far as the empty of a bottle to the highway of a scar that stretched across the blacktop of my cheek."

⁽³⁾ Doghouse, in the

- In trouble (Submitted by Richard Beckwith, Raindogs Listserv Discussionlist. August, 2000).

- Any of various houselike structures more or less resembling a dog's kennel; specif., a railroad caboose, a small, temporary office shack serving a work crew, a tower on a prison wall, a bass viol, or the like (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

⁽⁴⁾ Shake-down, shakedown

- n.: 1. A search or searching of a person or place (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) 

- This carries the implication that if something good is found, it's taken. In fact, you can shake someone down simply by making them give you what they have without your having to search (Submitted by Richard Beckwith, Raindogs Listserv Discussionlist. August, 2000)

- [late 19C+] blackmail, extortion, thus shakedown artist, shakedown man, an extortionist

⁽⁵⁾ Raleigh's: Raleigh cigarettes. There was also Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco in a can for pipes and every schoolboy would call the store and ask, "You got Walter Raleigh in a can? Well, ya better let him out" (Submitted by Mitch Kirsner. September, 2000)

⁽⁶⁾ Sugar daddy

- A male sweetheart well provided with money, esp., a wealthy, usu. elderly man who spends money freely on girls; specif., a worldly, sophisticated man, usu. not young and usu. wealthy, who pays the rent and other expenses of a young woman in return for her sexual favors and companionship (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner).

- Also mentioned in Invitation To The Blues: "But she used to have a sugar daddy and a candyapple Caddy."

⁽⁷⁾ Polocar: Might refer to the New York "Polocar Limosine Service". Song was written in 1984 (for the play Franks Wild Years), when Waits was living in New York.

⁽⁸⁾ Beltway n.: A high-speed highway that encircles or skirts an urban area. Also called belt highway (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin - Third Edition)

Blue Skies

(1971 demo version)

Blue skies over my head

Give me another reason to get out of bed

Blue skies shine in my face

Give me another woman to take her place

Ain't got no money, cupboards are bare

No cigarettes, and the kids got nothing to wear

She walked out without a word

Now the only sound left is that morning bird

Singing, blue skies over my head

Give me another reason to get out of bed

Blue skies shine in my face

Give me another woman to take her place

Singing, blue skies over my head

Give me another reason to get out of bed

Blue skies shine in my face

Give me another woman to take her place

Give me another woman to take her place

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Warner Chappell Music Ltd., 1971-1992 & Bizarre/ Straight Records, 1992

Official release: "The Early Years 2". Issued under licence from Bizarre/ Straight Records by Edsel Records, 1992

Recorded July - December 1971, Los Angeles, CA

(Not authorized by Tom Waits)

Blue Skies

(1973 promo version)

Blue skies over my head

You give me another reason to get out of bed

Blue skies is there shining in my face

Gonna give me another woman to take her place

I ain't got no money, the cupboards are bare

No cigarettes, and the kids got nothing to wear

She walked out without a word

Now the only sound left is that sweet morning bird

Singing, blue skies over my head, and now...

Give me another reason to get out of bed

Blue skies, it's there shining in my face

Will give me another woman to take her place

That woman stood by me through thick and through thin

When I was cold and hungry, well she smiled and let me in

But she wanted those fine things and those nights on the town

Well, it looks to me like she let me down

Blue skies, yeah, over my head

You gotta give me another reason to get out of bed, yeah

Blue skies, well, there shining in my face

Gotta give me another woman to take her place

Gotta give me another woman to take her place

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music Inc., �1974

Official release: single, b/w 'New Coat of Paint', Asylum Records (Asylum E45233), 1974

Known covers:

New Coat Of Paint. Various artists. May, 2000. Manifesto Records. Performed by Floyd Dixon

Blue Valentines

She sends me blue valentines⁽¹⁾

All the way from Philadelphia

To mark the anniversary

Of someone that I used to be

And it feels like a warrant

Is out for my arrest

Baby, you got me checkin' in my rearview mirror

That's why I'm always on the run

It's 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

Baby, it's the thistle⁽²⁾ in the kiss

It's the burglar that can break a rose's neck

It's the tatooed broken promise I gotta hide beneath my sleeve

I'm gonna see you every time I turn my back

Oh, you send me blue valentines

Though I try to remain at large

They're insisting that our love must have a eulogy⁽³⁾

Why do I save all this madness

Here in the nightstand drawer

There to haunt 'pon my shoulders

Baby, I know I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go

With this blind and broken heart

That sleeps beneath my lapel

Instead these 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 whole lot of whiskey

To make these nightmares go away

And I cut my bleedin' heart out every night

And I'm gonna die just a little more

On each St. Valentine's day⁽⁴⁾

Don't you remember I promised I would write you

These blue valentines

Blue valentines

Blue valentines

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP), � 1978 & Warner Bros. Music Ltd, 1986

Official release: "Blue Valentine", Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1978 &

"Asylum Years", WEA International Inc., 1986

Known covers:

Fjorton Sånger. Bad Liver & Hans Brustna Hjärtan. 1989. Nonstop Records (1989), City Records (re-release May, 1993) NSM 33-15 (in Swedish: "Blå violer")

Blue Valentine. Sarah Jane Morris. July 25, 1995. IRMA/ Jazzhouse Records (re-released in 1996 on Ronnie Scott's Jazz).

Long John Baldry Trio Live. Long John Baldry, 2000. Canada on Stony Plain Records and Hypertension Records in Europe

Bukowski Waits For Us - Vol. 1. Michael Kiessling. September 25, 2000. Buschfunk (Germany)

Being Tom Waits. Billy`s Band. 2001. Self-released demo album (Russia)

The Carnival Saloon Live. The Carnival Saloon. October, 2001. Self-released (Ireland)

Homegrown. Nussbaumer/ Weber/ Kreil. 2003. Self-released

The Big Parade. The Beatniks Of Babylon. 2003. The Big Parade

Raw. Kiko. 2003. Discaudio (Portugal)

Under The Influence - The songs of Tom Waits. Barry Charles. 2003. Tara Hall Productions (Australia)

After Blue. G.T. Nash. July, 2003. Belltree Records

Speeding Or Shyness. Speeding Or Shyness. 2004. Self-released

Your Head, Their Wall. Rod Fotheringham. May 9, 2006. Self-released

Lullabies For A Sleepless World. Julain Molnar. June 7, 2006. Self-released (Canada)

Bangin' On The Table With An Old Tin Cup. Pascal Fricke. April 12, 2007. Self-released (Germany)

Raking The Mules. Mescaline Smugglers. August 30, 2007.: Self-released

Live At Gaste Garage. Matt Taylor Band. November 7, 2007. Self-released

Box. Keram. January 29, 2008. Self-released 

Innocent When You Dream. Brandon Bernstein. February 26, 2010. Jazz Collective Records

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Blue Valentines

- Valentine: 1. Roman Christian who according to tradition was martyred during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Claudius II. Saint Valentine's Day was primarily celebrated in his honor, but was also inspired by another martyr named Valentine, who was bishop of Terni, a region in central Italy 2. A sentimental or humorous greeting card sent to a sweetheart, friend, or family member, for example, on Saint Valentine's Day. 3. A gift sent as a token of love to one's sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day. (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

- Tom Waits (2004): "I used to think I was making movies for the ears - writing them, directing them, releasing them. Kind of making a fiction in a non-fiction world. Taking the real world and then getting rid of certain things that I didn't want to be there and adding certain things that I hoped would have been there. I was overly maudlin and romantic and I really hadn't grown up. I still very much lived in a fantasy world. But I like that Blue Valentines song. Still play it sometimes. Somebody asked me to play it at a wedding recently." (Source: "Tom Waits Speaks - The Mojo Interview" Mojo magazine by Sylvie Simmons. Issue October 2004)

⁽²⁾ Thistle: Any of numerous weedy plants, chiefly of the genera Cirsium, Carduus, or Onopordum of the composite family, having prickly leaves and variously colored flower heads surrounded by prickly bracts (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

⁽⁴⁾ Eulogy: A laudatory speech or written tribute, especially one praising someone who has died (Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

⁽⁵⁾ St. Valentine's day: a day sacred to St. Valentine; the 14th of February. It was a very old notion, alluded to by Shakespeare, that on this day birds begin to mate. Hence, perhaps, arose the custom of sending love tokens at that time (Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, � 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)

Books Of Moses

Books of Moses, bringing stone news

Wet in the water, weeping in the sun

Books of Moses, got some splinters, didn't you?

Books of Moses, brought me right here back to you

Flaming heart, ain't it sweet

Lighting the world at your feet

Books of Moses, myth and truth

Books of Moses, bring me back to you

Hero's welcome, there stands your king

Where the serpent shudders, and the angels sing

Books of Moses, happening again

Yes, he knows us.

Well, welcome him, your friend

Books of Moses, bringing stone news

Wet is the water, blood covering the sun

Books of Moses, myth and truth

Books of Moses, bring me back to you

Written by: Alexander "Skip" Lee Spence

Originally released (Spence version) in July 1969 on the album 'Oar' by "Skip" Spence.

Published by: Alexander Lee Spence Music/� 1969. Adminstered by Maryanne Sarah Sheley Music (BMI)/ EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI),

Official release (Waits version): "More Oar - A Tribute To The Music Of Skip Spence", 1999

Re-released in 2006 on the album "Orphans" (Bastards), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

N/A

Bottom Of The World

My daddy told me, lookin' back

The best friend you'll have is a railroad track

So when I was 13 said, I'm rollin' my own,

And I'm leavin' Missouri and I'm never comin' home

And I'm lost, and I'm lost

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

Satchel Puddin' and Lord God Mose

Sitting by the fire with a busted nose

That fresh egg yeller is too damn rare

But the white part is perfect for slickin' down your hair

And I'm lost, and I'm lost

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

Blackjack Ruby and Nimrod Cain

The moon's the color of a coffee stain

Jesse Frank and Birdy Joe Hoaks⁽¹⁾

But who is the king of all these folks?

And I'm lost, and I'm lost

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

Well I dined last night with Scarface Ron

On telapia fish cakes and fried black swan

Razorweed onion and peacock squirell

And I dreamed all night about a beautiful girl

And I'm lost, and I'm lost

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

Well, god's green hair is where I slept last

He balanced a diamond on a blade of grass⁽²⁾

Now I woke me up with a cardinal bird

And when I wanna talk he hangs on every word

And I'm lost, and I'm lost

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar

I'm lost at the bottom of the world

Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan

Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), � 2003/ 2006

First release on: "Long Gone"⁽³⁾ documentary film, 2003. Directed by: Jack Cahill/ David Eberhardt.

Official release: Orphans (Brawlers), (P) & � 2006 Anti Inc.

Known covers:

None

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Waits performing "Bottom Of The World", Real Gone/ Orphans tour 2006 (ANTI, 2009).

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Birdy Joe Hoaks: Also mentioned in Get Behind The Mule (Mule Variations, 1999): "In a Studebaker with Birdie Joe Hoaks"

- Tom Waits (1999): "I read in the newspaper about this gal, 12 years old, who had swindled Greyhound. She ran away from home and told Greyhound this whole story about her parents and meeting them in San Francisco. She had this whole Holden Caufield thing, and she got an unlimited ticket and criss-crossed the U.S. And she got nabbed." What did they do to her? TW: "They took her bus pass, for starters. I don't think she did hard time. Me and my wife read the paper and we clip hundreds of articles, and then we read the paper that way, without all the other stuff. It's our own paper. There is a lot of filler in the paper and the rest is advertising. If you just condense it down to the essential stories, like the story about the one-eyed fish they found in Lake Michigan with three tails, you can renew your whole relationship with the paper." (Source: "The Man Who Howled Wolf ". Magnet: Jonathan Valania. June /July, 1999)

- Tom Waits (1999): "This one gal, her name was Pretty Jo Hoax. Her name was Birdy Jo Hoakes. She pulled this beautiful hoax. She told the ticket vendor at Greyhound that her aunt in California had sent a dispatch to the office in West VA. Some money had exchanged hands, and there was supposed to be some sort of cyber ticket. This was going to make it possible for her to ride the Greyhound continuously. One of those all-day passes. The whole thing was that she created in her mind, she managed to three card molly a ticket! They finally busted her and took away her ticket! But, before they caught her, she crossed the US something like 100 times! But, if you're out there, Birdy, my hat's off to you!" (Source: Sonicnet: host: Goldberg. April, 1999)

⁽²⁾ He balanced a diamond on a blade of grass: Also mentioned in All The World Is Green (Blood Money, 2002): "He's balancing a diamond On a blade of grass The dew will settle on our graves And all the world is green."

⁽³⁾ Long Gone:

- Documentary film directed by: Jack Cahill/ David Eberhardt (2003). "Intertwining stories of six tramps who hop freight trains to travel across America over a seven year period, the movie forms a portrait of contemporary "hoboes" who struggle to overcome their pasts, haunting war memories, substance abuse, shattered marriages and criminal warrants. Presented in a sympathetic and clear-eyed way, this debut film is humane and unflinching. Original music by Tom Waits. Winner of Best Documentary and the Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography at the Slamdance Film Festival (premi�re)."

- "Besides helping to score funding for the project, Waits would use some of the rail-riding tunes for his comeback album Mule Variations." (Source: City Pages review of "Long Gone" by Jeremy O'Kasick for the Twin Cities City Pages, April 2, 2003). 

- On soundtrack: "Lost at the Bottom of the World" (first release), "Down There by the Train" (first release), "On the Road/ Home I'll Never Be", "Pony", "Town With No Cheer" (intro).  Further reading: Long Gone official site

Broken Bicycles

Broken bicycles, old busted chains

With rusted handle bars, out in the rain

Somebody must have an orphanage for

All these things that nobody wants any more

September's reminding July

It's time to be saying goodbye

Summer is gone, but our love will remain

Like old broken bicycles out in the rain

Broken bicycles, don't tell my folks

There's all those playing cards pinned to the spokes

Laid down like skeletons out on the lawn

The wheels won't turn when the other has gone

The seasons can turn on a dime

Somehow I forget every time

For all the things that you've given me will always stay

Broken, but I'll never throw them away

Written by: Tom Waits.

Published by: Warner Chapell Music Ltd. � 1982

Official release: One From The Heart, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (Columbia), 1982

Arrangements and lyrics published in "Tom Waits - Anthology" (Amsco Publications, 1988/ Nuova Carisch, 2000)

Read full story: One From The Heart

Known covers:

Out Of This Dream. Mathilde Santing. 1987. Megadisc (Holland)

Mother The Wardrobe Is Full Of Infantrymen. Agnes Bernelle. 1988. Some Bizzare/ Milo Music

A Real Life Story. Maura O'Connell. February, 1991. Warner Bros. records (9-26342-2)

So Far So Good (The Best Of Mathilde Santing). Mathilde Santing. 1992. Megadisc (Holland)

Ballads. Mathilde Santing. 1994. Megadisc (Holland)

La Primera Avalancha. H�roes Del Silencio. 1995. Kobra Records

Blue Aconite. Christine Collister. 1996. Fledg'ling Records

Songbird. Christine Collister. 1999. Fledg'ling Records

Everybody Has A Dream. Mitchell Howard. 2000. Cling Peaches Music

Willis Moore. So Far. March 22, 2000. Self-released

New Coat Of Paint. Various artists. May, 2000. Manifesto Records. Performed by Botanica

Kupfermond. Georgette Dee, July 31, 2000. Viellieb R (DA Music) "Zerbrochene Fahrr�der"

Walzerdelirium. Tim Fischer. 2001. Self-released

For the Stars. Anne Sofie Von Otter, Elvis Costello. April 10, 2001. Uni/ Deutsche Grammophon

Nobody Else But Me. Laura Zakian. August 13, 2001. FMR

You'd Be Paradise. Mary Foster Conklin. October 9, 2001. MockTurtle Music

Home. Christine Collister. 2003. Stereoscout Records (live version)

Voice & Bass. Georgette Dee. November 17, 2003. Dmd Music (DA Music Germany). "Zerbrochne Fahrr�der"

East Of Sunset - Soundtrack. Various artists. September 13, 2005. Manifesto Records. Perfoemed by: Botanica (same version as on New Coat Of Paint, 2000)

Start It All Over Again. Sally Dworsky. 2006. A Prairie Home Companion

Happiness Is Not Included. Veronica Mortensen. April 16, 2007. Stunt/ Sundance Records

Notes:

Tom Waits (1982): "Francis and Richard Beggs were constantly trying different songs against different scenes. They were very experimental in that way, always thinking, "What would happen if we moved this song there and replaced it with another one?" There was a song called "Empty Pockets" that was originally designed for the opening. Francis' brother August had mentioned the line to me. I wrote it down and later developed it into a song. So it was in, then out, then in again... now it's been replaced by a song called "Wages of Love." "Broken Bicycles" was an orphan for a while, until Francis shot a separate scene with Freddie in the junkyard, despondent. We tried that song against the scene; it worked and stayed in the film." (Source: "Tom Waits: Hollywood Confidential" BAM magazine (US). Date: Travelers' Cafe/ Echo Park. February 26, 1982)

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

They used to tell me I was building a dream

And so I followed the mob

When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear

I was always there, right there on the job

They used to tell me I was building a dream

With peace and glory ahead

Why should I be standing in line

Just waiting for bread

Once I built a railroad, I made it run

I made it run against time

Once I built a railroad, and now it's done

Buddy can you spare a dime

Once I built a tower way up to the sun

With bricks and mortar and lime

Once I built a railroad, and now it's done

Brother can you spare a dime

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell

Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum

Half a million boots went slogging through hell

I was the kid with the drum

Oh say, don't you remember

You called me Al

It was Al all the time

Say, don't you remember I was your pal

Buddy, can you spare a dime

Say, don't you remember

You called me Al

It was Al all the time

Say, don't you remember I was your pal

Buddy, can you spare a dime

Buddy, can you spare a dime

Written by: Edgar "Yip" Harburg⁽¹⁾

Published by: [?], � 1932

Official release: "Brother Can You Spare me A Dime?"

(various artists compilation, recorded for the National Fund-Raising Day of Action), 1992

Originally performed by Rex Weber in the Broadway revue "Americana", 1932

Known covers:

N/A

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Covering: "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" Words by Edgar "Yip" Harburg, music by Jay Gorney - from the third (1932) edition of the hit Broadway revue "Americana". Edgar "Yip" Harburg (1898-1981) was a former electrician made bankrupt during the Depression. Jay Gorney (1896-1990) was a Russian-born American composer, author and Hollywood film-producer. As recorded by Bing Crosby with Lennie Hayton & his Orchestra October 25, 1932 in New York

Burma Shave

(Foreign Affairs studio version, 1977)

Licorice tattoo turned a gun metal blue

Scrawled across the shoulders of a dying town

Took the one eyed Jacks⁽²⁾ across the railroad tracks⁽³⁾

And the scar on its belly pulled a stranger passing through

He's a juvenile delinquent, never learned how to behave

But the cops'd never think to look in Burma-Shave

And the road was like a ribbon, and the moon was like a bone

He didn't seem to be like any guy she'd ever known

He kind of looked like Farley Granger⁽⁴⁾, with his hair slicked back

She says 'I'm a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat.

How far are you going?'

Said 'Depends on what you mean'

He says 'I'm only stopping here to get some gasoline'

'I guess I'm going thataway, just as long as it's paved

And I guess you'd say I'm on my way to Burma-Shave'

And with her knees up on the glove compartment

She took out her barrettes, and her hair spilled out like rootbeer

And she popped her gum and arched her back

'Hell, Marysville⁽¹⁾ ain't nothing but a wide spot in the road

Some nights my heart pounds like thunder

Don't know why it don't explode

Cause everyone in this stinking town's got one foot in the grave

And I'd rather take my chances out in Burma-Shave'

'Presley's⁽⁵⁾ what I go by, why don't you change the stations

Count the grain elevators in the rearview mirror'

She said, 'Mister, anywhere you point this thing

It got to beat the hell out of the sting⁽⁶⁾

Of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin'

And so drill me a hole with a barber pole⁽⁷⁾

And I'm jumping my parole just like a fugitive tonight

Why don't you have another swig⁽⁸⁾, and pass that car if you're so brave

I wanna get there 'fore the sun comes up in Burma-Shave '

And the spider web crack and the mustang screamed

The smoke from the tires and the twisted machine

Just a nickel's worth of dreams, and every wishbone that they saved

Lie swindled from them on the way to Burma-Shave

And the sun hit the derrick and cast a bat wing shadow

Up against the car door on the shotgun side⁽⁹⁾

And when they pulled her from the wreck

You know, she still had on her shades⁽¹⁰⁾

They say that dreams are growing wild

just this side

of Burma-Shave

Written by: Tom Waits

Published by: Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP),� 1977 & Warner Bros. Music Ltd, 1986

Official release: "Foreign Affairs", Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1977 &

"Bounced Checks", WEA/ Asylum Records, 1981 &

"Anthology Of Tom Waits", WEA/ Elektra, 1984 &

"Asylum Years", WEA International Inc., 1986

Burma Shave

(Live version State Theatre, Sydney/ Australia. May 2, 1979)