Tom Waits

[fox69]

"Poor Little Lamb"

"Poor Little Lamb"


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

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

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

 

[fox69]

"Potter's Field"

"Potter's Field"


well you can buy me a drink and i'll tell you what i seen
and i'll give you a bargain from the edge of a maniac's dream
that buys a black widow spider with a riddle in his yarn
that's clinging to the furrow of a blindman's brow
i'll start talking from the brim of a thimble full of whiskey
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 like that
and then ducks beneath the brim of a fugitive's hat
and you'll learn why liquor makes a stool pigeon rat on every face
that ever left his shadow down on saint marks place

hell i'd double cross my mother if it was whiskey that they payed
and so an early bird says nightsticks on the hit parade
and he ain't got a prayer and his days are numbered
and you'll track him down like a dog
well it's a tough customer you're getting in this trade
Óause the nightstick's heart pumps lemonade
well whiskey keeps a blindman talkin alright
and i'm the only one who knows just where he stayed last night

he was in a wreckin yard in a switchblade storm
in a wheelbarrow with nothing but revenge to keep him warm
and a half a million dollars in unmarked bills
was the nightstick's blanket in a febuary chill
and as the buzzard drove a crooked sky
he was dealin high chicago in the mud
and stackin' the deck against a dragnet's eye
a shivering nightstick in a miserable heap
with the siren for a lullaby singing him to sleep
he was bleeding from a buttonhole
torn by a slug fired from the barrel of a two dollar gun
that scorched a blister on the grip of a punk by now
is learnin what you have to pay to be a hero anyhow

he dressed the hole in his gut with a hundred dollar bandage
a king's ransom for a bedspread that don't amount to nuttin
just cobweb strings on a busted ukulele
and the nightstick leaned on a black shillelagh
with the poison of a junkie's broken promise on his lip

he staggered in the shadows screaming i ain't never been afraid
and he shot out every street light on the promenade
past the frozen ham and eggers at the penny arcade
throwin out handfuls of a blood stained salary
they were dead in their tracks at the shootin gallery
and they fired off a twenty one gun salute
and from the corner of his eye he caught the alabaster orbs
and from a dime a dance hall girl and stuffed a thousand dollar bill
in her blouse and caught the cruel and unusual punishment of her smile
and the nightstick winked beneath a rainsoaked brim
ain't no one seen hide nor hair of him see
no one but a spade on rikers island and me
and so if you're mad enough to listen to a full of whiskey blindman
then you're mad enough to look beyond where bloodhounds dare to go
so if you want to know just where the nightstick's hidin out
you be down at the ferry landin oh let's say bout half past a nightmare
when it's twisted on a clock you tell 'em nickels sentcha
whiskey always makes him talk
and you ask for captain charon with the mud on his kicks
he's the skipper of the deadline steamer
and she sails from the bronx across the river styx
and a riddle's just a ticket for a dreamer

cause when the weathervane's sleepin and the moon turns his back
you crawl on your belly long the railroad tracks
and cross your heart and hope to die and stick a needle in your eye
cause he'd cut my bleedin heart out if he found out that i squealed
cause you see a scarecrow's just a hoodlum
who marked the cards that he dealed
and pulled a gypsy switch
out on the edge of potter's field

 

[fox69]

"Putnam County"

"Putnam County"


I guess things were always quiet around Putnam County
kind of shy and sleepy as it clung to the skirts
of the 2-lane, that was stretched out like an
asphalt dance floor where all the oldtimers would
hunker down in bib jeans and store bought boots
lyin' about their lives and the places that they'd been
suckin' on Coca Colas and be spittin' Days Work
they's be suckin' on Coca Colas and be spittin' Day's Work
until the moon was a stray dog on the ridge and
the taverns would be swollen until the naked eye
of 2am, and the Stratocaster guitars slung over
Burgermeister beer guts, and the swizzle stick legs
jacknifed over naugahyde stools and the
witch hazel spread out over the linoleum floors,
the pedal pushers stretched out over midriff bulge
and the coiffed brunette curls over Maybelline eyes
wearing Prince Machiavelli, Estee Lauder, smells so sweet
I elbowed up at the counter with mixed feelings
over mixed drinks
and Bubba and the Roadmasters moaned in pool hall
concentration as they knit their brows to
cover the entire Hank Williams Song Book
and the old National register was singing to the tune of $57.57
until last call, one last game of 8 ball
and Berneice would be putting the chairs on the tables,
someone come in say "Hey man, anyone got
any Jumper Cables, is that a 6 or a 12 volt?"
and all the studs in town would toss 'em down
and claim to fame as they stomped their feet
boasting about being able to get more ass
than a toilet seat.
And the GMCs and the Straight 8 Fords
were coughing and wheezing and they
perculated as they tossed the gravel
underneath the fenders to weave home
a wet slick anaconda of a two lane
with tire irons and crowbars a rattlin'
with a tool box and a pony saddle
you're grinding gears, shifting into first
yea and that goddam tranny's just getting worse
with the melodies of "see ya later"
and screwdrivers on carburettors
talkin' shop about money to loan
and palominos and strawberry roans
See ya tomorrow, hello to the Mrs.
money to borrow and goodnight kisses
the radio spittin' out Charlie Rich
sure can sing that sonofabitch
and you weave home, weavin' home
leaving the little joint winking in the
dark warm narcotic American night
beneath a pin cushion sky and it's
home to toast and honey, start
up the Ford, your lunch money's there on the
draining board, toilet's runnin' shake the
handle, telephone's ringin' it's Mrs Randal
where the hell are my goddam sandals
and the porcelain poodles and the glass swans
staring down from the knick knack shelf
with the parent permission slips for the kids' field trips
pair of Muckalucks scraping across
the shag carpet
and the impending squint of
first light, that lurked behind
a weeping marquee in downtown Putnam
and would be pullin' up any minute now
just like a bastard amber
Velveeta yellow cab on a rainy corner
and be blowin' its horn, in every window
in town.

 

[fox69]

"Puttin' On The Dog"

"Puttin' On The Dog"


You gotta stomp, whistle and scream
You gotta wake right up in your dreams
You gotta jump, wheel and drive
Keep that feeling alive

You gotta kick, holler and shout
I'm gonna tell you what it's all about
You gotta tell me that you love me
Tell me that you're mine

We're putting on the dog tonight
We're putting on the dog tonight
We'll be p...putting on the dog tonight
Putting on, putting on the dog tonight
We'll be putting on the dog tonight
We'll be putting on the dog tonight
Putting on the dog
Putting on the dog

We'll flip, we'll follow and fly
Just do it now and don't ask why
You gotta strut, wiggle and slide
Let everybody know that you're alive

You gotta crank, gallop and twist
Do it once, you'll never resist
Tell me that you love me
Tell me that you're mine

We're putting on the dog tonight
Putting on the dog tonight, alright

Well we'll be going to a sooky jump it's rain and it pours
Big old Lecky with his suicide doors
Tip that bottle from the brim to the dregs
You ain't dancing 'till you cross your legs

Putting on the dog tonight
We'll be putting on the dog tonight
We'll be putting on the dog tonight
Putting on the dog tonight
Putting on the dog
I've been p...putting on the dog
Putting on the dog
Putting on the dog
Putting on the dog
Putting on the dog

 

[fox69]

"Rain Dogs"

"Rain Dogs"


Inside a broken clock
Splashing the wine
With all the Rain Dogs
Taxi, we'd rather walk.
Huddle a doorway with the Rain Dogs
For I am a Rain Dog, too.

[Chorus]

Oh, how we danced and we swallowed the night
For it was all ripe for dreamin
Oh, how we danced away
All of the lights
We've always been out of our minds.

The Rum pours strong and thin
Beat out the dustman
With the Rain Dogs
Aboard a shipwreck train
Give my umbrella to the Rain Dogs
For I am a Rain Dog, too.

Oh, how we danced with the
Rose of Tralee
Her long hair black as a raven
Oh, how we danced and you
Whispered to me
You'll never be going back home,
You'll never be going back home.

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Rains On Me"

"Rains On Me"


This is how the world will be
Everywhere I go it rains on me
Forty monkeys drowning in a boiling sea
Everywhere I go it rains on me
I went down into the valley to pray
Everywhere I go it rains on me
I got drunk and I stayed all day
Everywhere I go it rains on me

Everywhere I go, everywhere I go
Everywhere I go, it rains on me

All God's chilluns can't you see
Everywhere I go it rains on me
Louie Lista and Marchese
Everywhere I go it rains on me
Robert Sheehan and Paul Body
Everywhere I go it rains on me
I went down to Argyle I went down to Dix
Everywhere I go it rains on me
To get my powders and to get my fix
Everywhere I go it rains on me

Everywhere I go, everywhere I go
Everywhere I go, it rains on me
Everywhere I go, everywhere I go
Everywhere I go, it rains on me

 

[fox69]

"Raised Right Men"

"Raised Right Men"


There ain’t enough raised right men
It takes a raised right man to keep a happy hen
I said there ain’t enough raised right men

Heavens to murkatroid
Miners to coal
A good women can make a diamond out of a measly lump of coal
You need the patience of a glacier
If you can wait that long
Open up his window and admit it that you’re wrong

They’re ain’t enough raised right men
It takes raised right men to keep a happy hen

Mackey Debiasi
Was a complicated man
He quarreled with his woman
And she quarreled with her man
His head was just too thick
So she knocked out a tooth
He’s that lonely man on the Turnpike in the
Toll takers booth

They’re ain’t enough raised right men

Gunplay Maxwell and
Flat Nose George
Ice Pick Ed Newcomb
On a slab in the morgue
Flat Nose looked at Gunplay
And they all looked at me
With a good woman’s love we
Could have saved all three
And there ain’t enough raised right men
It takes raised right men to keep a happy hen
There ain’t enough raised right men

 

[fox69]

"Red Shoes"

"Red Shoes"


she wore red shoes by the newstand
as the rain splashed the nickle
spilled like chablis along the midway
theres a little bluejay
in a red dress, on a sad night

one straw in a rootbeer
a compact with a cracked mirror
and a bottle of evening in paris perfume
whats this sad tune

he told her to wait by the magazines
he had to take care of some business it seems
bring a raincoat
and a suitcase
and your dark eyes
and wear those red shoes

theres a dark huddle at the bus stop
unbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet
Li'l cesar got caught
he has going down to second
he has cooled
changing stations on the chamber
to steal a diamond
from a jewelry store for his baby
he loved the way she looked
in those red shoes

she waited by the drugstore
cesaer had never been late before
and the dogs bayed the moon
and rattled their chains
and the cold jingle of taps in a puddle
was the burgler alarm
snitchin on cesaer

note the rain washes memories from the sidewalks
and the hounds splash down the nickle
full of soldiers
and santa claus is drunk in the ski room
and it's christmas eve
in a sad cafe
when the moon gets this way
ther's a little blue my
by the newstand
wearing red shoes

so meet me tonight by the drugstore
w're goin' out tonight
wear your red shoes

 

[fox69]

"Red Shoes By The Drugstore"

"Red Shoes By The Drugstore"


she wore red shoes by the newstand
as the rain splashed the nickle
spilled like chablis along the midway
theres a little bluejay
in a red dress, on a sad night

one straw in a rootbeer
a compact with a cracked mirror
and a bottle of evening in paris perfume
whats this sad tune

he told her to wait by the magazines
he had to take care of some business it seems
bring a raincoat
and a suitcase
and your dark eyes
and wear those red shoes

theres a dark huddle at the bus stop
unbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet
Li'l cesar got caught
he has going down to second
he has cooled
changing stations on the chamber
to steal a diamond
from a jewelry store for his baby
he loved the way she looked
in those red shoes

she waited by the drugstore
cesaer had never been late before
and the dogs bayed the moon
and rattled their chains
and the cold jingle of taps in a puddle
was the burgler alarm
snitchin on cesaer

note the rain washes memories from the sidewalks
and the hounds splash down the nickle
full of soldiers
and santa claus is drunk in the ski room
and it's christmas eve
in a sad cafe
when the moon gets this way
ther's a little blue my
by the newstand
wearing red shoes

so meet me tonight by the drugstore
w're goin' out tonight
wear your red shoes

 

[fox69]

"Reeperbahn"

"Reeperbahn"


Around the curve of The Parrot Bar
A broken-down old movie star
Hustling and Easterner
Bringing out the beast in her
A high dive on a swimming pool
Filled with needles and with fools
The memories are short but the tales are long
When you're in the Reeperbahn

Oh, they called her Rosie when she was a girl
For her bright red cheeks and her strawberry curls
When she would laugh the river would run
She said she'd be a comedian
Oh what a pity, oh what a shame
When she said, 'come calling', nobody came
Now her bright red cheeks are painted on
And she's laughing her head off in the Reeperbahn

Now little Hans was always strange
Wearing womens underthings
His father beat him but he wouldn't change
He ran off with a man one day
Now his lingerie is all the rage
In the black on every page
His father proudly calls his name
Down there in the Reeperbahn

Now if you've lost your inheritance
And all you've left is common sense
And you're not too picky about the crowd you keep
Or the mattress where you sleep
Behind every window, behind every door
The apple has gone but there's always the core
And the seeds will sprout up right through the floor
Down there in the Reeperbahn

Down there in the Reeperbahn

Down there in the Reeperbahn