Tom Waits

[fox69]

"Altar Boy"

"Altar Boy"


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?

 

[fox69]

"Another Man's Vine"

"Another Man's Vine"


Bougainvillea's bloom and wind
Be careful mind the strangle vines
The rose is a 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 A red rose
Blooming on another man's vine

 

[fox69]

"Anywhere I Lay My Head"

"Anywhere I Lay My Head"


My head is spinning round
My heart is in my shoes
I went and set the Thames on fire
Now I must come back down
She's laughing in her sleeve at me
I can feel it in my bones
But anywhere, I'm gonna
Lay my head, boys
I will call my home.
Well I see that
The world is upside down
My pockets were filled up with gold.
Now the clouds have covered o'er
And the wind is blowing cold
I don't need anybody
Because I learned to be alone
And anywhere
I lay my head, boys
I will call my home.

 

[fox69]

"Army Ants"

"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.
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.

 

[fox69]

"Baby Gonna Leave Me"

"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

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

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
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

 

[fox69]

"Back In The Crowd"

"Back In The Crowd"


If you don't want these arms to hold you
If you don't want these lips to kiss you
If you found someone new
Put me back in the crowd
Put the sun behind the clouds
Put me back in the crowd

There's a battle going on between the blue and the grey
And if you don't want my love; don't make me stay
There's a battle going on between the blue and grey
And if you don't want my love; don't make me stay

Take back your name
Take back these wings
Take my picture from the frame
And put me back in the crowd

Put the sun behind the clouds
Put me back in the crowd
Put the sun behind the clouds
Put me back in the crowd

 

[fox69]

"Back In The Good Old World (Gypsy)"

"Back In The Good Old World (Gypsy)"


When I was a boy, the moon was a pearl the sun a yellow gold.
But 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.
Scare crows 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.

 

[fox69]

"Bad As Me"

"Bad As Me"


You’re the head on the spear
You’re the nail on the cross
You’re the fly in my beer
You’re the key that got lost
You’re the letter from Jesus on the bathroom wall
You’re mother superior in only a bra
You’re the same kind of bad as me

I’m the hat on the bed
I’m the coffee instead
The fish or cut bait
I’m the detective up late
I’m the blood on the floor
The thunder and the roar
The boat that won’t sink
I just won’t sleep a wink
You’re the same kind of bad as me

No good you say
Well that’s good enough for me

You’re the wreath that caught fire
You’re the preach to the choir
You bite down on the sheet
But your teeth have been wired
You skid in the rain
You’re trying to shift
You’re grinding the gears
You’re trying to shift
And you’re the same kind of bad as me

They told me you were no good
I know you’ll take care of all my needs
You’re the same kind of bad as me

I’m the mattress in the back
I’m the old gunnysack
I’m the one with the gun
Most likely to run
I’m the car in the weeds
If you cut me I’ll bleed
You’re the same kind of bad as me
You’re the same kind of bad as me

 

[fox69]

"Bad Liver And A Broken Heart (In Lowell)"

"Bad Liver And A Broken Heart (In Lowell)"


Well I got a bad liver and 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 a-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, it's these railroad station bars
And all these conductors and 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
I got me a bottle and a dream, it's so maudlin it seems,
You can name your poison, 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

And I'll see your Red Label, and I'll raise 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

 

[fox69]

"Barber Shop"

"Barber Shop"


good mornin mr. snip snip snip witchur haircut jus as short as mine
bay rum lucky tiger butch wax cracker jacks shoe shine jaw breaker
magazine racks hangin round the barber shop a side burnin close crop
mornin mr. furgeson what's the good word witcha been
stayin outa trouble like a good boy should i see you're still cuttin hair
well i'm still cuttin classes i just couldn't hep myself
i got a couple of passes to the ringle bros. barn bail circus afternoon
i see you lost a little round the middle and your lookin reel good
sittin on the wagon stead of under the hood
what's the low down mr. brown heard you boy's leavin town
i just bought myself a struggle buggy suckers powder blue
throw me over sports page cincinnati's lookin' good
always been for pittsburgh lay you 10 to 1
that the pirates get the pennant and the series for their done
you know the hair's gettin longer and the skirts gettin shorter
you can get a cheaper haircut if you wanna cross the border
now if your mama saw you smokin why she'd kick your ass
put it out you little juvenile and put it out fast
oh if i had a million dollars well what would i do
probly be a barber not a bum like you
still gotchur paper route now that's just fine
now you can pay me double cause you gypped me last time
you be keepin little circus money and spend it on a girl
know i give the best haircuts in the whole wide world