Tom Waits

[fox69]

"Day After Tomorrow"

"Day After Tomorrow"


I got your letter today
And I miss you all so much, here
I can't wait to see you all
And I'm counting the days, dear
I still believe that there's gold
At the end of the world
And I'll come home
To Illinois
On the day after tomorrow

It is so hard
And it's cold here
And I'm tired of taking orders
And I miss old Rockford town
Up by the Wisconsin border
But I miss you won't believe
Shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch tomorrow
On the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes
Every night
And I dream that I can hold you
They fill us full of lies
Everyone buys
About what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
About all the blood that's been spilled
Look out on the street
Get me back home
On the day after tomorrow

You can't deny
The other side
Don't want to die
Any more than we do
What I'm trying to say,
Is don't they pray
To the same God that we do?
Tell me, how does God choose?
Whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel?
And who throws the dice
On the day after tomorrow?

Mmmmmmm...
I'm not fighting
For justice
I am not fighting
For freedom
I am fighting
For my life
And another day
In the world here
I just do what I've been told
You're just the gravel on the road
And the one's that are lucky
One's come home
On the day after tomorrow

And the summer
It too will fade
And with it comes the winter's frost, dear
And I know we too are made
Of all the things that we have lost here
I'll be twenty-one today
I've been saving all my pay
And my plane will touch down
On the day after tomorrow
And my plane it will touch down
On the day after tomorrow

 

[fox69]

"Dead And Lovely"

"Dead And Lovely"


She was a middle class girl
She was in over her head
She thought she would
Stand up in the deep end

He had a bullet proof smile
He had money to burn
She thought she had the moon
In her pocket

But now she's dead
She's so dead
Forever dead and lovely now

I've always been told to
Remember this...
Don't let a fool kiss you
Never marry for love

He was hard to impress
He knew everyone's secrets
He wore her on his arm
Just like jewelry

He never gave but he got
He kept her on a leash
He's not the kind of wheel
You fall asleep at

But now she's dead
Forever dead
Forever dead and lovely now

Come closer, look deeper
You've fallen fast
Just like a plane on a
Stormy sea

She made up someone to be
She made up somewhere to be from
This is one business in the
World where that's no
Problem at all

Everything that is left
They will only plow under
Soon every one you know
Will be gone

And now she's dead
Forever dead
Forever dead and lovely now

Now she's dead
Forever dead
Forever dead and lovely now

I've always been told to
Remember this...
Don't let a kiss fool you
Never marry for love

Everything has its price [2x]
What's more romantic
Then dying in the moonlight?

Now they're all watching the sea
What's lost can never be broken
Her roots were sweet
But they were so shallow

And now she's dead
Forever dead
Forever dead and lovely now

And now she's dead
Forever dead
And she's so dead and lovely now

 

[fox69]

"Depot, Depot"

"Depot, Depot"


Depot, depot, what am I doing here?
Depot, depot, what am I doing here?
I ain't coming, I ain't going
My confusion is showing
Outside the midnight wind is blowing Sixth Avenue
I'm gonna paint myself blue
At the depot

I watch the taxis pull up and idle
I can't claim title to a single memory
He offered me a key
'Cause opportunity don't knock
He has no tongue and she cannot talk
You're gonna shuffle when you walk
At the depot

This peeping-Tom needs a peephole
And an uptempo song
To move me along
When I find this depot baby
I'm on a roll just like a pool ball baby
I'm gonna be there at the roll call maybe
At the depot

Outside the midnight wind is blowing Sixth Avenue
Oh, tell me what a poor boy to do
At the depot
I'm on a roll just like a pool ball baby
I'm gonna be there at the roll call maybe
At the depot
The depot

 

[fox69]

"Diamonds & Gold"

"Diamonds & Gold"


The broken glass
And the rusty nails
Where the violets grow
Say goodbye to the railroad
And the mad dogs of summer
And everything that I know

[Chorus:]
What some men will do here for diamonds
What some men will do here for gold
They're wounded but they just keep on climbin'
And they sleep by the side of the road

There's a hole in the ladder
A fence we can climb
Mad as a hatter
You're thin as a dime
Go out to the meadow
The hills are agreen
Sing me a rainbo
Steal me a dream

Small time Napoleons
Shattered his knees
But he stays in the saddle for Rose
And all his disciple
They shave in the gutter
And gather what's left of his clothes

[Chorus]

There's a hole in the ladder
A fence we can climb
Mad as a hatter
You're thin as a dime
Go out to the meadow
The hills are agreen
Sing me a rainbow
Steal me a dream

 

[fox69]

"Diamonds On My Windshield"

"Diamonds On My Windshield"


Well these diamonds on my windshield
And these tears from heaven
Well I'm pulling into town on the Interstate
I got a steel train in the rain
And the wind bites my cheek through the wing
And it's these late nights and this freeway flying
It always makes me sing

There's a Duster tryin' to change my tune
He's pulling up fast on the right
Rolling restlessly by a twenty-four hour moon

And a Wisconsin hiker with a cue-ball head
He's wishing he was home in a Wiscosin bed
But there's fifteen feet of snow in the East
Colder then a welldigger's ass
And it's colder than a welldigger's ass

Oceanside it ends the ride with San Clemente coming up
Those Sunday desperadoes slip by and cruise with a dry back
And the orange drive-in the neon billin'
And the theatre's fillin' to the brim
With slave girls and a hot spurn bucket full of sin

Metropolitan area with interchange and connections
Fly-by-nights from Riverside
And out of state plates running a little late

But the sailors jockey for the fast lane
So 101 don't miss it
There's rolling hills and concrete fields
And the broken line's on your mind
The eights go east and the fives go north
And the merging nexus back and forth
You see your sign, cross the line, signalling with a blink

And the radio's gone off the air
Gives you time to think
And you hear the rumble
As you fumble for a cigarette
And blazing through this midnight jungle
Remember someone that you met
And one more block; the engine talks
Whispers 'home at last'
It whispers 'home at last'
Whispers 'home at last'
It whispers 'home at last'
Whispers 'home at last'

And there are diamonds on my windshield
And these tears from heaven
Well I'm pulling into town on the Interstate
I got me a steel train in the rain
And the wind bites my cheek through the wing
Late nights and freeway flying
Always makes me sing
It always makes me sing

(Hey look here Jack, ok)

 

[fox69]

"Dirt In The Ground"

"Dirt In The Ground"


What does it matter, a dream of love
Or a dream of lies
We're all gonna be in the same place
When we die
Your spirit don't leave knowing
Your face or your name
And the wind through your bones
Is all that remains
And we're all gonna be
We're all gonna be
Just dirt in the ground

The quill from a buzzard
The blood writes the word
I want to know am I the sky
Or a bird
'Cause hell is boiling over
And heaven is full
We're chained to the world
And we all gotta pull
And we're all gonna be
Just dirt in the ground

Now the killer was smiling
With nerves made of stone
He climbed the stairs
And the gallows groaned
And the people's hearts were pounding
They were throbbing, they were red
As he swung out ofver the crowd
I heard the hangman said
We're all gonna be
Just dirt in the ground

Now Cain slew Abel
He killed him with a stone
The sky cracked open
And the thunder groaned
Along a river of flesh
Can these dry bones live?
Ask a king or a beggar
And the answer they'll give
Is we're all gonna be
Yea yeah
We're all gonna be just
Dirt in the ground

 

[fox69]

"Dog Door"

"Dog Door"


Oh mother I want a dog
I want a little dog
I saw a little dog
His name is happy

Well this is me ...
... old ...
I could be a shopkeeper
We'll call 'em ...

She got a six foot pitchfork
I see the wrecking-ball
Back over here together
She got me here with or without

She got me coming through the dog door
She got me coming through the dog door

I said pitchfork
Oh step-ladders

You oughta walk away
But you can't ...
... stairs
She got me gone back here
But don't sit there
She let me keep the deck-chair

She got me coming through the dog door
She got me coming through the dog door

Pitchfork (pitchfork)
Crowbar (crowbar)
Clawhammer (clawhammer)
Hot tar (hot tar)

She got me through her middle name
But she can make it rain
She got a small-town chill
And she's starving in the belly wheel

She got me coming through the dog door
She got me coming through the dog door

Pitchfork (pitchfork)
Crowbar (crowbar)
Clawhammer (clawhammer)
Hot tar (hot tar)

 

[fox69]

"Dog Treat"

"Dog Treat"


Thanks, uh... You know uh, this is weird uh...
Most of us have dogs, allright? [applause]
I don't know if it's a local thing where I live, or if it's everywhere, and I'm checking it with you because uh, I don't get in the area that often and I'm just checking to see if...
There's a new kind of a dog treat. And uh (where I live) and they're available in the pet store and for the longest time I just thought that it was some kind of a prank. Or uh...
I wasn't really sure what it was, until I read the label on the back and it said "Bull Penis" [laughter]
I was a little shocked! I know you can get just about ANYTHING in this world.
You can get a whale's pancreas if you'd want one! I can get you one! [laughter]
But com'on, a bull's penis! How busy they were their whole lives.
And they throw it to a dog, like that, for a snack! [laughter]
Now, are they available here in the Los Angeles area? They are, aren't they?
Doesn't that make you a little weazy?
Makes you wanna live a long time.
And on the back, on the bottom it said: "100% natural"!
I mean... that's the part that really got me. And it said: "A Real Meat Snack".
There's just no dignity in that. Uh, anyway...
The other thing is that they're 36 inches long! [laughter]
They're so long they had to cut them into bite-size portions.
And then they take two of them and braid them together.
I know, I know! I never want it done. But uh...
This is a song written for Gregory Peck for his dating my mom...
That's a lie!

 

[fox69]

"Don't Go Into That Barn"

"Don't Go Into That Barn"


Don't go into that barn, yea [2x]

Black cellophane sky at midnite
Big blue moon with three gold rings
I called Champion to the window
And I pointed up above the trees
That's where I heard my name in a scream
Coming from the woods, out there
I let my dog run off the chain
I locked my door real good with a chair

Don't go into that barn, yea [2x]

Everett Lee broke loose again
Its worse than the time before
Cause he's high on potato and tulip wine
Fermented in the muddy rain of course
A drunken wail a drunk train
Blew through the birdless trees
Oh, you're alone alright
Your alone alright
How did I know [2x]

Don't go into that barn, yea [2x]

An old black tree
Scratching up the sky
With boney, claw like fingers
A rusty black rake
Digging up the turnips
Of a muddy cold grey day
Shiny tooth talons
Coiled for grabbing a stranger
Happening by
And the day when home early
And the sun sank down into
The much of a deep dead sky

Don't go into that barn, yea [2x]

Bank since Saginaw Calinda was born
It's been cotton, soybeans, tobacco and corn
Behind the porticoed house of a
Long dead farm
They found the falling down timbers
Of a spooky old barn
Out there like a slave ship
Upside down
Wrecked beneath the waves of a rain
When the river is low
They find old bones and
When they plow they always
Dig up chains

Don't go into that barn, yea [2x]

Did you bury your fire?
Yes sir
Did you cover your tracks?
Yes sir
Did you bring your knife?
Yes sir
Did they see your face?
No sir
Did the Mom see you?
No sir
DId you go cross the river?
Yes sir
Did you fix your rake?
Yes sir
Did you stay down wind?
Yes sir
Did you hide your gun?
Yes sir
Did you smuggle your rum?
Yes sir
How did I know [3x]

Don't go into that barn, yea [2x]
Don't forget that I warned you
Don't go into that barn, yea [3x]
No shirt no coat
Put me on a flat boat
Dover, down to Covington
Covington to Louisville
Louisville to Henderson
Henderson to Smithland
Smithland to Memphis
Down to Vicksburg to
Natchez put me on a
Flat boat Dover Dam
To Covington, Covington to
Louisville, Louisville to
Henderson...

 

[fox69]

"Down There By The Train"

"Down There By The Train"


There's a place I know where the train goes slow
Where the sinner can be washed in the blood of the lamb
There's a river by the trestle down by sinner's grove
Down where the willow and the dogwood grow

You can hear the whistle, you can hear the bell
From the halls of heaven to the gates of hell
And there's room for the forsaken if you're there on time
You'll be washed of all your sins and all of your crimes
If you're down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

There's a golden moon that shines up through the mist
And I know that your name can be on that list
There's no eye for an eye, there's no tooth for a tooth
I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth
He was down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
He was down there where the train goes slow

If you've lost all your hope, if you've lost all your faith
I know you can be cared for and I know you can be safe
And all the shamefuls and all of the whores
And even the soldier who pierced the side of the Lord
Is down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

Well, I've never asked forgiveness and I've never said a prayer
Never given of myself, never truly cared
I've left the ones who loved me and I'm still raising Cain
I've taken the low road and if you've done the same
Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow