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Mule Variations (Remastered)

by Tom Waits

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1.
Big In Japan 04:05
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 winda but not the shutter But I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan But heh 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 heh I'm big in Japan 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 its 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 heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan Heh ho they love the way I do it Heh 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 heh 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.
2.
I'm on a black elevator goin down Little Joe from Kokomo it rattles to the ground The dice is laughin at the man that he throwed Your rollin over to the Lowside of the road The moon is red and your dancin real slow 29 miles left to go The chain monkeys help you with your load You're rollin over to the Lowside of the road Jezebel is naked with an axe the prosecution tells you to relax Your head feels like it's ready to explode You're rollin over, you're rollin over Well the clapper has been ripped out of the bell The flapper has been kicked right out of hell When the horse whips the man that he rode You're rollin over to the Lowside of the road The dog won't bite if you beat him with a bone She's so shy when she's talkin on the phone The ground rises up and starts to groan You're rollin over to the Lowside of the road
3.
Hold On 05:33
They hung a sign up in our town "if you live it up, you won't live it down" So, she left Monte Rio, son just like a bullet leaves a gun With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips she went and took that California trip Well, the moon was gold, her hair like wind She said don't look back just come on Jim (Chorus) Oh you got to Hold on, Hold on You got to hold on Take my hand, I'm standing right here You gotta hold on Well, he gave her a dimestore watch and a ring made from a spoon Everyone is looking for someone to blame but you share my bed, you share my name Well, go ahead and call the cops you don't meet nice girls in coffee shops She said baby, I still love you Sometimes there's nothin left to do Oh you got to Hold on, hold on You got to hold on Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you got to just hold on Well, God bless your crooked little heart St. Louis got the best of me I miss your broken-china voice How I wish you were still here with me Well, you build it up, you wreck it down you burn your mansion to the ground When there's nothing left to keep you here, when you're falling behind in this big blue world Oh you got to Hold on, hold on You got to hold on Take my hand, I'm standing right here You got to hold on Down by the Riverside motel, it's 10 below and falling by a 99 cent store she closed her eyes and started swaying but it's so hard to dance that way when it's cold and there's no music well your old hometown is so far away but, inside your head there's a record that's playing, a song called Hold on, hold on You really got to hold on Take my hand, I'm standing right here and just hold on.
4.
Molly be damned smote Jimmy the Harp With a horrid little pistol and a lariat she's goin to the bottom and she's goin down the drain Said she wasn't big enough to carry it She got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow She got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow She got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow She got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow Choppity chop goes the axe in the woods You gotta meet me by the fall down tree Shovel of dirt upon a coffin lid and I know they'll come lookin for me boys and I know they'll come a-lookin for me Got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow Got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow Got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow Got to get behind the Mule in the morning and plow Big Jack Earl was 8'1' He stood in the road and he cried He couldn't make her love him Couldn't make her stay but tell the good Lord that he tried (Chorus) Dusty trail from Atchison to Placerville On the wreck of the Weaverville stage Beaula fired on Beatty for a lemonade I was stirring my brandy with a nail boys Stirring my brandy with a nail (Chorus) Well the rampaging sons of the widow James Jack the cutter and the pock marked kid Had to stand naked at the bottom Of the cross And tell the good lord what they did Tell the good lord what they did (Chorus) Punctuated birds on the power line In a Studebaker with the Birdie Joe Hoaks I'm diggin all the way to China With a silver spoon While the hangman fumbles with the noose, boys The hangman fumbles with the noose (Chorus) Pin your ear to the wisdom post Pin your eye to the line Never let the weeds get higher than the garden Always keep a sapphire in your mind Always keep a diamond in your mind (Chorus)
5.
There's a house on my block that's abandoned and cold Folks moved out of it a long time ago and they took all their things and they never came back Looks like it's haunted with the windows all cracked and everyone calls it the house, the house where nobody lives. Once it held laughter Once it held dreams Did they throw it away Did they know what it means Did someone's heart break or did someone do somebody wrong? Well the paint was all cracked It was peeled off of the wood Papers were stacked on the porch where I stood and the weeds had grown up just as high as the door There were birds in the chimney and an old chest of drawers Looks like no one will ever come back to the House where nobody lives Once it held laughter Once it held dreams Did they throw it away Did they know what it means Did someone's heart break or did someone do somebody wrong? So if you find someone someone to have, someone to hold Don't trade it for silver Don't trade it for gold I have all of life's treasures and they are fine and they are good They remind me that houses Are just made of wood What makes a house grand Ain't the roof or the doors If there's love in a house It's a palace for sure Without love It ain't nothin but a house A house where nobody lives Without love it ain't nothin But a house, A house where Nobody lives.
6.
Cold Water 05:23
Well I woke up this morning With the cold water With the cold water With the cold water Woke up this morning With the cold water With the cold water With the cold Police at the station and they don't look friendly Well they don't look friendly Well they don't look friendly Police at the station and they don't look friendly They don't look friendly well they don't Blind or crippled Sharp or dull I'm reading the Bible by a 40 watt bulb What price freedom Dirt is my rug Well I leep like a baby with the snakes and the bugs Well the stores are open but I ain't got no $ I ain't got no $ Stores are open but I ain't got no $ ain't got no $ Well I ain't Found an old dog and he seems to like me seems to like me well he seems to like me Found an old dog and he seems to like me seems to like me well he seems Seen them fellows with the card board signs scrapin up a little $ to buy a bottle of wine Pregnant women and the Vietnam vets I say beggin on the freeway Bout as hard as it gets Well I slept in the graveyard it was cool and still cool and still it was cool and still Slept in the graveyard it was cool and still cool and still and it was cool Slept all night in the Cedar grove I was born to ramble born to rove Some men are searchin for the Holy Grail but there ain't nothin sweeter than ridin the rails I look 47 but I'm 24 Well they shooed me away from here the time before Turned there their backs and they locked their doors I'm watchin T.V. in the window of a furniture store Well I woke up this morning with the cold water with the cold water with the cold water Woke up this morning with the cold water with the cold water with the cold
7.
Pony 04:32
I've seen it all boys I've been all over Been everywhere in the whole wide world I rode the high line with old blind Darby I danced real slow with Ida Jane I was full of wonder when I left Murfreesboro Now I am full of hollow on Maxwell street And I hope my Pony I hope my Pony I hope my Pony knows the way back home I walked from Natchez to Hushpukena I built a fire by the side of the road I worked for nothin in a Belzoni saw mill. I caught a blind out on the B and O Talullah's friendly Belzoni ain't so A 44'll get you 99 And I hope my Pony I hope my Pony I hope my Pony Knows the way back home I run my race with burnt face Jake gave him a Manzanita cross I lived on nothin but dreams and train smoke Somehow my watch and chain got lost. I wish I was home in Evelyn's Kitchen with old Gyp curled around my feet (Chorus)
8.
What's he building in there? What the hell is he building In there? He has subscriptions to those Magazines He never waves when he goes by He's hiding something from the rest of us He's all to himself I think I know why He took down the tire swing from the Peppertree He has no children of his Own you see He has no dog and he has no friends and his lawn is dying and what about all those packages he sends. What's he building in there? with that hook light on the stairs. What's he building in there I'll tell you one thing he's not building a playhouse for the children what's he building in there? Now what's that sound from under the door? He's pounding nails into a hardwood floor and I swear to god I heard someone moaning low and I keep seeing the blue light of a T.V. show He has a router and a table saw and you won't believe what Mr. Sticha saw There's poison underneath the sink of course But there's also enough formaldehyde to choke a horse What's he building in there. What the hell is he building in there? I heard he has an ex-wife in some place called Mayors Income, Tennessee and he used to have a consulting business in Indonesia but what is he building in there? What the hell is he building in there? He has no friends but he gets a lot of mail I'll bet he spent a little time in jail I heard he was up on the roof last night signaling with a flashlight and what's that tune he's always whistling What's he building in there? What's he building in there? We have a right to know
9.
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 and a hound She drove a camel through A needle In this sinking board walk town She's my Black Market baby She's my Black Market baby She's a diamond that wants to stay coal wants to stay coal I swang out wide with her on hells iron gate Anything that you wanted you could have My eyes say their prayers to her sailors ring her bell Like a moth mistakes a light bulb For the moon and goes to hell She's my Black Market baby She's my Black Market baby She's a diamond that 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 She checked in with the President and she ran up quite a Bill (Chorus) She's whiskey in a teacup She gives blondes a lousy name She's a Bonzai Aphrodite and a ticket back to Spain She's a hard way to go and there ain't no way to stop Every time you play the red the black is coming up She's my Black Market baby She's my Black Market baby She's a diamond that Wants to stay coal Wants to stay coal
10.
Eyeball Kid 04:25
Well Zenora Bariella and Coriander Pyle they had sixteen children in the usual style They had a curio museum and they had no guile All they ever wanted was a show biz child So on the 7th of Dec.1949 they got what they'd been wishing for all of the time He grew up in a trailer by the time he was 9 he rolled off to join the circus telling fortunes on the side Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid Well the 1st time I saw him was a Saigon jail Cost me 27 dollars Just to go his bail I said your name will be in lights and that's no doubt But you got to have a manager that's what it's all about People would point People would stare I'll always be here To protect you and to cut down on the glare I know you can't speak I know you can't sign So cry right here on the dotted line Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid Well he was born with out a body Not even a brow I made the kid a promise I made the kid a vow He's not conventionally handsome He'll never be tall He said "all you got to do is book me into Carnegie Hall" Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid He's just a little bitty thing He's just a little guy but women go crazy for the big blue eye They say how does he dream? How does he think when he can't ever speak and he can't ever blink? I said Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid Give it up and throw me down A couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid How does he dream How does he think when he can't even speak and he can't even blink We are all lost in the Wilderness we're as blind as can be He came down to teach us how to really see Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah So give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid Eyeball kid Eyeball kid
11.
Sun come up it was blue and gold Sun come up it was blue and gold Sun come up it was blue and gold ever since I put your picture in a frame. I come calling in my Sunday best I come calling in my Sunday best I come calling in my Sunday best ever since I put your picture in a frame I'm gonna love you till the wheels come off oh yea I love you baby and I always will I love you baby and I always will I love you baby and I always will ever since I put your picture in a frame
12.
Don't go to church on Sunday Don't get on my knees to pray Don't memorize the books of the Bible I got my own special way But I know Jesus loves me maybe just a little bit more I fall on my knees every Sunday At Zerelda Lee's candy store Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Make me feel good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied Well I don't want no Abba Zabba Don't want no Almond Joy There ain't nothing better suitable for this boy Well it's the only thing that can pick me up Better than a cup of gold See only a chocolate Jesus can satisfy my soul (Solo) When the weather gets rough and it's whiskey in the shade it's best to wrap your savior up in cellophane He flows like the big muddy but that's ok Pour him over ice cream for a nice parfait Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus good enough for me Got to be a chocolate Jesus good enough for me Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus make me feel good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied
13.
Georgia Lee 04:24
Cold was the night, hard was the ground They found her in a small grove of trees Lonesome was the place where Georgia was found. She's too young to be out on the street Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Ida said she couldn't keep Georgia from dropping out of school I was doing the best that I could but she kept runnin away from this world these children are so hard to raise good Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Close your eyes and count to ten I will go and hide but then be sure to find me. I want you to find me and we'll play all over We will play all over again. There's a toad in the witch grass There's a crow in the corn Wild flowers on a cross by the road and somewhere a baby is crying for her mom As the hills turn from green back to gold Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee?
14.
Well I hung on to Mary's stump I danced with a soldier's glee With a rum soaked crook And a big fat laugh I spent my last dollar on thee I saw Bill Bones, gave him a yell Kehoe spiked the nog With a chain link fence And a scrap iron jaw Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring hog Spider rolled in from Hollister Burn With a one-eyed stolen Mare Donned himself with chicken fat Sawin on a jaw bone violin there Kathleen was sittin down In little reds recovery room In her criminal underwear bra I was naked to the waist With my fierce black hound And I'm cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Dig a big pit in a dirt alley road Fill it with madrone and bay Stinks like hell And the neighbors complain Don't give a hoot what they say Slap that hog Gotta roll em over twice Baste him with a sweeping broom You gotta swat them flies And chain up the dogs Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Rattle snake piccata with grapes and figs Old brown Betty with a yellow wig Tain't the mince meat filagree And it ain't the turkey neck stew And it ain't them bruleed Okra seeds though she Made them especially for you Worse won a prize for her Bottom black pie The beans got to thrown to the dogs Jaheseus Christ I can always Make room when they're Cookin up a Filipino box Spring Hog Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
15.
Phone's off the hook No one knows where we are It's a long time since I Drank champagne The ocean is blue As blue as your eyes I'm gonna take it with me When I go Old long since gone Now way back when we lived in Coney Island Ain't no good thing ever dies I'm gonna take it with me when I go Far far away a train whistle blows Wherever you're goin Wherever you've been Waving good bye at the end of the day You're up and you're over and you're far away Always for you, and forever yours It felt just like the old days we fell asleep on Beaula's porch I'm gonna take it with me when I go All broken down by the side of the road I was never more alive or Alone I've worn the faces off all the cards I'm gonna take it with me when I go Children are playing at the end of the day Strangers are singing on our lawn It's got to be more than flesh and bone All that you've loved is all you own In a land there's a town and in that town there's A house and in that house there's a woman and in that woman there's a heart I love I'm gonna take it with me when I go I'm gonna take it with me when I go
16.
Well the moon is broken And the sky is cracked Come on up to the house The only things that you can see Is all that you lack Come on up to the house All your cryin don't do no good Come on up to the house Come down off the cross We can use the wood Come on up to the house Come on up to the house Come on up to the house The world is not my home I'm just a passin thru Come on up to the house There's no light in the tunnel No irons in the fire Come on up to the house And your singin lead soprano In a junkman's choir You gotta come on up to the house Does life seem nasty, brutish and short Come on up to the house The seas are stormy And you can't find no port Come on up to the house (Chorus) There's nothin in the world That you can do You gotta come on up to the house And you been whipped by the forces That are inside you Come on up to the house Well you're high on top Of your mountain of woe Come on up to the house Well you know you should surrender But you can't let go You gotta come on up to the house (Chorus)

about

The Grammy award winner for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and Certified Gold Record, offers the iconic songs “Hold On” and “What’s He Building in There” along with the groove heavy, “Get Behind The Mule.” Experimentation are interspersed with some of the most beautiful and personal songs Waits has written.

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released April 27, 1999

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Tom Waits Los Angeles, California

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