1. |
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Wasted and wounded, it ain’t what the moon did
I got what I paid for now
see ya tomorrow hey Frank can I borrow
a couple of bucks from you, to go
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you’ll go waltzing
Matilda with me
I’m an innocent victim of a blinded alley
and I’m tired of all these soldiers here
no one speaks English and everything’s broken
and my Stacys are soaking wet
to go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you’ll go
waltzing Matilda with me
now the dogs are barking
and the taxi cabs parking
a lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me
you tore my shirt open
and I’m down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmills I staggered
you buried the dagger in
your silhouette window light to go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you’ll go waltzing
Matilda with me
now I’ve lost my St. Christopher
now that I’ve kissed her and the
one armed bandit knows, and the
maverick Chinaman, and the cold blooded signs
and the girls down by the strip tease shows go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you’ll go waltzing
Matilda with me
no I don’t want your sympathy
the fugitives say that the streets aren’t for dreaming now
manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
they want a piece of the action anyhow go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you’ll go waltzing
Matilda with me
and you can ask any sailor
and the keys from the jailor
and the old men in wheelchairs know
that Matilda’s the defendant, she killed about a hundred
and she follows wherever you may go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you’ll go waltzing
Matilda with me
and it’s a battered old suitcase
to a hotel someplace
and a wound that will never heal
no prima donna the perfume is on
an old shirt that is stained
with blood and whiskey
and goodnight to the street sweepers
the night watchman flame keepers
and goodnight Matilda too
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2. |
Step Right Up
05:43
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For the lyrics to “Step Right Up” send by prepaid mail
a photo of yourself, two dead creeping charlies,
and a self addressed stamped envelope to:
the Tropicana Motor Hotel, Hollywood, California
c /o Young Tom Waits
please allow 30 days for delivery
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3. |
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Well I’m a jitterbug boy
by the shoeshine
resting on my laurels
and my Hardy’s too
life of Riley on the swing shift,
gears follow my drift
once upon a time I was
in show biz too
I seen the Brooklyn Dodgers
playin at Ebbets Field
seen the Kentucky Derby too
it’s fast women, slow horses
I’m reliable sources
and I’m holding up a lamp post
if you wanna know
I seen the Wabush Cannonball
buddy I’ve done it all
because I slept with the lions
and Marilyn Monroe
had breakfast in the eye
of a hurricane
fought Rocky Marciano
played Minnesota Fats
burned hundred dollar bills
I eaten Mulligan stew
got drunk with Louis Armstrong
what’s that old song
I taught Mickey Mantle
everything he knows
and so you’ll ask me
what I’m doin here
holdin up a lamp post
flippin this quarter
trying to make up my mind
and if it’s heads I’ll go to
Tennessee, and tails I’ll buy a drink
if it lands on the edge
I’ll keep talkin to you
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4. |
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Well I wish I was in New Orleans
I can see it in my dreams
arm in arm down Burgundy
a bottle and my friends and me
hoist up a few tall cool ones
play some pool and listen to that
tenor saxophone calling me home
and I can hear the band begin
When The Saints Go Marching In
by the whiskers on my chin
New Orleans I’ll be there
I’ll drink you under the table
be red nose go for walks
the old haunts what I wants
is red beans and rice
and wear the dress I like so well
meet me at the old saloon
make sure there’s a Dixie moon
New Orleans I’ll be there
and deal the cards roll the dice
if it ain’t that ole Chuck E. Weiss
and Clayborn Avenue me and you
Sam Jones and all
and I wish I was in New Orleans
I can see it in my dreams
arm in arm down Burgundy
a bottle and my friends and me
New Orleans I’ll be there
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5. |
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The piano has been drinking
my neck tie is asleep
and the combo went back to New York
the juke box has to take a leak
and the carpet needs a haircut
and the spot light looks like a prison break
cause the telephone is out of cigarettes
and the balcony’s on the make
and the piano has been drinking
the piano has been drinking
and the menus are all freezing
and the lightman’s blind in one eye
and he can’t see out of the other
and the piano tuner’s got a hearing aide
and showed up with his mother
and the piano has been drinking
the piano has been drinking
cause the bouncer is a Sumo wrestler
cream puff casper milk toast
and the owner is a mental midget
with I.Q. of a fencepost
cause the piano has been drinking
the piano has been drinking
and you can’t find your waitress
with a geiger counter
and she hates you and your friends
and you just can’t get served
without her
and the box office is drooling
and the bar stools are on flre
and the newspapers were fooling
and the ashtrays have retired
and the piano has been drinking
the piano has been drinking
the piano has been drinking
not me, not me, not me, not me, not me
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6. |
Invitation To The Blues
05:24
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Well she’s up against the register
with an apron and a spatula
with yesterday’s deliveries
and the tickets for the bachelors
she’s a moving violation
from her conk down to her shoes
but it’s just an invitation to the blues
and you feel just like Cagney
looks like Rita Hayworth
at the counter of the Schwab’s drug store
you wonder if she might be single
she’s a loner likes to mingle
got to be patient and pick up a clue
she says howyougonnalikem
over medium or scrambled
anyways the only way
be careful not to gamble
on a guy with a suitcase
and a ticket gettin out of here
it’s a tired bus station
and an old pair of shoes
but it ain’t nothin but an
invitation to the blues
but you can’t take your eyes off her
get another cup of java
and it’s just the way she pours it for you
jokin with the customers
and it’s mercy mercy Mr. Percy
there ain’t nothin back in Jersey
but a broken down jalopy of a
man I left behind
and a dream that I was chasin
and a battle with the booze
and an open invitation to the blues
but she’s had a sugar daddy
and a candy apple caddy
and a bank account and everything
accustom to the finer things
he probably left her for a socialite
he didn’t love her cept at night
and then he’s drunk and never
even told her that he cared
so they took the registration
and the car keys and her shoes
and left her with an invitation
to the blues
but there’s a Continental Trailways leaving
local bus tonight good evening
you can have my seat
I’m stickin round here for awhile
get me a room at the Squire
and the fillin station’s hiring
I can eat here every night
what the hell have I got to loose
got a crazy sensation
go or stay and I’ve got to choose
and I’ll accept your invitation
to the blues
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7. |
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Smellin like a brewery
lookin like a tramp
ain’t got a quarter
got a postage stamp
and a five o’ clock shadow boxing
all around the town
talking with the old men
sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin
al zootin al hoot
and Al Cohn
sharin this apartment
with a telephone pole
and it’s a fish net stockings
spike heel shoes
strip tease, prick tease
car kease blues
and the porno floor show
live nude girls
dreamy and creamy
and the brunette curls
chesty Morgan, and a
Watermelon Rose
raise my rent and take off
all your clothes
with the trench coats
magazines bottle full a rum
she’s so good, it make
a dead man cum, with
pasties and a g-string
beer and a shot
Portland threw a shot glass
and a Buffalo squeeze
wrinkles and cherry
and twinky and pinky
and FeFe live from Gay Paree
fanfares rim shots
backstage who cares
all this hot burlesque for me
cleavage cleavage thighs and hips
from the nape of her neck
to the lip stick lips
chopped and channeled
and lowered and louvered
and a cheater slicks
and baby moons
she’s hot and ready
and creamy and sugared
and the band is awful
and so are the tunes
crawlin on her belly shakin like jelly
and I’m gettin harder than
Chinese algebraziers and cheers
from the compendium here
hey sweet heart they’re yellin for more
squashin out your cigarette butts
on the floor
and I like Shelly
you like Jane
what was the girl with the snake skins name
it’s an early bird matinee’
come back any day
getcha little sompin
that cha can’t get at home
getcha little sompin
that cha can’t get at home
pasties and a g-string
beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
and a Buffalo squeeze
popcorn front row
higher than a kite
and I’ll be back tomorrow night
and I’ll be back tomorrow night
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8. |
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Well I got a bad liver and a broken heart
yea 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 I am slumped
I been chippied I been chumped
on my stool
so buy this fool, some spirits and libations
it’s these railroad station bars
with all these conductors and the porters
and I’m all out of quarters
and this epitaph is the aftermath
yea I choose my path
hey come on Cath, he’s a lawyer
he ain’t the one for ya
and no the moon ain’t romantic
it’s intimidating as hell
and some guy’s tryin to sell
mea 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, 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 nothin but
rest us assured
and substantiate the rumors
that you’ve heard
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9. |
The One That Got Away
04:07
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The jigalo’s jump in salty
ain’t no trade out on the streets
half past the unlucky
and the hawk’s a front row seat
dressed in full orquestration
stage door johnnys got to pay
and send him home
talking bout the one that got away
could a been on easy street
could a been a wheel
with irons in the fire
and all them business deals
but the last of the big time losers
shouted before he drove away
I’ll be right back as soon as I crack
the one that got away
the ambulance drivers don’t give a shit
they just want to get off work
and the short stop and the victim
have already gone berserk
and the shroud tailor measures him
for a deep six holiday
the stiff is froze, the case is closed
on the one that got away
Jim Grow’s directing traffic
with them cemetery blues
with those peculiar looking trousers
and them old Italian shoes
the wooden kimona was all ready
to drop in San Francisco bay
but now he’s mumbling something
all about the one that got away
Costello was the champion
at the St. Moritz Hotel
and the best this side of Fairfax
reliable sources tell
but his reputation is at large
and he’s at Ben Frank’s every day
waiting for the one that got away
he’s got a snake skin sportshirt
and he looks like Vincent Price
with a little piece of chicken
and he’s carving off a slice
but someone tipped her off
she’ll be doing a Houdini now any day
she shook his hustle
the Greyhound Bus’ll
take the one that got away
Andre is at the piano
behind the Ivar in the Sewers
with a buck a shot for pop tunes
and a fin for guided tours
he could of been in Casablanca
he stood in line out there all day
but now he’s spilling whiskey
and learning songs about the one that got away
well I’ve lost my equilibrium
my car keys and my pride
tattoo parlor’s warm
and so I huddle there inside
the grinding of the buzz saw
whatchuwanthathingtosay
just don’t misspell her name
buddy she’s the one that got away
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10. |
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Well small change got rained on with his own .38
and nobody flinched down by the arcade
and the marquise weren’t weeping
they went stark ravin’ mad
and the cabbies were the only ones
that really had it made
cause his cold trousers were twisted
and the sirens high and shrill
and crumpled in his fist was a five dollar bill
and the naked mannikins with their
cheshire grins
and the raconteurs
and roustabouts said buddy
come on in
cause the dreams ain’t broken down here
now ... they’re walkin’ with a limp
now that
small change got rained on with his own .38
and nobody flinched down by the arcade
and the burglar alarm’s been disconnected
and the newsmen start to rattle
and the cops are tellin’ jokes
about some whore house in
Seattle and the fire hydrants plead the 5th amendment
and the furniture’s bargains galore
but the blood is by the juke box
on an old linoleum floor
and it’s a hot rain on 42nd Street
and now the umbrellas ain’t got a chance
and the newsboy’s a lunatic
with stains on his pants cause ...
small change got rained on with his own .38
and no one’s gone over to close his eyes
and there’s a racing form in his pocket
circled Blue Boots in the 3rd
and the cashier at the clothing store
he didn’t say a word as the
siren tears the night in half
and someone lost his wallet
well it’s surveillance of assailants
if that’s whachawannacallit
but the whores still smear on
and they all look like
but their mouths cut just like
razor blades and their eyes are like stilettos
and her radiator’s steaming
and her teeth are in a wreck
now she won’t let you kiss her
but what the hell did you expect
and the gypsies are tragic and if you
wanna buy perfume, well
they’ll bark you down like
carneys ... sell you Christmas cards in June
but ...
small change got rained on with his own .38
and his headstone’s
a gumball machine
no more chewing gum
or baseball cards or
overcoats or dreams and
someone is hosing down the sidewalk
and he’s only in his teens
small change got rained on with his own .38
and a fist full of dollars can’t change that
and someone copped his watch fob
and someone got his ring
and the newsboy got his pork pie Stetson hat
and the tuberculosis old men
at the Nelson wheeze and cough
and someone will head South
until this whole thing cools off cause
small change got rained on with his own .38
yea small change got rained on with his own .38
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11. |
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Well I don’t mind working
cause I used to be jerkin off
most of my time in the bars
I been a cabby and a stock clerk
and a soda fountain jock jerk
and a manic mechanic on cars
It’s nice work if you can get it
now who the hell said it
I got money to spend on my girl
but the work never stops
and I’ll be bustin my chops
working for Joe & Sal.
and I can’t wait to get off work
and see my baby
she said she’d leave the porch lite
on for me
I’m disheveled I’m disdainful
I’m distracted and it’s painful
but this job sweepin up here is
gainfully employing me tonight
Tom do this Tom do that
Tom, don’t do that
count the cash clean the oven
dump the trash oh your lovin
is a rare and a copacetic gift,
I’m a moonlight watchmanic
it’s hard to be romantic
(sweeping up over by the cigarette machine
sweeping up over by the cigarette machine)
and I can’t wait to get off work
and see my baby
she be waiting up with a magazine for me
clean the bathrooms, clean urn good
oh you’re Iovin I wish you would
come down here and sweepameoffmyfeet
this broom’ll have to be my baby
if I hurry I just might
get off before the dawns early light
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