Invitation To The Blues

from Small Change (Remastered) by Tom Waits

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lyrics

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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from Small Change (Remastered), released March 9, 2018

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