Whistlin' Past The Graveyard

from Blue Valentine (Remastered) by Tom Waits

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lyrics

well i come in on a night train
with an arm full of box cars
on the wings of a magpie
cross a hooligan night
and i busted up a chifforobe
way out by the cocomo
cooked up a mess a mulligan
and got into a fight

whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i’m a mean motherhubbard
papa one eyed jack

you probably seen me sleepin
out by the railroad tracks
go on and ask the prince of darkness
what about all thet smoke
come from the stack
sometimes i kill myself a jackal
suck out all the blood
steal myself a stationwagon
drivin through the mud

whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i’m a mean motherhubbard
papa one eyed jack

i know you seen my headlights
and the honkin of my horn
i’m callin out my bloodhounds
chase the devil through the corn
last night i chugged the mississippi
now that sucker’s dry as a bone
born in a taxi cab
i’m never comin home

whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i’m a mean motherhubbard
papa one eyed jack

my eyes have seen the glory
of the drain in of the ditch
i only come to baton rouge
to find myself a witch
i’m-ona snatch me up a
couple of em every time it rains
you see a locomotive
probably thinkin it’s a train

whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i’m a mean motherhubbard
papa nne eyed jack

what you think is the sunshine
is just a twinkle in my eye
that ring around my fingers
just the 4th of july
when i get a little bit lonesome
and a tear falls from my cheek
there’s gonna be an ocean in
the middle of the week

whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i’m a mean motherhubbard
papa one eyed jack

i rode into town on a night train
with an arm full of box cars
on the wings of a magpie
cross a hooligan night
i’m-ona tear me off a rainbow
and wear it for a tie
i nevn told the truth
so i can never tell a lie

whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i’m a mean motherhubbard
papa one eyed jack

credits

from Blue Valentine (Remastered), released March 9, 2018

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