An Ode to Tom Waits
Down there by the train,
Playin’ Hooky
With a Suitcase,
Waiting for Waits.
No one knows I’m Gone……..
I can hear him from afar,
Stumblin’,
Mumblin’,
Fumblin’ for the Blues…
There he is,
A Sight For Sore Eyes,
Burma Shave,
Walking Spanish,
Doing the Metropolitan Glide.
He wildly hoots,
“I’m drunk on the moon,”
“Shiver me Timbers,”
“Whose Sports coat is That?”
“Is There Any Way Out of This Dream?”
“Surely I hope I don’t fall in love with you.”
On we went,
Getting drunk on a bottle,
Whistlin’ past the grave yard,
Straight to the top,
Kentucky Avenue,
Wrong side of the road,
Somewhere.
A translucent train station,
Catastrophic conductor screaming,
Step Right Up!
We hopped on,
The Downtown train,
With Waits hollering,
“I’m your late night evening prostitute,”
“Do you know what I Idi Amin?”
We held conversations about,
What keeps mankind alive?
The Fall of Troy,
The Last Rose of Summer,
And The One that Got Away.
Time,
Watch her disappear,
Blow wind Blow,
Till the money runs out.
Next Stop,
9th and Hennipin.
Heading to the Adios Lounge,
Where there’s Warm Beer and Cold Women
And The Piano has been drinking,
Friday’s Blues,
Through a Midnight Lullaby,
Causing such a scream.
Tommy mumbles,
“Hang down your head,”
I’ve run up quite a tab,
T ‘Aint no sin
But the owner is steamed.
Brother Can you Spare a Dime?
Nevermind…Jesus gonna be here!
He owes me seven shots a’ bourbon,
For the seven sins I let him borrow last night.
Hey…you’re Innocent When You Dream!
I never talk to strangers,
But Tom has taught me to.
We’re all mad here,
Lost in the harbor,
All stripped down,
Making our way through a world of adventure.
So it goes,
I must hit the goodnight loving trail,
Back to a town with no cheer,
Leaving a good man behind.
Tom doesn’t care though,
He’s met a gun street girl,
And a gin soaked boy,
To do the cemetery polka,
Through the heart of Saturday night.
He flashed me his Cheshire cat grin,
Growled and said,
“Everything you can think of is true”
“It’s just the way we are boys,
And the world keeps turning…”
I know I’ve been changed…………
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Poetry
Jeremy Perrone has posted a poem with a few Tom Waits references at the Poet Sanctuary. You need to register to read it, so for those of you who want a quick fix, I posted it here.
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3 comments:
He flashed me his Cheshire cat grin,
Growled and said,
“Everything you can think of is true”
“It’s just the way we are boys,
And the world keeps turning…”
I know I’ve been changed…………
True true once again, that we're far from a masterpiece, but those last lines are my favourites... though gee! I'de prefer to read a Verlaine or Rimbaud.
And, errr... once again : it's a pity they come up with Orphans, because everyone knows those songs already, and it's ending the fans' quest for rareties. Nothing new : alternate versions, OST stuff... It's good commercial action, but surely not in the interest of the fans.
Let's scream together: KITATE !
orphans is awesome, I am a hardcore fan.. but I do not have the time nor money to track down 60 orphaned tracks! some out of print,
Not to mention the fact in an interview Tom pointed out a lot of what will be in Orphans are songs that were made for his records but cut out at the last second.
As well all know Tom usually says he has about 10 to spare per record, I assume we will be getting some completely unheard of material. At least that's what the man himself reported.
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