Tom Waits - Asylum Years

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"Now the sun's coming up, I'm riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer
Oh Lord, let me tell you that the feeling getting stronger"

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"I'll just get on back into my short, make it back to the fort
Sleep off all the crazy lizards inside of my brain.
There's got to be some place that's better than this
This life I'm leading's driving me insane"

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"And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows, we'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day"

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"See me coming, you ain't got no change
Don't worry baby, it can be arranged:
Show me you can smile, baby just for me
Fix you with a drumstick, i'll do it for free

'cause i'm the ice cream man, i'm a one-man band
I'm the ice cream man, honey, i'll be good to you."

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Instrumental

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"Let's put a new coat of paint on this lonesome old town
Set 'em up, we'll be knockin' em down.
You wear a dress, baby, and I'll wear a tie.
We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon in that burgundy sky"

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"I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine 'til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody, until I needed a song"

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"You know the bartenders all know my name
And they catch me when I'm pulling up lame
And I'm a pool-shooting-shimmy-shyster shaking my head
When I should be living clean instead"

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"And I'm blinded by the neon
Don't try and change my tune
'Cause I thought I heard a saxophone
I'm drunk on the moon"

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"Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinamen, 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"

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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"
(livret de Small Change)

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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"

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"Cause the bouncer is a Sumo wrestler
Cream-puff casper milk toast
And the owner is a mental midget with the I.Q. of a fencepost
Cause the piano has been drinking"

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"She said "How you gonna like 'em, over medium or scrambled?",
You say "Anyway's the only way", be careful not to gamble
On a guy with a suitcase and a ticket getting out of here
It's a tired bus station and an old pair of shoes
This ain't nothing but an invitation to the blues"

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"And nobody flinched down by the arcade
And the burglar alarm's been disconnected,
And the newsmen start to rattle
And the cops are telling jokes about some whorehouse in Seattle
And the fire hydrants plead the fifth amendment
And the furniture is bargains galore
But the blood is by the jukebox on an old linoleum floor"

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"Your life's a dimestore novel
This town is full of guys like you
And you're looking for someone to take the place of her
/
You're bitter cause he left you
That's why you're drinkin in this bar
Well only suckers fall in love
With perfect strangers"

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"Guess you heard about Nash he was killed in a crash
Oh that must have been two or three years ago now
Yeah he spun out and he rolled he hit a telephone pole
And he died with the radio on"

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"When it's twisted on the clock and you tell them nickel sent you
Whiskey always makes him talk
And you ask for Captain Charon with the mud on his kicks
He's the skipper of the deadline steamer
And she sails from the Bronx across the river Styx
And a riddle is just a ticket for a dreamer"

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"Hell Marysville ain't nothing but a wide spot in the road
Some nights my heart pounds like thunder
Don't know why it don't explode
Cause everyone in this stinking town's got one foot in the grave
And I'd rather take my chances out in Burma Shave"

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"Hey Charlie I'm pregnant and living on 9th Street
Right above a dirty bookstore off Euclid Avenue
And I stopped takin dope and I quit drinkin whiskey
And my old man plays the trombone and works out at the track
[...]
Hey Charlie for chrissakes if you want to know the truth of it
I don't have a husband he don't play the trombone
I need to borrow money to pay this lawyer and Charlie hey
I'll be eligible for parole come Valentine's day"

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"Romeo is bleeding
As he gives the man his ticket
He climbs the balcony at the movies
And he'll die without a whimper
Like every heroes dream
Like an angel with a bullet
And Cagney on the screen"

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"And the siren's just an epilogue the cops here always get there too late
They always stop for coffee on their way to the scene of the crime
They always try so hard to look just like movie stars
But they couldn't catch a cold
Baby don't waste your dime
She's lucky to be alive the doctor whispered to the nurse
She only lost half a pint of blood twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse"

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"You probably seen me sleepin out by the railroad tracks
Go on and ask the prince of darkness
What about all that smoke come from the stack
Sometimes I kill myself a jackal suck out all the blood
Steal myself a station wagon drivin' through the mud"

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"I'll steal a hacksaw from my dad and cut the braces off your legs
And we'll bury them tonight out in the cornfield
Just put a church key in your pocket we'll hop that freight train in The hall
We'll slide all the way down the drain to New Orleans in the fall"

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"Instead these blue valentines to remind me of my cardinal sin
I can never wash the guilt or get these bloodstains off my hands
And it takes a whole lot of whiskey to make these nightmares go away
And I cut my bleedin heart out every night and I'm gonna die just a little more"
on each St. Valentine's day"

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"Liar liar with your pants on fire
white spades hangin on the telephone wire
gamblers reevaluate along the dotted line
you'll never recognize yourself on Heartattack and Vine"

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"Montclaire de Havelin doin the St. Vitus dance
Lookin for someone to chop the lumber in his pants
How am I gonna unload all of this ice and all this mink
All the traffic in the street but it's so hard to think"

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"You know she thrills me with all her charms
When I'm wrapped up in my baby's arms
My little angel gives me everything
I know someday that she'll wear my ring

So don't bother me cause I got no time
I'm on my way to see that girl of mine yeah
Nothin else matters in this whole wide world
When you're in love with a Jersey girl"

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"Oh and now thats one for the money two for the show
Three to get ready and go man go
I said tell me mister Siegel
How do I get out of here"

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"I will feel my way down the darkened hall and out into the morning
The hobos at the freight yards have kept their fires burning
So Jesus Christ this goddamn rain will someone put me on a train
I'll never kiss your lips again or break your heart
As I say goodbye I say goodbye I say goodbye to
Ruby's arms"