miércoles, 16 de noviembre de 2011

TOM WAITS: Foreign Affairs (1977)



1. Cinny's Waltz
2. Muriel
3. I Never Talk To Strangers
4. Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come
5. A Sight For Sore Eyes
6. Potter's Field
7. Burma-Shave
8. Barber Shop
9. Foreign Affair


CINNY’S WALTZ
(Instrumental)

MURIEL
Muriel since you left town
The clubs closed down
There's one more burned out lamp post
On Main Street
Down where we used to stroll

And Muriel
I still hit all the same old haunts
And you follow me wherever I go

Muriel I see you
On a Saturday night
In a penny arcade
With your hair tied back
The diamond twinkle
Is in your eye
Is the only wedding ring that I'll buy you
Muriel

Muriel how many times
I've left this town
To hide from your memory
And it haunts me
But I only get as far
As the next Whiskey bar
I buy another cheap cigar
And I'll see you every night

Hey Muriel
Muriel
Hey buddy
Got a light

I NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS
(Bartender, I'd like a Manhattan please)

Stop me if you've heard this one
But I feel as though we've met before
Perhaps I am mistaken
But it's just that I remind you of
Someone you used to care about
Oh but that was long ago
Now tell me do you really think I'd fall for that old line
I was not born just yesterday
Besides I never talk to strangers anyway

Hell I ain't a bad guy when you get to know me
I just thought there ain't no harm
Hey yeah just try minding your own business bud
Who asked you to annoy me
With your sad, sad repartee
Besides I never talk to strangers anyway

Your life's a dime store novel
This town is full of guys like you
And you're looking for someone
To take the place of her
You must be reading my mail
You're bitter ‘cause he left you
That's why you're drinking in this bar
Well only suckers fall in love with perfect strangers

It always takes one to know one stranger
Maybe we're just wiser now
Yeah and been around that block so many times
That we don't notice
That we're all just perfect strangers
As long as we ignore
That we all begin as strangers
Just before we find
We really aren't strangers anymore

(Aw, you don't look like such a chump)
(Aw, hey baby)

MEDLEY: JACK & NEAL / CALIFORNIA HERE I COME
Jack was sitting poker faced with bullets backed with bitches
Neal hunched at the wheel putting everyone in stitches
Bragging about some nurse he screwed while driving through Nebraska
And when she came she honked the horn
Neal just barely missed a truck
And then he asked her if she'd like to come like that to California
You see a red head in a uniform will always get you horny
Yeah and with her hairnet and those white shoes and a name tag and a hat
She drove like Andy Granatelli and knew how to fix a flat
And Jack was almost at the bottom of his MD 2020
Neal was yelling out the window trying to buy some bennies
From a Lincoln full of Mexicans and the left rear tire blowed
And the sons of bitches pretty near almost ran us off the road
And while the nurse had spilled the Maneshewitz all up and down her dress
And then she lit the map on fire Neal just had to guess
Should we try and find a bootleg route or a filling station open
The nurse was dumping out her purse and looking for an envelope
And Jack was out of cigarettes and as we crossed the yellow line
The gas pumps looked like tombstones from here
And it felt lonelier than a parking lot when the last car pulls away
And the moonlight dressed the double breasted foothills in the mirror
Weaving out a negligee and a black brassiere
And the Mercury was running hot and we were almost out of gas
Just then Florence Nightingale she dropped her drawers and
Stuck her fat ass half way out of the window to a Wilson Pickett tune
And shouted get a load of this and gave the finger to the moon

Counting one eyed Jacks and whistling dixie in the car
Neal was doing least a hundred when we saw a falling star
And Florence wished that Neal would hold her instead of chewing on his cigar
Jack was nodding out and wishing he was in a bar
With Charlie Parker on the bandstand and not a worry in the world
And a glass of beer in one hand and his arms around a girl
Neal was singing to the nurse underneath the Harlem Moon
And somehow you could just tell we'd be in California soon

Open up your golden gates
California here I come
I said California here I come
Look out California here I come

A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES
A sight for sore eyes it's a long time no see
Working hard hardly working hey man you know me
Water under the bridge did you see my new car
Well it's bought and it's paid for parked outside of the bar
And hey barkeep what's keeping you keep pouring drinks
For all these palookas hey you know what I thinks
That we toast to the old days and DiMaggio too
And old Drysdale and Mantle Whitey Ford and to you

Oh you know the old gang ain't around everyone has left town
Except for Thumm and Giardina said they just might be down
Oh half drunk all the time and I'm all drunk the rest, yeah
Monk's still the champion oh but I am the best
And hey barkeep what's keeping you keep pouring drinks
For all these palookas hey you know what I thinks
That we toast to the old days and DiMaggio too
Drysdale and Mantle Whitey Ford and to you

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
No she's married with a kid finally split up with Sid
He's up north for a nickel's worth for armed robbery
And I'll play you some pinball no you ain't got a chance
Then go on over and ask her to dance
And hey barkeep what's keeping you keep pouring drinks
For all these palookas hey you know what I thinks
That we toast to the old days and DiMaggio too
Drysdale and Mantle Whitey Ford and to you

POTTER’S FIELD
Buy me a drink and I'll tell you what I've seen
And I'll give you a bargain from the edge of a maniac's dream
That buys a black widow spider with a riddle in his yarn
That's clinging to the furrow of a blind man's brow
And I'll start talking from the brim of a thimble full of whiskey
On a train through the Bronx that will take you just as far
As the empty of a bottle to the highway of a scar
That stretched across the blacktop of my cheek like that
And then ducks beneath the brim of a fugitive's hat
You'll learn why liquor makes a stool pigeon rat on every face
That ever left a shadow down on Saint Mark's place

Hell I'd double-cross my mother if it was whiskey that they paid
And so an early bird says Nightstick's on the hit parade
And he ain't got a prayer and his days are numbered
And you'll track him down like a dog
But it's a tough customer you're getting in this trade
Cause the Nightstick's heart pumps lemonade
And whiskey keeps a blind man talking all right
And I'm the only one who knows just where he stayed last night

He was in a wrecking yard in a switchblade storm
In a wheelbarrow with nothing but revenge to keep him warm
And a half a million dollars in unmarked bills
Was the nightstick's blanket in a February chill
And the buzzards drove a crooked sky beneath a black wing halo
He was dealing high Chicago in the mud
And stacking the deck against a dragnet's eye
And the shivering nightstick in a miserable heap
With the siren for a lullaby singing him to sleep
And bleeding from a buttonhole and torn by a slug
Fired from the barrel of a two dollar gun
That scorched a blister on the grip of a punk by now
Is learning what you have to pay to be a hero anyhow

He dressed the hole in his gut with a hundred dollar bandage
A king's ransom for a bedspread that don't amount to nothing
Just cobweb strings on a busted ukulele
And the nightstick leaned on a black shillelagh
With the poison of a junkie's broken promise on his lip
He staggered in the shadows screaming I ain't never been afraid
And he shot out every street light on the promenade
Past the frozen ham and eggers at the penny arcade
Throwing out handfuls of a blood stained salary
They were dead in their tracks at the shooting gallery
And they fired off a twenty-one gun salute
And from the corner of his eye he caught the alabaster orbs
Of a dime a dance hall girl and stuffed a thousand dollar bill in her blouse
And caught the cruel and unusual punishment of her smile
And the nightstick winked beneath a rain soaked brim
Ain't no one seen hide nor hair of him since
No one except a spade on Riker's Island and me

So if you're mad enough to listen to a full of whiskey blind man
And you're mad enough to look beyond where the bloodhounds dare to go
And if you want to know where the nightstick's hiding out
You be down at the ferry landing oh let's say about half past a nightmare
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

‘Cause when the weathervane is sleeping and the moon turns his back
You crawl on your belly along the railroad tracks
And cross your heart and hope to die and stick a needle in your eye
Cause he'd cut my bleeding heart out if he found out that I squealed
‘Cause you see a scarecrow is just a hoodlum
Who marked the cards that he dealed
And pulled a gypsy switch

Out on the edge of Potter's Field

BURMA SHAVE
Licorice tattoo turned a gun metal blue
Scrawled across the shoulders of a dying town
Took the one eyed jacks across the railroad tracks
And the scar on its belly pulled a stranger passing through
He's a juvenile delinquent never learned how to behave
But the cops would never think to look in Burma-Shave

And the road was like a ribbon and the moon was like a bone
He didn't seem to be like any guy she'd ever known
He kind of looked like Farley Granger with his hair slicked back
She says, I'm a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat
How far are you going?
Said, Depends on what you mean
He says I'm only stopping here to get some gasoline
I guess I'm going thataway just as long as it's paved
And I guess you'd say I'm on my way to Burma Shave

And with her knees up on the glove compartment
She took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like root beer
And she popped her gum and arched her back
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

Presley's what I go by why don't you change the stations
Count the grain elevators in the rearview mirror
She said, mister anywhere you point this thing
It got to beat the hell out of the sting
Of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin’
And so drill me a hole with a barber pole
And I'm jumping my parole just like a fugitive tonight
Why don't you have another swig and pass that car if you're so brave
I wanna get there before the sun comes up in Burma Shave

And the spider web crack and the mustang screamed
The smoke from the tires and the twisted machine
Just a nickel's worth of dreams and every wishbone that they saved
Lie swindled from them on the way to Burma Shave

And the sun hit the derrick and cast a bat wing shadow
Up against the car door on the shotgun side
And when they pulled her from the wreck
You know she still had on her shades
They say that dreams are growing wild
Just this side of Burma Shave

BARBER SHOP
Good morning mister snip snip snip
With your hair cut just as short as mine
Good morning mister snip snip snip
With your hair cut just as short as mine
Bay Rum, Lucky Tiger, Butch Wax, Cracker Jacks
Shoe shine jaw breaker magazine racks
Hanging round the barber shop a side-burning close crop
Morning Mr. Furgeson what's the good word with you
Staying out of trouble like a good boy should
I see you're still cutting hair I'm still cutting classes
I got a couple passes to the Ringle Bros Barn Bail circus afternoon

You lost a little round the middle and you're looking real good
Sitting on the wagon instead of under the hood
What's the low-down Mr. Brown I heard your boy's leaving town
I bought myself a struggle buggy sucker's powder blue

Throw me over the sports page Cincinnati looking good
I always been for Pittsburgh and I lay you 10 to 1
The Pirates get the pennant and the series before their done
The hair's getting longer you know the skirts are getting shorter
And don't you know that you can get a cheaper haircut If you wanna cross the border
If your mama saw you smoking well she'd kick your ass
Now you put it out you juvenile and put it out fast
Well if I had a million dollars what would I do
I'd probably be a barber not a bum like you
Still got your paper route now that's just fine
And you can pay me double because you gypped me last time

And don't you know that you can keep a little circus money and spend it on a girl
And just remember that I give the best haircuts in the whole wide world
I give the best haircuts in the whole wide world

Good morning mister snip snip snip
Your hair cut just as short as mine
Good morning mister snip snip snip
Your hair cut just as short, you got your hair cut just as short, you got your hair cut just as short as mine

FOREIGN AFFAIR
When traveling abroad in the continental style
It's my belief one must attempt to be discreet
And subsequently bear in mind your transient position
Allows you a perspective that's unique

And though you'll find your itinerary a blessing and a curse
Your wanderlust won't let you settle down
And you'll wonder how you ever fathomed that you'd be content
To stay within the city limits of a small mid western town
Most vagabonds I knowed don't ever want to find the culprit
That remains the object of their long relentless quest
The obsession's in the chasing and not the apprehending
The pursuit you see and never the arrest

Without fear of contradiction bon voyage is always hollered
In conjunction with a handkerchief from shore
By a girl who drives a Rambler and furthermore is overly
Concerned that she won't see him anymore
Planes and trains and boats and buses characteristically
Evoke a common attitude of blue
Unless you have a suitcase and a ticket and a passport
And the cargo that they're carrying is you

A foreign affair juxtaposed with a stateside
And domestically approved romantic fancy
Is mysteriously attractive due to circumstances knowing
It will only be parlayed into a memory

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