Tom Waits

Romeo Is Bleeding

And they all jump when they hear the sirens
but romeo just laughs and says
all the racket in the world

ain't never gonna save that coppers ass
he'll never see another summertime for
gunnin' down my brother
and leavin' him like a dog beneath a car
without his knife

and romeo says hey man gimme a cigarette
and they all hurry for their pack
and Frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
and throws bottle at a milk truck
and as it breaks he grabs his nuts
and they all know they could be just like romeo
if they only had the guts

The piano has been drinking (Not Me)

The piano has been drinking, my necktie is asleep
And the combo went back to New York, the jukebox has to take a leak
And the carpet needs a haircut,
and the spotlight looks like a prison break
And the telephone's 
out of cigarettes

and the balcony is on the make

As the bouncer is a Sumo wrestler cream-puff Casper milk toast
And the owner is a mental midget with the I.Q. of a fence post

And you can't find your waitress with a Geiger counter
And she hates you and your friends and you just can't get served without her
And the box-office 
is drooling,

and the bar stools 
are on fire
And the newspapers were fooling, and the ash-trays have retired
'Cause the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking
The piano has been drinking 
not me

This has probably been my hardest entry so far. Its so difficult to narrow the poetic genious of Tom Waits into two choices to be displayed when every song is so well crafted and cleverly depicts the simplest day to day struggles as a journey through the pain of Waits’ life. Again I can thank my father for this, showing me his ‘Heart attack and Vine’ CD and telling me straight up he believed him to be a poet and “one of the best lyricists of our time”

I can safely say I listen to Tom Waits every day, even if its just one song I’ll belt it out in my gravely impression just wishing one day I will be able to think of something so witty and original.


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