Artist: Tom Waits Album: Blue Valentine {1978}

There's a place for us
Somewhere a place for us
Peace and quiet, open air
Waiting for us somewhere

There's a time for us
Someday a time for us
A time together, a time to spare
Time to learn, time to care

Someday, somewhere
We'll find a new way of living
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere

There's a place for us
A time and a place for us
Hold my hand and we're half way there
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow, someday, somewhere

She wore red shoes by the newstand
As the rain splashed the nickle
And spilled like chablis all along the midway
There's a little bluejay, red dress, sad night

One straw in a rootbeer
A compact with a cracked mirror
A bottle of Evening In Paris perfume
What's this sad tune

He told her to wait by the magazines
Take care of business it seems
Bring a raincoat, bring a suitcase
Bring your dark eyes and wear those red shoes

There's a dark huddle at the bus stop
Umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet
Little Cesaer got caught, he's going on down to second
He was cooled, changing stations on the chamber
To steal a diamond ring from a jewelry store for his baby
He loved the way she looked in those red shoes

She waited by the drugstore
Cesaer'd never been this late before
Dogs bayed the moon and rattled their chains
And the cold jingle of taps in a puddle
Was the burgler alarm snitchin' on Cesaer

And the rain washes memories from the sidewalks
And hounds splash the nickle full of soldiers
Santa Claus is drunk in the ski room
It's Christmas eve in a sad cafe
When the moon gets this way
There's a little bluejay by the newstand

Red shoes, red shoes
Meet me tonight by the drugstore
Meet me tonight by the drugstore
Meet me tonight by the drugstore
We're goin' out tonight, we're goin' out tonight
We're goin' out tonight, wear your red shoes
Red shoes, wear your red shoes, red shoes, red shoes

Hey, Charley, I'm pregnant and livin' on 9th street
Right above a dirty bookstore off Euclid Avenue
I stopped takin' dope, I quit drinkin' whiskey
My old man plays the trombone and works out at the track

He says that he loves me even though it's not his baby
He says that he'll raise him up like he would his own son
He gave me a ring that was worn by his mother
And he takes me out dancin' every Saturday night

Hey, Charley, I think about you every time I pass a fillin' station
On account of all the grease you used to wear in your hair
I still have that record, Little Anthony and the Imperials
But someone stole my record player, oh, now how do you like that

Hey, Charley, I almost went crazy after Mario got busted
I went back to Omaha to live with my folks
Everyone I used to know is either dead or in prison
So I came back to Minneapolis, this time I think I'm gonna stay

Hey, Charley, I think I'm happy, the first time since my accident
I wish I had all the money we used to spend on dope
I'd buy me a used car lot and I wouldn't sell any of 'em
I'd just drive a different car every day, depending on how I feel

Hey, Charley, for chrissakes, do you wanna know the truth of it
Don't have a husband, he don't play the trombone
I need to borrow money to pay this lawyer and Charley, hey
I'll be eligible for parole come Valentine's Day

Romeo is bleeding, but not so as you'd notice
He's over on Eighteenth Street as usual
Lookin' so hard against the hood of his car
And puttin' out a cigarette in his hand
For all the pachucos at the pumps at Romero's Paint and Body
They seein' how far they can spit, well, it was just another night
And now they're huddled in the brake lights of a fifty-eight Belair
And listenin' to how Romeo killed a sherrif with his knife
And they all jump when they hear the sirens, but Romeo just laughs
Cos all the racket in the world ain't never gonna save that copper's ass
He ain't never gonna see another summertime for gunnin' down my brother
And leavin' him like a dog beneath a car without his knife

Romeo says, "Hey, man, gimme a cigarette," and they all reach for their pack
And Frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
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
But Romeo is bleeding, but nobody can tell
He sings along with the radio with a bullet in his chest
And he combs back his fenders and they all agree it's clear
That every thing is cool now that Romeo is here
Romeo is bleeding, he winces now and then
He leans against the car door, feels the blood in his shoes
Someone's crying in the Five Point in the phone booth by the store
Romeo starts his engines and wipes the blood off the door

And he brodys through the signal with the radio full blast
Leavin' the boys there hikin' up there chinos
And now they all try to stand like Romeo with the moon cut like a sickle
And they're talkin' now in Spanish all about their hero

Romeo is bleeding, he gives the man his ticket
He climbs the balcony at the movies
He'll die without a wimper like every hero's dream
Like an angel with a bullet and Cagney on the screen
Romeo is bleeding, Romeo is bleeding, hey man
Romeo is bleeding, hey man
Romeo is bleeding, hey man
Romeo is bleeding
Hey pachuco, hey pachuco
Hey man, hey man

Little black girl in a red dress
On a hot night with a broken shoe
Little black girl, you shoulda never left home
There's probably someone still waitin' up for you
It's cold back in Chicago, Los Angles Street is worse
All you got is twenty-nine dollar and an alligator purse

I see that vulture in the Fleetwood with the shartruse hood
Can see you're trying to get you bearing, you say, "Hey, baby, which way's the Main Stem."
Wherever you say you're from, he'll say he grew up there himself
He gonna come on and make you feel like you grew up right next door to him
Take a left on Central, gonna throw it in reverse
All you got is twenty-nine dollars, an alligator purse

Gonna come on just like a gentleman, oh baby, you're gonna be a little shy
You say your ex-old man was a sax player, he says, "Baby, I used to play bass for Sly."
You say you like his Cadillac, say, "Honey, I got two or three."
Sweetheart, you're sure fortunate that you ran into me
Done a dime in the joint, you're thinkin' nothin' could be worse
Than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

Pharoh on eight track, start smokin' little boo
You thinkin' gettin' out of Chicago was just about the best thing that ever happend to you
You're startin' to like it already, this cat seems to be cool
Says, "Baby, I know a good hotel out in west Hollywood, be just right for you."
He ain't know good samaritan, he gonna make sure he's reimursed
Lot more than twenty-nine dollars, an alligator purse

Now, when the streets get hungry, baby, you can almost hear 'em growling
Someone's settin' a place for you when the dogs begin to howl
And the streets are dead, they creep up and get whatever's left on the bone
Remember, suckers always make mistakes far away from home
And chicken in the pot, whoever gets there first
Gonna get themselves twenty-nine dollars, an alligator purse

Now, the siren's just an epilouge, the cops here always get there too late
Always stop for coffee on the 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 a half a pint of blood, twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

Say, baby, cuckoo

Put a dead cat on the railroad tracks
The wolf bains blooming by the tressel
Get the eyeball of a rooster, stones from a ditch
Wash 'em down with bilge water, say you'll never snitch
Take the buttons from a yellow jacket, feather from a buzzard
Blood from the bounty hunters cold black heart
Catch the tears of a widow in a thimble made of glass
Tell your mama and your papa they can kiss your ass

Poison all the water in a wishin' well
Hang all them scarecrows from a sycamore tree
Burn down them honeymoons, put 'em in a pillow case
Wait next to the switch blades at the amusement park for me
Strangle all the Christmas carols, scratch out all the prayers
Tie 'em up with barbed wire and push 'em down the stairs
I'll whittle you a pistol, keepin' nightmares off your blinds
Them sons-a-bitches always seem to sneak up from behind

Syphon all the gas from your daddy's pickup truck
Fill up Jonnys T-Bird and I got a couple bucks
Put on little perfume, wear a ribbon in your hair
Careful that you don't wake up the hounds
Tear a bolt of lightning from the side of the sky
Throw her in the cedar chest, if you want I'll tell you why
Bring the gear shift knob from a fourty-nine Mere
Lie down here beside me, let me hold you in the dirt

Your gonna tremble and tear the throat out of the night
Sink your teeth into my shoulder, dig your nails into my back
Tell that little girl to let go of my sleeve
You'll be a woman when I catch you, come on, baby, fall in love with me
With my double barrel shotgun and a whole box of shells
We'll celebrate the foruth of july
We'll do a hundred miles an hour spendin' someone else's dough
Drive all the way to Reno on the wrong side of the road
Wrong side of the road
On the wrong side of the road, wrong side of the road
Wrong side of the road, wrong side of the road
Wrong side of the road

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
A mean motherhubbard, Papa, one-eyed jack

You probably seen me sleepin' out by the railroad tracks
Well, go on, ask the prince of darkness, "What about all that smoke come from the stack?"
Sometimes I kill myself a jackel, suck out all the blood
Steal myself a stationwagon drivin' through the mud
I'm gonna whistle past the graveyard, steppin' on a crack
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
I'm born in a taxi cab, I'm never goin' home
Whistlin' past the graveyard, steppin' on a crack
A mean motherhubbard, Papa, one-eyed jack

My eyes have seen the glory of the drainin' of the ditch
I only come to Baton Rouge to find myself a witch
I'm gonna 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
A mean motherhubbard, Papa, one-eyed jack

What you think is the sunshine is just a twinkle in my eye
Now, that ring around my finger called the fourth of July
When I get a little lonesome and a tear fall from my cheek
There's gonna be an ocean in the middle of the week
Whistlin' past the graveyard, steppin' on a crack
A mean motherhubbard, Papa, one-eyed jack

I come into town on a night train, arm full of box cars
On the wings of a magpie, cross a hooligan night
I'm gonna tear me off a rainbow, wear it for a tie
I never told the truth, so I can never tell a lie
Whistlin' past the graveyard, steppin' on a crack
A mean motherhubbard, Papa, one-eyed jack, hey, oh, hey

Eddie Grace's Buick got four bullet holes in the side
And Charley Delisle is sittin' at the top of an avacado tree
Misses Storm will stab you with a steak knife if you step on her lawn
I got a half pack of Lucky Strikes, man - so, come along with me
Let's fill our pockets with macadamia nuts
Then go ever to Bobby Goodmanson's and jump off the roof

Hilda plays strip poker and her mama's cross the street
Joey Navinsky says she put her tongue in his mouth
Dicky Faulkner's got a switchblade and some gooseneck risers
That eucalyptus is a hunchback, there's a wind out from the south
So, let me tie you up with kite string, I'll show you the scabs on my knee
Watch out for the broken glass, put your shoes and socks on and come along with me

Let's follow that fire truck, I think your house is burnin' down
And go down to the hobo jungle and kill some rattlesnakes with a trowel
And we'll break all the windows in the old Anderson place
And steal a bunch of boysenberrys and I'll smear 'em all in your face
I'll get a dollar from my mama's purse and buy that scull and crossbones ring
And you can wear it round your neck on an old piece of string

Then we'll spit on Ronnie Arnold and flip him the bird
Slash the tires on the school bus, now, don't say a word
I'll take a rusty nail and scratch your initials in my arm
And I'll show you how to sneak up on the roof of the drugstore

I'll take the spokes from your wheelchair and a magpie's wings
And I'll tie 'em to your shoulders and your feet
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

Well, it's raining and it's pouring, didn't bring a sweater
Nebraska never let you come back home
And on Hollywood and Vine by the Thrifty Mart sign
Any night I'll be willin' to bet
There's a young girl with sweet little dreams
And pretty blue wishes, standin' there, just gettin' all wet

And there's a place off the drag called the Gilbert Hotel
And there's a couple letters burned out in the sign
And it's better than the bus stop and they do good business every time it rains
For little girls with nothing in their jeans but pretty blue wishes, sweet little thing

And it's raining and it's pouring, old man is snoring
Now I lay me down to sleep, I hear the sirens in the street
All my dreams are made of chrome, I have no way to get back home
I'd rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe
And you can throw my dreams out in the street
And let the rain make 'em grow

Now, the night clerk, he got a club foot, he's heard every hard luck story
At least a hundred times or more
He said check out time is ten A.M. and that's just what he means
Go on up the stairs with your sweet little wishes and your pretty blue dreams

And it's raining and it's pouring, Hollywood's just fine
Swindle little girl out of her dreams, another letter in the sign
Now, never trust a scarecrow wearin' shades after dark
Be careful of that old bow tie he wears
It takes a sweet little bullet from a pretty blue gun
To put those scarlet ribbons in your hair

No, that ain't no cherry bomb, fourth of July's all done
It's just some fool playin' that second line from the barrel of a pretty blue gun
No, that ain't no cherry bomb, fourth of July's all done
That's some fool playin' that second line from the barrel of a pretty blue gun, oh baby, now

She sends me blue valentines all the way from Philadelphia
To mark the anniversary of someone that I used to be
And it feels like a warrant is out for my arrest
Baby, you got me checkin' in my rearview mirrror
That's why I'm always on the run, that's why I change my name
I didn't think you'd ever find me here

To send me blue valentines like half forgotten dreams
Like a pebble in my shoe as I walk these streets
And the ghost of your memory, baby, is the thistle in the kiss
It's the burglar that that can break a rose's neck
It's the tattooed broken promise I gotta hide beneath my sleeve
I'm gonna see you every time I turn my back, oh

Oh, you send me blue valentines, though I try to remain at large
They're insisting that our love must have a eulogy
Why do I save all of this madness here in the nightstand drawer
There to haunt upon my shoulders, baby, I know
I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go
With this blind and broken heart that sleeps beneath my lapel

And still 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
Don't you remember I promised I would write you
These blue valentines, blue valentines, blue valentines