Tom Waits Album

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World

The higher that the monkey can climb
The more he shows his tail
Call no man happy 'til he dies
There's no milk at the bottom of the pail

God builds a church
The devil builds a chapel
Like the thistles that are growing
'round the thrunk of a tree
All the good in the world
You can put inside a thimble
And still have room for you and me

If there's one thing you can say
About Mankind
There's nothing kind about man
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork
But it always comes roaring back again

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World

For want of a bird
The sky was last
For want of a nail
A shoe was last
For want of a life
The knife was last
For want of a toy
A child was last

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Everybody Row! Everybody Row!
Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Everybody Row! Everybody Row!

Why be sweet, why be careful, why he kind?
A man has only one thing on his mind
Why ask palitely, why go lightly,
Why say please?
They only want to get you on your knees
There are a few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven
When you're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway...

Laissez-faire mi amour, ce la vie
Shall I return to shore or swim
Back out to sea?
The world don't care what a soldier
Does in town
It's all hanging in the windows
By the pound
There are few things
I never could believe...

A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven
When you're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway...

I only want to hear your purr and to hear
Ou moan There is another man who brings
The money home
I don't want dishes in the sink
Please don't tell me what you
Feel of what you think
There are few things I never could believe...

Every night she cames
To take me out to dreamland
When I'm with her, I'm the richest
Man in the town

She's a rose, she's the pearl
She's the spin on my world
All the stars make their wishes on her eyes

She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl
She's a princess, in a red dress
She's the moon in the mist to me
She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl

I fell into the ocean
When you became my wife
I risked it all aganist the sea
To have a better life
Marie you're the wild blue sky
And men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
And beggars into kings

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
And all the world is green

The fase forgives the mirror
The worm forgives the plow
The questions begs the answer
Can you forgive me somehow
Maybe when our story's over
We'll go where it's always spring
The band is playing our song again
And all the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
And all the world is green

The moon is yellow silver
Oh the things that summer brings
It's a love you'd kill for
And all the world is green

He is balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our grave(s)
When all the world is green

I'd sell your heart to the junkman baby
For a buck, for a buck
If you're looking for someone
To pull you out of that ditch
You're out of luck, you're out of luck

The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
There's leak, there's leak,
In the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers

God's away, God's away,
God's away on Business. Business.
God's away, God's away,
God's away on Business. Business.

Digging up the dead with
A shovel and a pick
It's a job, it's a job
Bloody moon rising with
A plague and a flood
Jain the mob, jain the mob
It's all over, it's all over, it's all over
There's a lick, there's a lick,
In the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers
God's away, God's away, God's away
On Business. Business.
God's away, God's away,
On Business. Business.

[Instrumental Break]

Goddamn ther's always such
A big temptation
To be good, To be good
Tere's always free cheddar in
A mousetrap, baby
It's a deal, it's a deal
God's away, God's away, God's away
On Business. Business.
God's away, God's away, God's away
On Business. Business.
I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby,
Let her ring, let her ring
God's away, God's away,
God's away on Business.
Business...

Bougainvillea's bloom and wind
Be careful mind the strangle vines
The rose is a climbing over blind
'Cause the sun is on the other side
The bees will find their honey
The sweetest every time
Around a Red Rose
I see a red rose, a red rose
Blooming on another man's vine
Golden Willie's gone to war
He left his young wife on the shore
Will she be steadfast everyday?
While Golden Willie is far away
Along the way her letters end
She never reads what Willie sends

Now I see a red rose
I smell a red rose A red rose
Blooming on another man's vine

[No lyrics]

Sun is red; moon is cracked
Daddy's never coming back
Nothing's ever yours to keep
Close your eyes, go to sleep
If I die before you wake
Don't you cry, don't you weep

Nothing's ever as it seems
Climb the ladder to you dreams
If I die before you wake
Don't you cry, don't you weep
Nothing's ever yours to keep
Close your eyes; go to sleep

[No lyrics]

You dance real slow
You wreck it down
You walk away, then you
Turn around

What did that old blonde
Gal say?
That is the part...
You throw away

I want that beggars eyes
A winning horse
A tidy Mexican divorce

St. Mary's prayers
Houdini's Hands
And a Barman who always
Understands

Will you loose the flowers
Hold on to the vase
Will you wipe all those teardrops
Away from your fase
I can't help thinking
As I close the door
I have done all of this
Many times before

The bone must go
The wish can stay
The kiss don't know
What the lips will say

Forget I've hurt you
Put stones in your bed
And remember to never
Mind instead

Well all of your letters
Burned up in the fire
Time is just memory
Mixed in with Desire
That's not the road it is
Only the map...I say
Gone just like matches
From a closed down cabaret
In a Portuguese Saloon
A fly is a circling around
The room
You'll soon forget the
Tune that you play
For that is the part
You throw away
Ah, that is the part
You throw away

The ribbon round your neck
Aganist your skin that's pale as bone
If is my favorite thing you've worn
The band is playing our song
And we wan't go home, 'til morn

[No lyrics]

A good man's is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red

I always play Russian Roulette in my head
It's sventeen black and twenty-nine red
How far from the gutter
How far fron the pew
I'll always remember to forget about you

A good man's is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red

A long dead soldier looks out
From the frame
No one remembers his war; no one
Remembers his name

Go out to the meadow;
Scare off all the crows
It does nothing but rain here,
And nothing will grow

A good man's is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red