Bad Liver and a Broken Heart: A Tribute to Tom Waits

Bad Liver and a Broken Heart: A Tribute to Tom Waits

Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 1949) is a prolific American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor.

Although Waits’ albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries.Lyrically, Waits’ songs are known for atmospheric portrayals of seedy characters and places; he sings about the losers on the streets: alcoholics, junkies, prostitutes and social outcasts, although he also includes more conventional and touching ballads in his repertoire.While opening for Frank Zappa, the audience catcalled and refused to listen to him; he was an unsuitable match with Zappa’s avantgarde style.Countless cigarettes, gallons of alcohol and many all night parties eventually left their trace in his face and voice.One of the most respected songwriters working today, Tom Waits retains an allusive persona. Rarely granting interviews, the American artist fuses blues and jazz with dense artistic references.
Tom Waits has teamed up with a variety of homeless charities to publish a new chapbook.

"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."

—"Ol' 55"


"Now it's closing time, the music's fading out

Last call for drinks, I'll have another stout.

Well I turn around to look at you,

you're nowhere to be found,

I search the place for your lost face,

guess I'll have another round

And I think that I just fell in love with you."

—"I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You"


"Every town I go to is like a lock without a key

Those I leave behind are catching up on me"

—"Virginia Avenue"


"I can see by your eyes, it's time to go

So I'll leave you to cry in the rain,

Though I held in my hand, the key to all joy

Honey my heart was not born to be tamed.

So goodbye, so long, the road calls me dear

And your tears cannot bind me anymore,

And farewell to the girl with the sun in her eyes

Can I kiss you, and then I'll be gone."

—"Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)"


"I'll be clickin' by your house about two forty-five

Sidewalk sundae strawberry surprise,

I got a cherry popsicle right on time

A big stick, mamma, that'll blow your mind"

—"Ice Cream Man"


"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."

—"San Diego Serenade"


"And the fog's liftin'

And the sand's shiftin'

I'm driftin' on out

Ol' Captain Ahab

He ain't got nothin' on me, now

I'm trav'lin' alone

Blue water's my daughter

'n I'm gonna skip like a stone"

—"Shiver Me Timbers"


"Tell me is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin'?

Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin

Is it the barmaid that's smilin' from the corner of her eye?

Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye"

—"(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night"


"I like to sleep until the crack of noon

midnight howlin' at the moon

goin' out when I wanto, comin' home when I please

I don't have to ask permission

if I want to go out fishing

and I never have to ask for the keys"

—Better Off Without a Wife"


"now the moon's rising

ain't got no time to lose

tell the band to play the blues

drinks are on me, I'll buy another round

at the last ditch attempt saloon"

—"Warm Beer and Cold Women"


"I taught Mickey Mantle

everything that he knows

and so you ask me

what I'm doing here

holding up a lamp post

flippin this quarter,

trying to make up my mind

and if it's heads I'll go to

Tennessee, and tails I'll buy a drink

if it lands on the edge

I'll keep talking to you"

—"Jitterbug Boy"


"I'll drink you under the table

be red nose go for walks

the old haunts what I wants

is red beans and rice

and wear the dress I like so well

and meet me at the old saloon

make sure there's a Dixie moon

New Orleans, I'll be there"

—"I Wish I Was in New Orleans"


"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

'cause the telephone's out of cigarettes

and the balcony's on the make

and the piano has been drinking

the piano has been drinking . . ."

—"The Piano Has Been Drinking"


"and it's a fish-net stockings

spike-heel shoes

Strip tease, prick tease

car kease blues

and the porno floor show

live nude girls

dreamy and creamy

and the brunette curls

Chesty Morgan and a

Watermelon Rose

raise my rent and take off

all your clothes

with the trench coats

magazines bottle full of rum

she's so good, it make

a dead man cum, with

pasties and a g-string

beer and a shot"

—"Pasties and a G-string"


"Well I got a bad liver and a broken heart

yea I drunk me a river since you tore me apart

and I don't have a drinking problem

'cept when I can't get a drink"

—"Bad Liver and a Broken Heart"


"countin one eyed jacks and whistling dixie in the car

neal was doin least a hundred when we saw a fallin star

florence wished that neal would hold her stead of chewin

his cigar jack was noddin out and dreamin he was in a bar

with charlie parker on the bandstand not a worry in the world

and a glass of beer in one hand and his arm around a girl

and neal was singin to the nurse

underneath a harlem moon

and somehow you could just tell we'd be in california soon"

—"Jack & Neal"





"and hey barkeeper what's keepin you keep pourin drinks

for all these palookas hey you know what i thinks

that we toast to the old days and dimagio too

and old drysdale and mantle whitey ford and to you"

—"A Sight For Sore Eyes"



"I know i'm irresponsible and i don't behave,

and i ruin everything that i do,

and i'll probably get arrested when i'm in my grave,

but i'll be savin' all my love for you."

—"Saving All My Love For You"


"i'll feel my way down the darken hall,

and out into the morning,

the hobos at the freightyards

have kept their fires burning,

so jesus christ this goddamn rain,

will someone put me on a train"

—"Ruby's Arms"





"Well I got here at eight and I'll be here till two

I'll try my best to entertain you and

Please don't mind me if I get a bit crude

I'm your late night evening prostitute."

—"I'm Your Late Night Evening Prostitute"


"And I can't help thinking of your lovin ways

And I cried a quart of tears since you've been gone

And I can't face the morning by myself love

And it looks like I'm up shit creek again"

—"Looks Like I'm Up Shit Creek Again"



"Your shovel's a shot glass, dig your own hole

Bury what's left of your miserable soul

Down thru the ages, all of the sages

Said don't spend your wages on love"

—"The Wages of Love"

 Chocolate Jesus