Saturday, January 25, 2014

A song in the style of 90s-era Tom Waits

A conversation with Traci Paris reminded me I wrote this and totally forgotten about it. Since otherwise it will just collect digital dust on my hard drive, I'll present it here. No title yet.

Hetta Rose doesn’t like this water in her hair
and we’ve been in Sausalito half a week
we need to find the kerchief with the green and yellow squares
to tie the two by seven hose that has a leak
to tie the two by seven hose that has a leak

so let me have those Madeilenes  that turned a little white
and I promise that I won’t come back no more
they used to give a box of rolls to me and Jack the Turk
for cleaning all the feathers off the floor.
for cleaning all the feathers off the floor.

but Independence isn’t the kind of place it used to be
the trains don’t even leave behind the steam
the comics store gets closed up when the chickens go to bed
and a brewer leads the lineup on our team
and a brewer leads the lineup on our team

Seamus built a chapel up on Cemetery Road
and took the people in on Tuesday nights,
he prayed the angels take the bottle hid behind the seventh pew
but Saturday the house was locked up tight
but Saturday the house was locked up tight

they’d said the Waters gas machine would put us on the map
we’d bring in folks from  Memphis and Tuskegee
but if you have an open Pearl Street lot you bought in ’17
you couldn’t get eleven bucks from me
you couldn’t get eleven bucks from me