Tom Waits - Big Joe And Phantom 309 Lyrics

Large Marge sent me.

Nowadays the truck stop might have a Starbuck's - Big Joe would need to toss you $5 for a cup of coffee

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you did it. you son of a bitch you did it.

Sorry but I like Red Sovine's version better, simply more haunting, but the fact I have Red's greatest hits on an 8 track may have something to do with it

The fact that Red Sovine's version is by far the best, may have something to do with your liking it better.

I've rediscovered Waits after ten years and it just gets better and better. God bless you, Mr. Waits.

Postcards are a memory i cherish. Buying them, sending them, recieving them...

Have mercy.

You don't know how true this is.

This isn’t as sad as Georgia Lee.
Don’t listen to these songs alone.
Tom is all about being DEEP.
TRUE SUPER STAR 🌟

DON VANVLEET is already gone and nobody remembered him though he was so important

when Tom passes his peers; Leonard, John, his sons should release:. TOM WAITS IS DEAD. The greatest vocalist storyteller beatnik there ever was

Wow this is so fucking bad, what a tryhard loSER

His voice sounds like shit.

I agrrr, worst signer i have ever ever heard in my entire life, who even is this guy

wazza matter...I say somethin wrooong?

Great story song by Red, but Tom's version is by far the best at this time.
And it brings me to tears every time I hear it "Big Joe and Phantom 309".

You mean, OLLDER BIIG JOOEEEUUUUBHB NNN THAT PHTOOOOOOM. 3THREE0000HHGNI EEE, fuck this guy sounds like shit

I dig this version but I’ve always loved the Red Sovine version too but I’m glad it was Tom waits covering it cuz he didn’t change the song and kept the same feeling to it... it’s a good one.. both versions

my favorite song of TW

I still like ol' Red Sovine version of Phantom 309.

It's very good, but this is a classic, as is the album.

I prefer Red Sovine's also, to me Waits version is just plain bad.

JUST SOUNDS LIKE A PUB SINGER

Sorry big joe only know the road and you

You have a special place in my heart

This is the first song I heard by Tom Waits sooo many years ago. Never knew who it was for years, but in my mind I had a picture of an old, heavy set black man, with a big cigar and glass of whiskey! Boy was I wrong!

same here!

@Alpha Beta ... the cigar and whiskey were not far off!

My favorite teacher in high school recited this whole monologue for a speech our senior class asked him to give at our graduation banquet. It wasn't until then that I knew how much I respected his demeanor, wit, and teaching style. Maybe two or three of us students realized what he was doing

Your teacher was an enlightened soul

even if you don't listen to the words, you can tell how sad the song is just by the notes the bass player chosen..

All the musicians on this album are exquisite.

Red Sovine's song transformed into a thing of beauty by the incomparable genius that is Tom Waits...  Anyone who isn't affected by this mesmerising song must be a totally heartless soul.... Tom Waits doesn't deserve to be inducted to any hall of fame , he's way past the fucking hall and in the living room - His is a mansion of fame.....  Genius.

What the hell are you people on?? Upon discovery of this clown ive showed him to everyone i know who in into music(hobby and pro) and they all think he sounds like absolute garbage

Dick, I saw him do this live in Toronto over 40 years ago. If you and your friends need an explanation of Tom's greatness I'm sorry but you'll never understand. try listening to"The piano has been drinking not me" another favourite of mine. Cheers

I hitchhiked more than 4500 miles across America , 1974 - 75 ... Tom Waits provides the closest feeling to that experience in music -- I can see and feel myself on the road. .. waiting for the ride -- here comes a car now -

It's a sad thing that a few murderers and rapists have put an end to hitchhiking. People used to trust each other.

Did the same thing in 75 - 77 (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico). We may have crossed paths at some point. Experiences I wouldn't trade for anything and experiences that only a fellow roadie would understand.

This whole album is a category of its own. And the only one in its category.

Friendly good day to you all from over the ocean!

I hitched out of LA. to Va what a trip it was..I look back at those times and say why did i do that !! But i can i say i did the trip.I did ride the Santa Fa.R.R. in Needals Calf. to Herford Tex. Got a ride to Va.on a truck!

I hitchhiked 4,500 plus miles across America , 1974 - 1975 ... just the feel of this tells you what it's all about -- Tom does it best

I was thumbing at that time also, we could have passed on the road! I did about 15 years out of a backpack. 1970 to 1985!!

I did as well in 1973 from LA to Jersey.

@Brian Connell Hey, me too! 1973-1979. Out of a backpack and workin' every chance I got.
Best education I ever received.

Im 29, been living out of a pack since 17 y o. I would say it's been a long time since I knew what home was, but I don't think that's true. I don't think I ever did know.

have to admit I subconciously try to imitate this style sometimes, and for good reason , its great storytelling .

.....when Joe and his rig pulled off into the night ,
man !.... in nothing flat .....they was clean outta sight ! 🚬

Stop Drinkin.....good song..you suck ninja

Sometimes a cover does greater justice to a song than the original. This is musical jurisprudence at its best.

I think the problem is that a lot of country music of that period is so overproduced that it feels soullless and totally overdone. See all the Johnny Cash studio tracks where they seem to have slapped a full chamber orchestra all over it and used the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as backing. When all you need is the singer and their guitar. And maybe another guitar.

It was just about that time...  Yeah, at the wheel at BIG man...  Big Joe...  Why Son don't cha know...  So we rolled and we talked...  I smoked up all his Viceroys...  I'm sorry Son, but this is far as I go....  go on in there Son and get yourself a cup of coffee....  I ordered me up a cup a mud.  You could a heard a in drop...  Phantom 309.

And every now and then....every now and then....when the moon's holding water.....

This song gives me the chicken skin. I play it and Red Sovine as my "Blueprint Special" on my radio show "Bluesland". I feel the same way others do when they hear this song. I tear up.

Ha, I get the goosebumps every time too...

Greatest album ever.

And what makes this song a tear jerker is the fact that it is a real and true story! His name was not Joe, 50+ years later they gave him a monument here is the link if you'd like to know the true story story of Phantom 309 & Joe..........................http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140914/NEWHAMPSHIRE09/140919447

evilklown4u thank you for that info, always loved this song but presumed it was a typical country hopeful song about how we wished people would be. Cheers.

I don't know what it is about this particular Tom Waits song. Out of all the music I've heard, this is the only one that tears me up from the first chord. I'm a big boy, all grown-up. But I'm helpless to stop those tears. I've seen my fair share, and more, of pain and suffering and death, and so should be fairly immune to such sentimentality. Many songs are supposedly more tear-jerking, ("Honey" springs immediately to mind), but NOT ONE moves me like this. Maybe because I used to hitch-hike a lot? Maybe because I've seen, and been involved in, several car accidents? Maybe because a trucker friend was drowned when the ferry he was travelling on sunk? I don't know. I've always appreciated, and liked a lot, Tom Waits' compositions and performances, and yet this one song captures me completely, emotionally. Perhaps I'm turning into a softy. More likely, I'm just getting too old for this life. Answers on a postcard, please...

I hear you. I tear up and I cry every time I listen to this song. I can't help thinking about the guy, Big Joe, and the incident and the children. It just gets to me. Take care, dude, best of luck from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Tom Foyle ... I agree with every word you said...this song opens up the rivers in my eyes...i did a humble cover of it (very humble, as I’m an amateur songwriter)...here it is for your appreciation. Just me and an acoustic guitar.
https://soundcloud.com/user-45482017/tom-waits-cover-phantom-309

@Tom Foyle what are you people on? He sounds like he is straining himself to make that shitty horrible voice, god damn this song is bad compared to all the other covers

I'm right there with you Tom. K. Ranger, I am sorry you don't feel that, too. I guess Tom's not for everybody, but for those whose ears don't need perfect pitch or technical perfection, we can feel the soul and the spirit in each song. Whether it be humor as in Eggs & Sausage or pathos & mystery as in this song, it's there and it's real. Maybe someday you'll understand.

I thought it was only me.💓

I love this song, Finding Tom Waits when I was just 15 was a smart move, gave me a real appreciation for real music, but this song right here kinda reminds me of my step dad, a truck drive, I could see him taking his own life to save the kids and if spirituality has some validity, sticking around to help other people. This song is a real tear-jerker

This was the song I heard when I met a man in Israel who I would like to spend the rest of my life with. I regret that I didn't reach out and caught fate while it was standing right in front of me, I know that now listening to Big Joe and Phantom 309. Happens every time.