Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones Lyrics
Well he came home from the war
with a party in his head
and modified Brougham DeVille
and a pair of legs that opened up
like butterfly wings
sit still
he went and took up with a Salvation Army
Band girl
who played dirty water
on a swordfishtrombone
he went to sleep at the bottom of
Tenkiller lake
and he said "gee, but it's
great to be home."
with a party in his head
and an idea for a fireworks display
and he knew that he'd be ready with
a stainless steel machete
and a half a pint of Ballentine's
each day
and he holed up in room above a hardware store
cryin' nothing there but Hollywood tears
and he put a spell on some
poor little Crutchfield girl
and stayed like that for 27 years
Well he packed up all his
expectations he lit out for California
with a flyswatter banjo on his knee
with a lucky tiger in his angel hair
and benzedrine for getting there
they found him in a eucalyptus tree
lieutenant got him a canary bird
and shaked her head with every word
and Chesterfielded moonbeams in a song
and he got 20 years for lovin' her
from some Oklahoma governor
said everything this Doughboy
does is wrong
Now some say he's doing
the obituary mambo
and some say he's hanging on the wall
perhaps this yarn's the only thing
that holds this man together
some say he was never here at all
Some say they saw him down in
Birmingham, sleeping in a
boxcar going by
and if you think that you can tell a bigger tale
I swear to God you'd have to tell a lie...
Other Lyrics by Artist
- Tom Waits - 2:19
- Tom Waits - The Part You Throw Away
- Tom Waits - Starving In The Belly Of A Whale
- Tom Waits - Lullaby
- Tom Waits - Another Man's Vine
- Tom Waits - God's Away On Business
- Tom Waits - All The World Is Green
- Tom Waits - Coney Island Baby
- Tom Waits - Everything Goes To Hell
- Tom Waits - Misery Is The River Of The World
- Tom Waits - Barcarolle
- Tom Waits - Fish & Bird
- Tom Waits - I'm Still Here
- Tom Waits - Reeperbahn
- Tom Waits - Watch Her Disappear
- Tom Waits - We're All Mad Here
- Tom Waits - Lost In The Harbour
- Tom Waits - Woe
Rand Lyrics
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Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones Comments
Czad !!! W zalewie hały i tandety Tom daje facetom oddech i nadzieję że jest do czego przyłożyć ucho. Szklaneczka Calvados, kumpel brachu i świat jest znów dla ludzi a końca cztery nogi.
Уухх ёпт!!!
My favourite Tom Waits song
I always thought it was "a half a pound of valentines each day"
very good song:)
dobre lubię ten styl
Хрипела пластинка,
Искрилась картинка -
Том Вэйтс зажигал -
От Бога Жиган!
So happy we can do this in our own languige
sony Xperia arc
.....never told the truth, so he can never tell a lie..... Waits is the greatest of our times.
just the greatest .
Eat shit Justin Bieber!
Favorite Tom Waits album. It's fukkin perfect from the first note and long, long after the last note sounds. It's sex, drugs, rock and roll, ego, Evangelism, vaudeville, burlesque, war, whores, pirates and peace. The production sounds unlike anything else I've ever heard. Sublime.
When he says ' girl who played dirty water' I wonder if he means the actual song, "Dirty Water" by the Standells. It's a catchy little riff I could see someone learning on a trombone (even a swordfish one).
The Obituary Mambo.
So far so far so far
So far so far s o f a r
A musical example of photo realism in art; tell me you can't picture it!
Mary Walsh All I picture is a liar.
Nothing like a good marimba and acoustic bass combo
that bass is so sexy I crap myself in pants.
+Brus ko agreed.
Oops!... I think I came a bit...
Lol 😂so true !!
The man is a poet!
Eh si... Qualcuno ascolta
by Venicio Tomasoni dom 6 dic 2015
The best Tom Waits album, loved to listen to this in Asia drinking brand X
Give me some input people: favorite waits album?
Mike O'Flannigan My favorite is probably Heart attack and Vine, but objectively I think his best is Real Gone. Bone Machine and Alice\Blood Money are up there too. I count Alice and Blood Money as one album.
Mike O'Flannigan Franks Wild Years
Real Gone is off the charts. Rain Dogs is tip top, and Mule V is a bit overrated.
Very hard choice. But Blue Valentine is my favorite, i guess. Tom Waits best piece of work might be Orphans in my opinion. My least liked albums from him, without counting Night on Earth, live concerts, compilations and unreleased stuff, might be Alice and Blood Money, they are just dull albums imo and only a few songs are enjoyable
One of my favorite waits songs. Maybe even my favorite album... But, it's so hard to pick just one or, two or, three haha
What a belting song..... If I could find a book of matches, I'm going to burn this hotel down
Andrew deSouza It's been a year since you made this comment. Have you explored Waits? If so, did you find the advice you got helpful? What are your favorites? IMO, Real Gone is far and above his best album. But since it came out in 2004, it took me some years to realize that fact. I feel as though he was able to achieve on Real Gone what he was going for on Bone Machine, which I always thought was top three. And it is even more amazing when you realize that some of the songs are really a kind of hip hop fusion.
Defenders of the Faith
A friend who is new to Waits asked me to pick three for him to start with a few days ago and my head almost exploded...three?! I can't!!!
+Angie Panda - I just made a mixtape for someone and didn't put any Waits one there, because the prospect of picking one song from all his records, not the best one, but one that fit and was appropriate for the situation and mix, was just entirely too daunting.
GREAT f**kin' playlist . . .
Well he came home from the war
with a party in his head
and modified Brougham DeVille
and a pair of legs that opened up
like butterfly wings
and a mad dog that wouldn't
sit still
he went and took up with a Salvation Army
Band girl
who played dirty water
on a swordfishtrombone
he went to sleep at the bottom of
Tenkiller lake
and he said "gee, but it's
great to be home."
Well he came home from the war
with a party in his head
and an idea for a fireworks display
and he knew that he'd be ready with
a stainless steel machete
and a half a pint of Ballentine's
each day
and he holed up in room above a hardware store
cryin' nothing there but Hollywood tears
and he put a spell on some
poor little Crutchfield girl
and stayed like that for 27 years
Well he packed up all his
expectations he lit out for California
with a flyswatter banjo on his knee
with a lucky tiger in his angel hair
and benzedrine for getting there
they found him in a eucalyptus tree
lieutenant got him a canary bird
and shaked her head with every word
and Chesterfielded moonbeams in a song
and he got 20 years for lovin' her
from some Oklahoma governor
said everything this Doughboy
does is wrong
Now some say he's doing
the obituary mambo
and some say he's hanging on the wall
perhaps this yarn's the only thing
that holds this man together
some say he was never here at all
Some say they saw him down in
Birmingham, sleeping in a
boxcar going by
and if you think that you can tell a bigger tale
I swear to God you'd have to tell a lie...
al coburn So what exactly did he get 20 years for? What did the girl snitch on him about?
Skanked her head not shaked her head
she was underage.
song reminds me of the movie "The Master"
Lucky Tiger in his Angel hair, and Bezedrine for getting there!!
+Peter Tracanna Great line. "Left all my papers on the Ticonderoga" is good too.
He's so awesome...
''and if you think that you can tell a bigger tale... I swear to god you'd have to tell a lie...''
I'm stuck big time!
I think that it's not just the inner rhyme, but the slightly exaggerated imagery coupled with very idle/pale/everyday imagery. The balance is beautiful.
"he came home from the war with a party in his head and an idea for a fireworks display"
I feel you, kind of like "I'm not Abel, I'm just Cain" from Make It Rain :D
The Line that caught me was "Lucky Tiger in his Angel Hair, and Benzadrine for gettin There" that caught me....And "Let me fall out of the window with Confetti in my hair" from Tango till there Sore! Stay far out!!
So far and such a long way to come back. O what a fucking way
I like both.
I english, please.
Wooowww I used to be a rap head , But my older borther showed me this awesomness .Tom Waits is a ledgend.
Csodálatosan egyszerű és remek...
yaaaahhh!!!
"he came home from the war with a party in his head and an idea for a fireworks display"
Mesdames et Monsieur, Tom Fucking WAITS !! clap clap clap
Un brano di una bellezza incredibile
he sure is my dear
Tom Waits.. Best Poet ever to come out of the US
I have to go with Dylan first. But Tom is definitely close behind.
:).. Best lyric EVER I agree .. But my fave is, 'He came home from the war with a party in his head.. '
The Master. Watch it@!!
Pesce spada trombone, nonchè zozzone.
There is no better poet in the english language.
Tom Waits keeps me sane - and i know that sounds counter-intuitive...
i like how you actually have to payattention to understand the lyrics
Yeah, but I bet they could play fraternal brothers in a movie.
I recently had a nightmare, and in the nightmare there was a scream exactly like the one in the ending of this song that woke me up. Best nightmare ever.
Nahhhhh...Perlman's voice is too smooth for Tom's, although I suppose he could make it sound much rougher. He does look the part quite decently, though. You know what would be the easiest biopic casting ever? Nicolas Cage as Rick Santorum. That would be frikkin classic.
I hope it's many years before Tom does the obituary mambo
I suppose it's the inner rhyme, which is so well executed i have the same with: “He got twenty years for lovin’ her, from some Oklahoma governor”
yeah Ron is perfect for acting Tom
Easiest biopic casting ever: Ron Perlman as Tom Waits.
i like it during
LA chanson de Tom Waits, tournant de son univers.
@VIKINGcustom Why do I always have the desire to let myself be carried away by purple wind and dirt when listening to Tom Waits...
why do i always want to drink when i listen to waits...
sweet im eighth
DONT SLEEP UNDERNEATH THE WATERMELON TREE
i know! tom waits is what i listen to just relax and let the world slip away
third......why am i not number 3 millions?????
first comment!
Check out my mixed up tom waits song