Waits, Tom - Alice Lyrics






It's dreamy weather we're on
You waved your crooked wand
Along an icy pond with a frozen moon
A murder of silhouette crows I saw
And the tears on my face
And the skates on the pond
They spell Alice

I disappear in your name
But you must wait for me
Somewhere across the sea
There's a wreck of a ship
Your hair is like meadow grass on the tide
And the raindrops on my window
And the ice in my drink
Baby all I can think of is Alice

Arithmetic arithmetock
Turn the hands back on the clock
How does the ocean rock the boat?
How did the razor find my throat?
The only strings that hold me here
Are tangled up around the pier

And so a secret kiss
Brings madness with the bliss
And I will think of this
When I'm dead in my grave
Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
And I must be insane
To go skating on your name
And by tracing it twice
I fell through the ice
Of Alice

And so a secret kiss
Brings madness with the bliss
And I will think of this
When I'm dead in my grave
Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
And I must be insane
To go skating on your name
And by tracing it twice
I fell through the ice
Of Alice
There's only Alice





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Waits, Tom Alice Comments
  1. N.... H....

    I listen to this song now, and go back in time to my 21th birthday listening to “Alice” album just after everybody left... drinking a glass of absinthe and forgetting myself... letting the music Carry me away to parallel universe...

  2. D.... ....

    Happy 70th birthday Mr Waits!

  3. C.... O....

    AWESOME

  4. m.... f....

    Please, who know the saxophonist?

  5. s.... ....

    "Alice"


    It's dreamy weather we're on
    You waved your crooked wand
    Along an icy pond with a frozen moon
    A murder of silhouette crows I saw
    And the tears on my face
    And the skates on the pond
    They spell Alice

    I disappear in your name
    But you must wait for me
    Somewhere across the sea
    There's a wreck of a ship
    Your hair is like meadow grass on the tide
    And the raindrops on my window
    And the ice in my drink
    Baby all I can think of is Alice

    Arithmetic arithmetock
    Turn the hands back on the clock
    How does the ocean rock the boat?
    How did the razor find my throat?
    The only strings that hold me here
    Are tangled up around the pier

    And so a secret kiss
    Brings madness with the bliss
    And I will think of this
    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice

    And so a secret kiss
    Brings madness with the bliss
    And I will think of this
    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice
    There's only Alice

    s.... ....

    Has nobody except me listened to early TOM WAITS ..it is beautiful BIRTHDAY WISHES TO TOM twas his Birthday on Saturday. X

  6. _.... B....

    J'apprends les chansons de tom waits en musique et c'est un réel plaisir d'apprendre ces chanson ❤👌🏻

  7. A.... G....

    Robert Wilson 1992 "Hey Tom, I've got a play coming out soon based on Lewis Carroll's obsession with a young girl called Alice, would you mind doing some music for it? You know, weird atmospheric, haunting, evocative shit.. thanks mate, Oh! and by the way could you include one of the most poignant songs ever written about unobtainable unrequited love? Try and include all of Carroll's sorrow, loss and resignations but at the same time all of OUR hopes, dreams and possibilities, basically you know a lyrical melancholic masterpiece? Nice one! Maybe get your missus to help? I need 15 tunes pretty quick but most people won't remember them, so everything needs to be summed up in that first opening song... How about the lyric: Set me adrift and I'm lost over there. And I must be insane to go skating on your name And by tracing it twice, I fell through the ice... Of Alice" Perfect! Cheers Tom

  8. J.... A....

    I am a Spanish speaker who learned some English as an adult no long ago. What did he say? I fell through the ice or I fell through the eyes of Alice.

    J.... A....

    Look for lyrics man.

  9. K.... G....

    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice
    There's only Alice
    ...

  10. C.... E....

    Should I reluctantly have a funeral...I hope Tom’s there wailing this

  11. B.... C....

    You are a good Tom thank you very much for your wonderful music, I like it a lot. May God keep you young! Beny

  12. P.... ....

    Alice Wakefield.

  13. P.... ....

    this is a song that any of the real lovers can not decribe. this is just pure love and reality has no pureness in it.

  14. I.... P....

    It couldn't be other than the most melancholic and beatuful, each metaphor and melody evoques my mom's name and absence while the ice melts around.
    Para Alicia Bulla 01/07/48

    Thanks Tom Waits

  15. S.... N....

    Thank you Tom.

  16. L.... ....

    Shari Endgame

  17. R.... C....

    Why the hell didn't anyone tell me about this guy?

    R.... C....

    Robert Cook how did you find him? I found him by fluke and it’s the best when you discover him on your own

    R.... C....

    Daniella Granados The Freelance Damsel i followed a rabbit trail of music... starting with "i hope i don't fall in love with you"

  18. e.... ....

    Is this this from the 'Angels with filthy souls' soundtrack?

  19. G.... ....

    Gracias Quetzal.

    G.... ....

    Me too :'3

  20. S.... D....

    Merci Topito <3

  21. E.... P....

    2:42 Estes donde estes yo te llevo aqui

  22. J.... J....

    My granddaddy would always say, ‘a cunt hair can pull the weight of a freight train.’

  23. g.... ....

    Thom Jurek (from AllMusic.com) wrote about the album "... a love song cycle so moving and poetic that it's almost unbearable to take in one sitting."

  24. f.... ....

    ... Who the fuck is Alice?

    f.... ....

    ain't ur bidness asswipe

  25. S.... M....

    Sounds like Leonard Cohen

  26. S.... ....

    I really like Tom's lyrics but i just dont dig his voice.

    S.... ....

    Lucky for you lot's of other singers cover his songs. You can usually find half a dozen videos on here for any of his songs, covered in a variety of ways.

  27. J.... H....

    I love Tom immensely but can anyone point me in a direction of some artists and songs that have this sort of sound and production to them? I’m not very well versed in Jazz except for a few names and I must have more!

  28. s.... ....

    Coming here is coming home. Even with this quiet piece with such separation of the instruments, if you try to hear everything and see them in your mind, there's more than you can grasp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH7vdg8m9MY

  29. C.... R....

    Saddest song evah. I know it is not about that, but I imagine he lost Alice as she drowned on a cold lake after falling on thin ice when skating, so it is even more sad when I listen to it.

  30. I.... S....

    the tune is beautiful and the lyrical layers on this song are incredible. they don't make songwriters like this anymore.

  31. E.... B....

    Wen bideo men me sukrivo

    E.... B....

    A no mejor no

  32. z.... s....

    nice song...

  33. s.... s....

    every adventure requires a first step.....walt disney

  34. G.... W....

    if you listen closely to the rain falling down you cant almost hear a Tom Waits song coming out of it. The man is amazing, unique. Hope everyone out there are having a great day

  35. �.... ....

    太厲害了 這無疑的是此類型的一種巔峰

  36. C.... H....

    Tom Waits !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Musikalischebeerbeitung !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  37. B.... ....

    Sublime

  38. A.... G....

    I see Tom waits skating with his hands clasped behind his back, making immpossibly smooth turns and strides with no shown effort

  39. N.... S....

    So beautiful .....

  40. S.... S....

    Muito bom.
    Sou fã!

  41. L.... ....

    Tom Waits never fails to take me to another place. 'Alice' especially, very dreamy album.

  42. �.... S....

    After all those years of listening to this album I finally spot that fish on the bottom of the cover 0_o

  43. V.... A....

    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🎼🎵🎶💜🎼🎵🎶💜

  44. V.... ....

    Anyone who compares Tom Waits with Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen does not know what they are doing.

    V.... ....

    are you saying he's worse or better?

    V.... ....

    He's in a league of one.

  45. M.... M....

    I'd loved this song for a decade. Now it sounds like
    garbage

  46. G.... L....

    i am flying...

  47. s.... ....

    呱呱 呱呱

  48. t.... b....

    it so fucking good Alice..............................................................

  49. A.... E....

    Listening to this with the rain banging against the car roof and the thunder rolling through the sky. It would be heaven if the song wasn't saying just what I'm feeling today.

  50. I.... S....

    beautiful song and poetry. one of my favourite from mr. Waits.

  51. M.... M....

    A song for every Luther fan after the most recent episodes

  52. D.... P....

    God what a song! lying here alone in the dark, listening over and over. all of us have our own Alices don't we?

  53. D.... A....

    a perfect song for all emotional situation

  54. H.... H....

    i love you tom waits

  55. J.... ....

    It's beautiful song.

  56. t.... ....

    wtf is this song about??
    a suicide?

    t.... ....

    Late reply but I'm going to phrase what someone said in a cover of this song. Then maybe you can look into the topic.

    "In 1992 Tom teamed up with avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson, to write the music for a play called 'Alice'. Which combines scenes from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass'. And it focused on the relationship between Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson. (A.K.A. Lewis Carroll. Who wrote those two stories.) Now this relationship has always been the source of much controversy. Many speculate that Dodgson, a photographer of children, had romantic feelings for Alice. And that their relationship may have been an inappropriate or an unfit one. In the summer of 1863 there was a sudden break in the relationship. And strangely enough, those pages chronicling what exactly caused the split are missing from Dodgson's diary.".

    Also taken from some interview Tom was in,"This is kinda Lewis Carroll. You know he fell on the ice of a pond and he broke his watch one day and he never got it fixed. And he said, that's what happened to him. He said, as long as his watch was broken he could always stay in this world you know, that he invented for him and for her."

    Though it kinda is about suicide in a way. The lyrics,"I disappear in your name. But you must wait for me. Somewhere across the sea.". Suggesting that if he kept tracing her name, he would fall through the ice into the icy waters and die. Then meet up with her on the other side.

    It kinda moves between the fantasy world of 'Alice in Wonderland' and the real life relationship between him and Alice. Like the reality of the situation and the relationship mixed in with the dreaminess of this fantasy world he wanted to live in with her.

    Now after knowing all of this, give it another listen. And you'll have some insight into the theme and the lyrics of the song.

  57. S.... R....

    cuantos aqi vivos escuchando el tema por sample de "este donde estes" portavoz,Chile Rap

    S.... R....

    aguante!

  58. E.... L....

    Jag gick ut ur poesins landskap med en frusen vit klänning, för en dikt jag inte kunde skriva
    men som skrev mitt namn med is
    vem jag än var

  59. B.... ....

    I'll never have a true 'no1' - but this song is one of my favourite songs lyrically. Absolutely masterful.

    B.... ....

    I agree with you completely & with every fiber of my being.

    B.... ....

    chef d'oeuvre

  60. A.... D....

    thank you,tom.

    A.... D....

    i fell thru the eyes

    of alice

    A.... D....

    *thru the ice actually

    A.... D....

    yes.

    i wasn't quoting tom tho ;)

    A.... D....

    hahah thanks then :)

  61. C.... I....

    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice

  62. B.... N....

    átmelegíti a szívet ez a zene

    B.... N....

    Engem inkább kiráz tõle a hideg,de az biztos hogy nagyon jó szám

  63. F.... M....

    Curioso ouvir essa música 9 anos depois... Uau! Sinto seu cheiro ainda, minha boca ainda amarga quando ouço essa música, me faz lembrar de tanto coisa... Eu me pergunto onde foi que você se perdeu, sinto saudades do teu abraço, do teu sorriso, da vida que a gente tinha... Não me faz bem saber que nunca mais terei você, nunca acreditei no "nunca" , e é bem difícil pra mim admitir que nunca mais terei você MESMO... nunca... Nossa! Se eu pudesse modificar aquele minuto, só aquele minuto...

    F.... M....

    Flavio Meyra Curioso! Sinto o mesmo!

    F.... M....

    @Gisele Cardoso A vida deixa marcas estranhas. Meu momento naquela época, minha vida, minha alma está nessa música. É uma sequência sem fim de momentos tristes que jamais esquecerei...

  64. M.... S....

    Let's "like" to make the 53 insignificant

  65. m.... ....

    This song tugs at my heart- jazz doesnt get any better than this. beauty at its finest- my favorite song of all time. Love is a bitch

  66. C.... J....

    Estoy aquí por quetzal - ovejas eléctricas

    C.... J....

    jaja me he de reír, pues iba a comentar algo así. Pero luego vi el vacío en lo insulso..

  67. U.... N....

    The best description I've read for this song is "...like a depressed 1950s NYPD cop."

    U.... N....

    There's another one: "Like the first scene of a good hard boiled story."

    U.... N....

    Penance.

  68. N.... a....

    que artista uno de los mejores para mi

  69. D.... M....

    It's dreamy weather we're on
    You waved your crooked wand
    Along an icy pond with a frozen moon
    A murder of silhouette crows I saw
    And the tears on my face
    And the skates on the pond
    They spell Alice

    I disappear in your name
    But you must wait for me
    Somewhere across the sea
    There's a wreck of a ship
    Your hair is like meadow grass on the tide
    And the raindrops on my window
    And the ice in my drink
    Baby all I can think of is Alice

    Arithmetic arithmetock
    Turn the hands back on the clock
    How does the ocean rock the boat?
    How did the razor find my throat?
    The only strings that hold me here
    Are tangled up around the pier

    And so a secret kiss
    Brings madness with the bliss
    And I will think of this
    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice

    And so a secret kiss
    Brings madness with the bliss
    And I will think of this
    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice
    There's only Alice

  70. M.... 3....

    Aguja, derechos reservado se sacaron el meo sample del gran Tom Waits

  71. D.... B....

    Can't understand how people can give thumbs down to this. Just write a comment that you just don't get it.

    D.... B....

    Dean Bagdasarian why give a fuck. Why???

    D.... B....

    You've just never met Alice..

  72. s.... ....

    Sheer poetic genius. Tom Waits is a national treasure.

    s.... ....

    International!

    s.... ....

    I couldn’t agree more...

  73. T.... d....

    While this song is poetic and beautiful, you can't help but chuckle at the idea of Tom Waits actually figure-skating out the entire name "Alice", going over his old tracks twice and then falling through the ice.

    T.... d....

    fell through the "ice" of "Alice." i.e. he fell through the word "ice."

    T.... d....

    Someone would probably imagine Tom doing it only if they didn't know who the song was actually about. Or makes me think that. I imagine Lewis Carroll, because the song is about him. 'Alice' was a concept that was created by Tom and Robert Wilson to explore the controversial relationship between Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and Alice Liddell. As Alice was a little girl and Charles was an adult. He was obsessed with her. Alice was his inspiration for 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass'. Author and photographer. Who photographed her and other little kids. Tom said,"You know he fell on the ice of a pond and he broke his watch one day and he never got it fixed. And he said, that's what happened to him. He said, as long as his watch was broken he could always stay in this world you know, that he invented for him and for her." The song moves between the fantasy world of 'Alice in Wonderland' and their real life relationship.

    There is this one photo of them practically kissing. And it makes me think of the lyric,"And so a secret kiss, brings madness with the bliss. And I will think of this, when I'm dead in my grave.". And how the ice on pond isn't just talking about the time his watch broke, but metaphorically speaking that he's skating on thin ice with this kind of relationship. And that he must be insane to carry on, but being obsessed like he was...is the insanity of it as well. That all he could think of was Alice and if he kept tracing her name and thinking about her, he would fall through. He does mention though,"I disappear in your name. But you must wait for me. Somewhere across the sea.". Like he was thinking about if he fell through, he would die in the icy waters and hopes to meet her on the other side. Or that's how I interpret the lyrics a bit.

    T.... d....

    Years of listening to this song, and now I see! I'm thinking, you might want to put this as an independent comment so more people see it! Thanks for sharing anyhow.

    T.... d....

    Very "Fishing With John".

    T.... d....

    @LucidDream You're spot on with your interpretation of the lyrics. Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) was speculated to have a questionable infatuation with young Alice. She was the foundation of not only this song, but also the entire story of Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass. I wanted to mention that Charles Dodgson was not only a Victorian photographer and author, but was also an Anglican Deacon. He too, was a stammering mathematician. This, to me, explains why Tom sings, "arithmetic arithmetock." That lyric sheds some insight on both his profession, and the incident you mentioned with his watch. Characters such as the White Rabbit (with his pocket watch) come to mind when that lyric is sung. I believe that Mad Hatter's character in the story (and why things never really make any sense throughout) reflect some of the internal, impure, insane, and conflicted feelings Charles may have felt because of loving Alice. It slightly bothers me when people assume that Alice in Wonderland is based off of drugs, although the trippy aspect, is amazing to me. And she never really was this story-book princess either. Her tale is mysteriously darker than all that happily-ever-after crud. I think that Tom Waits did an outstanding job channeling Charles Dodgson's seemingly dark spirit. Lastly, I'd like to kindly extend my love to all the Alices' of this world.

  74. l.... ....

    It's dreamy weather we're on
    You waved your crooked wand
    Along an icy pond with a frozen moon
    A murder of silhouette crows I saw
    And the tears on my face
    And the skates on the pond
    They spell Alice

    I disappear in your name
    But you must wait for me
    Somewhere across the sea
    There's a wreck of a ship
    Your hair is like meadow grass on the tide
    And the raindrops on my window
    And the ice in my drink
    Baby all I can think of is Alice

    Arithmetic arithmetock
    Turn the hands back on the clock
    How does the ocean rock the boat?
    How did the razor find my throat?
    The only strings that hold me here
    Are tangled up around the pier

    And so a secret kiss
    Brings madness with the bliss
    And I will think of this
    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice

    And so a secret kiss
    Brings madness with the bliss
    And I will think of this
    When I'm dead in my grave
    Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
    And I must be insane
    To go skating on your name
    And by tracing it twice
    I fell through the ice
    Of Alice
    There's only Alice

  75. T.... F....

    When I heard the first notes it was like my heart broke, Tom Waits has an amazing talent to really creap into your heart and soul.

  76. T.... H....

    Woah, so my music teacher recommended this song to me and this was the firs time hard it. OMGI' M IN LOVE WITH IT!!!!!

    T.... H....

    +Christina Hallum, Get your hands on the working tapes for the 1992 Hamburg,Germany stage performance for which Waits & Brennan wrote these songs. Someone stole the tapes out of Tom's car and released them. There's much more blood & flesh in those unpolished recordings than in this 2002 studio product. There are several versions floating around of the so-called Demo Tapes. You'll want the one arranged with instrumental interludes between each song, 28 tracks in all, 320 kbps mp3s.

  77. N.... G....

    I fell through the ice. . .

  78. J.... R....

    total . . . man . . . crush

  79. P.... ....

    Channeling old Tom here.
    I wish he did that more often.

    P.... ....

    PrivateSchemers1 I feel like old tom is stuff before swordfish.

  80. A.... ....

    es que mi mejor carrete sigue estando hay entre tus brazos 88

    A.... ....

    +Anti loco que encuentra la pista! xD asjasjhasjas buena volah'

  81. j.... w....

    Lazar gorenc.I'm here again..what would I do without tom...!!

  82. D.... H....

    Arithmetic arithmetock

  83. N.... P....

    Love tom waits hes a genius

  84. j.... w....

    Lazar gorenc..I'm drawn back to listen,could I ever have enough of tom...NO..!🙆..t.c.

  85. r.... ....

    Moody nonsense. But like it

  86. j.... w....

    Lazar gorenk,great to see you appreciate the genius of tom..thankyou..!!!!

  87. O.... M....

    Et in Barcino ego...

  88. E.... F....

    Portavoz

  89. F.... S....

    Great song. Anyone know what key it's in?

    F.... S....

    @Fred Spoliar Fm

    F.... S....

    +Sean Burress smartarse........lol

    F.... S....

    It's in Tom Minor.

  90. N.... C....

    great Tommasino

  91. j.... ....

    genious...

  92. M.... !....

    Portavoz!

  93. j.... w....

    Only tom can make me feel every emotion known to man,no one else in this world comes close to him..he is a genius..x

    j.... w....

    @Lazar Gorenc thankyou Lazar it's good to know someone out there feels the way I do about,tom..x

    j.... w....

    Hi Lazar gorenc..I'm still here.....

    j.... w....

    Listen to Billie Holiday. These are three of her most meaningful songs.
    Gloomy Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCyjDOlnPU
    Fun fact is that many suicides where made in the name of this song. Especially after Billie popularized it.
    Strange Fruit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web007rzSOI
    Autumn In New York: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO2Ij1eO-GQ