Waits, Tom - The One That Got Away Lyrics






Well this gigolo's jumping salty, ain't no trade out on the streets,
Half past the unlucky, and the hawk's a front-row seat
Dressed in full orchestration, stage-door Johnny's got to pay,
And sent him home talking 'bout the one that got away

Could have been on Easy Street, could have been a wheel,
With irons in the fire and all them business deals
But the last of the big-time losers shouted before he drove away,
"I'll be right back, as soon as I crack the one that got away"

Well, the ambulance drivers, they don't give a shit,
They just want to get off work, and
The short stop and the victim are already gone berserk
And the shroud-tailor measures him for a deep-six holiday,
The stiff is froze, the case is closed on the one that got away

Now Jim Crow's directing traffic with them cemetery blues,
With them peculiar-looking trousers, them old Italian shoes
And a wooden kimono that was all ready to drop in San Francisco Bay
But he's mumbling something all about the one that got away

And Costello was the champion at the St. Moritz Hotel,
And the best this side of Fairfax, reliable sources tell
But his reputation is at large, and he's at Ben Frank's every day,
Waiting for the one that got away

He got a snakeskin sportshirt, and he looks like Vincent Price,
With a little piece of chicken, and he's carving off a slice
Someone tipped her off, and she'll be doing a Houdini now any day
She shook his hustle, and a Greyhound bus'll take the one that got away

Well, Andre's at the piano behind the Ivar in the sewers,
With a buck a shot for pop tunes, and a fin for guided tours
He could-a been in "Casa Blanca", he stood in line out there all day
Now he's spilling whiskey and learning songs about a one that got away

Well I've lost my equilibrium and my car keys and my pride,
The tattoo parlor's warm, and so I hustle there inside
And the grinding off the buzz-saw, "What you want that thing to say?"
I says, "Just don't misspell her name, buddy, she's the one that got away"





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Waits, Tom The One That Got Away Comments
  1. C.... L....

    way better than fucking katy perry lol

  2. P.... O....

    Oh man, that bass!

  3. A.... ....

    I’m at the corner of Bedlam and Squalor, looking for that last bent butt from a packet of Kents and some late night fare.

  4. j.... w....

    Saw him perform this live at the main point in bryn mawr pa. Maybe 100 people in the audience one night . I was just 10 feet away as he performed his magic. He was smoking Viceroys that night I believe. When he did Tom Trauberts blues I could feel my heart sink . In my opinion ... next to John Prine and Joni Mitchell there are no finer American poet songwriters who have put their words into music with such depth . I feel privileged to have seen them all .

  5. J.... G....

    Waits is the king great music and a great actor

  6. T.... S....

    Many attempts have been made in an attempt to describe his unique voice, I believe the best came from the man himself "Two packs of Camel bare-ass and a pint of Jack Daniels every day for the last 20 years"

  7. B.... S....

    A smokey bar somewhere in Waitsville.

  8. D.... Q....

    Yes one cool cat

  9. M.... B....

    From his absolute best album, this song and "Invitation To The Blues", his best ever songs. Bar none.

    M.... B....

    Closing Time and Blue Valentines are as perfect as Small Change, I would say.

    M.... B....

    @Anton Driller His best albums are Swordfishtrombones, Bone Machine and Real Gone, but Rain Dogs, Small Change and Blue Valentines are high up there too.

    M.... B....

    Oh, they ARE great, but I LOVE "Time" from Rain Dogs even more than chocolate ice cream.

  10. J.... F....

    he is a genious

  11. J.... F....

    makes ya want a drink

    J.... F....

    Make it double on rocks then.

  12. S.... K....

    what ever else it may be, it's Tom and that's good enough for me!

  13. A.... Q....

    Para acompañar en una noche cualquiera...

  14. R.... P....

    No, it ain't blues. $29 is blues, This is something else.Sounds like that beatnik jazz combo stuff from the late '50s. I don't know jazz. I do know blues; it ain't blues.

    R.... P....

    I think you are right, Tom Waits is the heir to the be-bob Jazz and William Burroughs

    R.... P....

    I got 50 harmonicas, I play the blues. It's the blues...

  15. R.... H....

    Chuck E Weiss, his home home boy in the start of his career when he had just moved to LA, has some stuff that sounds very similar. They were roommates for a time. Ricky Lee Jones was hooked up with Waits round then and became famous writing about Chuck E. is in Love .........Weiss' stuff is not copied but born from the mind set, New Orleans roots and potential drug combinations. Waits mentions him in several of his early songs. Check out Chuck E sing "Extremely Cool"  and you will understand. For me, Chuck E  and the G Damn Liars was just about the coolest live gig in the wood at the time. Played every Monday night at The Central....which later became the Viper Room.

    R.... H....

    Oh soo very true.. Many a night I would be entertained by Mr. Waits impromptu sit-ins.. It helped that I was good friends with "Cowboy" Bill Knorr.. the owner of the Central (God rest his soul)

  16. R.... M....

    All  song on this album were recorded live to two track stereo with no over dubbing. That includes the ones with the string section.

  17. J.... B....

    check out my buddy Bob Martin from LOwell, MA  HIs shit is awesome too.  My favorite of his is "My Father Painted Houses"

  18. m.... ....

    It's blues not jazz, but you should check out Seasick Steve for some really minimalistic music.

  19. M.... M....

    Bass, sax, voice, words. And it's plenty.

  20. M.... ....

    I love drinking to Tom Waits. Seriously, he's the best to listen to at the bar.

  21. d.... ....

    This shit is the shit.

  22. V.... ....

    Well Tom's admitted himself how muxh beefheart shook his world and changed his life. This album has nothing to do with that though.

  23. T.... ....

    Real smooth man. I can dig this.

  24. T.... ....

    @jamaljamaloO ornette coleman

  25. a.... ....

    great bbq eatin herb burnin music

  26. t.... ....

    Tom Waits is a fucking genius.

  27. T.... B....

    @jamaljamaloO Lol, yeah, try Captain Beefheart. He's got that rough, smoky, "i just drank a whole bottle of whiskey" voice, much in the Tom Waits fashion, but his music isn't very "jazzy."

  28. V.... D....

    @jamaljamaloO

    Captain Beefheart is said to be one of his influences

  29. B.... ....

    @jamaljamaloO


    I think only tom waits sounds like this