Small Change

                   And the naked mannequins with their Cheshire grins
                   And the raconteurs and roustabouts said 'Buddy, come on in
                   Cause the dreams ain't broken down here now, they're walking with a limp
                   Now that Small Change got rained on with his own Thirty-Eight'.

Small Change
(Waits)
Tom Waits
1976

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D. Ahrens
Times Square 1958 

Red Shoes by the Drugstore

He told her to wait by the Magazines

To take care of some business it seems

Bring a raincoat

Bring a suitcase

Bring your dark eyes

And wear those red shoes

Red Shoes by the Drugstore

(Waits)

Tom Waits
1978

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unknown

Only a Few Things

                                  I was leaving in the morning with Charles for Las Vegas
                                  And i didn't plan to come back
                                  I had only a few things
                                  And my records in a brown paper sack

New Years Eve
(Waits/Brennan)
Tom Waits
2011

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3rd Ave El 1956
unknown

The Depot

                                   I watch the taxis pull up and idle
                                   I can't claim title to a single memory
                                   He offered me a key
                                   'Cause opportunity don't knock
                                   He has no tongue and she cannot talk
                                   You're gonna shuffle when you walk
                                   At the depot

Depot, Depot
(Waits)
Tom Waits
1974

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William Eggleston

Never Talk to Strangers

                             It always takes one to know one stranger
                             Maybe we're just wiser now
                             Yeah, and been around the block so many times
                             That we don't notice
                             That we're all just perfect strangers
                             As long as we ignore
                             That we all begin as strangers
                             Just before we find
                             We really aren't strangers anymore

I Never Talk to Strangers
(Waits)
Tom Waits
1977

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David Plowden
New York
via Visions

The Part You Throw Away

     .................... a winning horse, a tidy Mexican divorce, St. Mary's prayers, Houdini's hands, and a barman who always understands.

The Part You Throw Away
(Waits/ Brennan)
Tom Waits
2002

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Herbert Gehr
New York 1945

Through the Mist

                        There's a golden moon that shines up through the mist
                        And i know that your name can be on that list
                        There's no eye for an eye, there's no tooth for a tooth
                        I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth

Down by the Train
(Waits)
Johnny Cash
1994

illustration
Stix2000

Invitation to the Blues

Cause there's a Continental Trailways leaving local bus tonight, good evening

You can have my seat, i'm sticking round here for a while

Get me a room at the Squire, the filling station's hiring

And i can eat here every night, what the hell have i got to lose ?

Gotta crazy sensation, go or stay ?, i've got to choose

And i'll accept your invitation to the blues

Invitation to the Blues

(Waits)

Tom Waits

1976

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Christian Coigny

Bad Liver and a Broken Heart

                      No the moon ain't romantic, it's intimidating as hell
                      And some guy's trying to sell me a watch
                      And so i'll meet you at the bottom of a bottle of bargain scotch
                      I got me a bottle and a dream, it's so maudlin it seems
                      You can name your poison, go on ahead and make some noise
                      I ain't sentimental, this ain't a purchase, it's a rental and it's purgatory
                      And hey what's your story, well i don't even care
                      I got my own double cross to bear

Bad Liver and a Broken Heart
(Waits)
Tom Waits
1976

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unknown                   

Yesterday is Here

                                Well i'm going to New York City
                                And i'm leaving on a train
                                And if you want to stay behind
                                and wait till i come back again
                                Well today is grey skies
                                Tomorrow is tears
                                You'll have to wait till yesterday is here

Yesterday is Here
(Waits/ Brennan)
Tom Waits
1987

from  Frank's Wild Years

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Jim McBride

Everything Goes to Hell

                                 Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind ?
                                 A man has only one thing on his mind
                                 Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say please ?
                                 They only want to get you on your knees
                                 There are a few things i never could believe

Everything Goes to Hell
(Waits/ Brennan)
Tom Waits
2002

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Detour 1945

Shore Leave

                                                Well i was pacing myself
                                                Trying to make it all last
                                                Squeezing all the life
                                                Out of a lousy two day pass 
                                                And i had a cold one at the dragon
                                                With some Fillipino floorshow
                                                And talked baseball with a lieutenant
                                                Over a Singapore sling 
                                                And i wondered how the same moon outside
                                                Over this Chinatown fair
                                                Could look down on Illinois
                                                And find you there

Shore Leave
Tom Waits
1983                                          

Lateshift at the Diner

In a graveyard charade, a lateshift masquerade

And it's two for a Quarter, Dime for a dance

With Woolworth Rhinestone diamond earrings

And a sideways glance and now the register rings

Eggs and Sausage

Nighthawks at the Diner

Tom Waits

1973

Heart of Saturday Night

                                            Well these diamonds on my windshield
                                            And these tears from heaven
                                            Well i'm pulling into town on the interstate
                                            Got a steel train in the rain                                               
                                            And the wind bites thru the wing
                                            And it's these late nights and this freeway flying
                                            It always makes me sing

                                           And the radio's gone off the air 
                                           Gives you time to think
                                           And you hear the rumble
                                           As you fumble for a cigarette
                                           And blazing thru this midnight jungle
                                           Remember someone that you met

Tom Waits
Diamonds on my Windshield
1974