Tom Waits:

Tom Waits:
Blue Valentine

All selections by Tom Waits unless noted.
Red Shoes by the Drugstore

She wore red shoes by the drugstore
as the rain splashed the nickel
spilled like chablis along the midway
theres a little bluejay
in a red dress, on a sad night

one straw in a rootbeer
a compact with a cracked mirror
and a bottle of evening in paris perfume

he told her to wait in by the magazines
he had to take care of some buisness it seems
bring a raincoat and a suitcase
and your dark eyes
and wear those red shoes

theres a dark huddle at the bus stop
umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet
li'l cesaer got caught
he was going down to second
he was cooled
changing stations on the chamber
to steal a diamond
from a jewelry store for his baby
he loved the way she looked in those red shoes

she waited by the drugstore
cesaer had never been this late before
and the dogs bayed the moon
and rattled their chains
and the cold jingle of taps in a puddle
was the burglar alarm
snitchin on ceasar

now the rain washes memories from the sidewalks
and the hounds splash down the nickel
full of soldiers
and santa claus is drunk in the ski room
and it's christmas eve in a sad cafe
when the moon gets this way
there's a little blue jay
by the newstand
wearing red shoes

so meet me tonight by the drugstore
we're goin out tonight
wear your red shoes
Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis

hey charlie i'm pregnant
and living on the 9th street
right above a dirty bookstore
off euclid avenue
and i stopped takin dope
and i quit drinkin whiskey
and my old man plays the trombone
and works out at the track

and he says that he loves me
even though its not his baby
and he says that he'll raise him up
like he would his own son
and he gave me a ring
that was worn by his mother
and he takes me out dancin
every saturday night.

and hey charlie i think about you
everytime i pass a fillin station
om account of all the grease
you used to wear in your hair
and i still have that record
of little anthony & the imperials
but someone stole my record player
now how do you like that?

hey charlie i almost went crazy
after mario got busted
so i went back to omaha to
live with my folks
but everyone i used to know
was either dead or in prison
so i came back to minneapolis
this time i think i'm gonna stay.

hey charlie i think i'm happy
for the first time since my accident
and i wish i had all the money
that we used to spend on dope
i'd buy me a used car lot
and i wouldn't sell any of em
i'd just drive a different car
every day, dependin on how
i feel

hey charlie for chrissakes
do you want to know the
truth of it?
i don't have a husband
he don't play the trombone
and i need to borrow money
to pay this lawyer
and charlie, hey
i'll be eligible for parole
come valentines day
Romeo is Bleeding

romeo is bleeding but not so as you'd notice
he's over on 18th street as usual
looking so hatd against the hood of his car
ans putting out a cigarette in his hand
and for all the pachucos at the pumps
at romeros paint and body
they all seein how far they can spit
well it was just another night
but now they're huddled in the brake lights of a 58 belair
and listenin how romeo killed a sherif with his knife

and they all jump when they hear the sirens
but romeo just laughs and says
all the racket in the world ain't never gonna
save that coppers ass
he'll never see another summertime for gunnin down my
brother
and leavin him like a dog beneath a car without his knife

and romeo says hey man gimme a cigatette
and they all reach for their pack
and frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
and throws a bottle at a milk truck
and as it breaks he graps his nuts
and they all know they could ve just like romeo
if they only had the guts

but romeo is bleeding but nobody can tell
amd he sings along with the radio
with a bullet in his chest
and he combs back his fenders
and they all agree its clear
that everything is cool now that romeos here
but romeo is bleeding
and he winches now and then and he leans against
the car door and feels the blood in his shoes
and someones crying in the phone booth
at the 5 points by the store
romeo starts his engine
and wipes the blood of the door
and he brodys through the signal
with the radio full blast
leavin the boys there hikin up their chinos
and they all try to stand like romeo
beneath the moon cut like a sicle
and they're talkin now in spanish about their hero

but romeo is bleeding as he gives the man his ticket
and he climbs to the balcony at the movies
and he'll die without a wimper
like every heros dream
just an angel with a bullet
and cagney in the screen
$29.00

little black girl in a red dress
on a hot night with a broken shoe
little black girl you shoulda never left home
theres probly someone thats still waitin up for you
its cold back in chicago
but in los angeles its worse
when all you got is $29.00 and an alligator purse

i see already that vulture in the fleetwood
with the shartruse hood
can see you're trying to get your bearings
and you say hey which ways the main stem
and where ever you say you're from
he'll say he grew up there himself
and he'll comeon and make you feel
like you grew up right next door to him
and you say take a left on central
and he throws it in reverse
cause you only got $29.00 and an alligator purse

and he'll come on like a gentleman
and you'll be a little shy
you say your ex old man was a sax player
he'll say baby i used to play bass for sly
and you say you like his cadillac, say honey i got 2 or 3
he'll say sweetheart you're sure fortunate
that you ran into me
when you've done a dime in the joint
you figure nothin could be worse
and you got $29.00 in an alligator purse

well he got pharoh on the 8 track
you start smokin a little boo
you thinkin gettin out of chicago was the
best thing ever happened to you
but he ain't no good samaritan
he'll make sure he's reimbursed
lot more than $29.00 and an alligator purse

now the sirens just an epilog
the cops always get there to late
they always stop for coffee on the way to the scene of the
crime
they always try so hard to look like movie stars
they couldnt catch a cold
you only wasting your dime
and she's lucky to be alive
the doctor whispered to the nurse
she only lost a 1/2 pint of blood
$29.00 and an alligator purse