 TOM WAITS (Pomona, California, December 7, 1949) |
Black wings |
| Take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth Just like they say in the Bible Never leave a trace or forget a face Of any man at the table, any man at the table When the moon is a cold chiseled dagger And it's sharp enough to draw blood from a stone He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses And the fence posts in the moonlight look like bones Well they've stopped trying to hold him With mortar, stone and chain He broke out of every prison Well the boots mount the staircase The door is flung back open He's not there for he has risen He's not there for he has risen Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string He's been seen at the table with kings Well he once saved a baby from drowning There are those that say beneath his coat there are wings Some say they fear him Some say they fear him Others admire him Because he steals his promise One look in his eye And everyone denies Ever having met him Ever having met him He can turn himself into a stranger Well they broke a lot of canes on his hide He was born away in a cornfield A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside Some say they fear him Others admire him Because he steals his promise One look in his eye Everyone denies Ever having met him Ever having met him Ever having met him Ever having met him Ever having met him Ever having met him |
Tom Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon.,
Waits' lyrics frequently present atmospheric portraits of grotesque, often seedy characters and places—although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known through cover versions by more commercial artists: