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<Mule Variations ©1999 Epitaph Records All selections by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan unless noted. Produced by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan Tracks
Big In JapanI got the clothes but not the face I got the bread but not the butter I got the window but not the shutter But I'm big In Japan I'm big in Japan Hey, but I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I got the house but not the deed I got the horn but not the reed I got the cards but not the luck I got the wheel but not the truck But hey, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan But hey, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I got the moon, I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation on their knees I got the rooster, I got the crow I got the ebb, I got the flow I got the powder but not the gun I got the dog but not the bun I got the clouds but not the sky I got the stripes but not the tie But hey, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan Hey-ho, they love the way I do it Hey-ho, there's really nothing to it I got the moon, I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation on their knees I got the rooster, I got the crow I got the ebb, I got the flow I got the sizzle but not the steak I got the boat but not the lake I got the sheets but not the bed I got the jam but not the bread But hey, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan Hey! I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan Lowside Of The RoadI’m on a black elevator goin’ down Little Joe from Kokomo, it rattles to the ground The dice is laughin’ at the man that it throwed I’m rollin’ over to the lowside of the road The moon is red and you’re dancin’ real slow Twentynine miles left to go The chain monkeys help you with your load I’m rollin’ over to the lowside of the road Jezebel is naked with an axe The prosecution tells you to relax Your head feels like it’s ready to explode And you’re rollin’ over, you’re rollin’ over Well, the clapper has been ripped out of the bell The flapper has been kicked right out of hell When the horse whips the man that he rode You’re rollin’ over to the lowside of the road The dog won’t bite if you beat him with a bone And she’s so shy when she’s talkin’ on the phone And then the ground rises up and starts to groan And rollin’ over to the lowside of the road Unto the lowside of the road Unto the lowside of the road Hold OnThey hung a sign up in our town "If you live it up, you won’t live it down" So she left Monte Rio, son Just like a bullet leaves a gun With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips She went and took that California trip Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind Said, ‘Don’t look back, just come on, Jim’ Oh, you got to hold on, hold on You gotta hold on Take my hand, I’m standing right here You gotta hold on Well, he gave her a dimestore watch And a ring made from a spoon Everyone’s looking for someone to blame When you share my bed, you share my name Well, go ahead and call the cops You don’t meet nice girls in coffee shops She said, ‘Baby, I still love you’ Sometimes there’s nothin’ left to do Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on Babe, you gotta hold on And take my hand, I’m standing right here You gotta hold on Well, God bless your crooked little heart St. Louis(3) got the best of me I miss your broken-China voice How I wish you were still here with me Oh, you build it up, you wreck it down Then you burn your mansion to the ground Oh, there’s nothing left to keep you here But when you’re falling behind in this big blue world Oh, you’ve got to hold on, hold on Babe, you gotta hold on Take my hand, I’m standing right here You gotta hold on Down by the Riverside motel It’s 10 below and falling By a 99 cent store She closed her eyes and started swaying But it’s so hard to dance that way When it’s cold and there’s no music Oh, your old hometown’s so far away But inside your head there’s a record that’s playing A song called ‘Hold On’, hold on Babe, you gotta hold on Take my hand, I’m standing right there You gotta hold on You gotta hold on, hold on Babe, you gotta hold on Take my hand, I’m standing right there You gotta hold on You gotta hold on, hold on Babe, you gotta hold on And take my hand, I’m standing right here You gotta hold on You gotta hold on, hold on Babe, you gotta hold on And take my hand, I’m standing right here You gotta hold on You gotta hold on You gotta hold on You gotta hold on You gotta hold on You gotta hold on, baby You gotta hold on, girl You gotta hold on You gotta hold on Get Behind The muleMolly Be Damned smote Jimmy the Harp With a horrid little pistol and a lariat She's goin' to the bottom and she's goin' down the drain Said she wasn't big enough to carry it She got to get behind the mule, yeah in the morning and plow Got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Choppity chop goes the axe in the woods You gotta meet me by the fall down tree Shovel of dirt upon a coffin lid And I know they'll come lookin' for me, boys I know they'll come lookin' for me Got to get behind the mule, yeah in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Big Jack Earl was eight foot one And he stood in the road and he cried He couldn't make her love him, couldn't make her stay But tell the good Lord that he tried Got to get behind the mule, yeah in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow, yeah You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Dusty trail from Atchison to Placerville On the wreck of the Weaverville stage Beaula fired on Beatty for a lemonade I was stirring my brandy with a nail, boys Stirring my brandy with a nail Got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow, yeah Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Well, the rampaging sons of the widow James Jack the Cutter and the Pockmarked Kid Had to stand naked at the bottom of the cross And tell the good Lord what they did Tell the good Lord what they did You got to get behind the mule, yeah in the morning and plow Get behind the mule, yeah, in the morning and plow You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Punctuated birds on the power line In a Studebaker with Birdie Joe Hoaks I'm diggin' all the way to China with a silver spoon While the hangman fumbles with the noose, boys The hangman fumbles with the noose You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Get behind the mule in the morning and plow Pin your ear to the wisdom post Pin your eye to the line Never let the weeds get higher than the garden Always keep a sapphire in your mind Always keep a diamond in your mind You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow Got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow House Where Nobody LivesThere’s a house on my block that’s abandoned and cold The folks moved out of it a long time ago And they took all their things and they never came back It looks like it’s haunted with the windows all cracked Everyone calls it the house The house where nobody lives Once it held laughter, once it held dreams Did they throw it away, did they know what it means? Did someone’s heart break Or did someone do somebody wrong? Well, the paint is all cracked, it was peeled off of the wood The papers were stacked on the porch where I stood And the weeds had grown up just as high as the door There were birds in the chimney and an old chest of drawers Looks like no one will ever come back To the house where nobody lives Oh, and once it held laughter, once it held dreams Did they throw it away, did they know what it means? Did someone’s heart break Or did someone do somebody wrong? So if you find someone, someone to have, someone to hold Don’t trade it for silver, oh don’t trade it for gold Cause I have all of life’s treasures and they’re fine and they’re good They remind me that houses are just made of wood What makes a house grand, oh it ain’t the roof or the doors If there’s love in a house, it’s a palace for sure But without love it ain’t nothin’ but a house A house where nobody lives But without love it ain’t nothin’ but a house A house where nobody lives Cold WaterWell I woke up this morning with the cold water With the cold water, with the cold water Woke up this morning with the cold water With the cold water, with the cold Well the police at the station and they don't look friendly Well they don't look friendly, well they don't look friendly Police at the station and they don't look friendly Well they don't look friendly, well they don't Blind or crippled, sharp or dull I'm reading the Bible by a 40 watt bulb What price freedom, dirt is my rug Well I sleep like a baby with the snakes and the bugs Well I ... Stores are open but I ain't got no money I ain't got no money, well I ain't got no money Stores are open but I ain't got no money Well I ain't got no money, well I ain't Found an old dog and he seems to like me Seems to like me, well, he seems to like me Found an old dog and he seems to like me Well he seems to like me, well he seems Seen them fellows with the cardboard signs Scrapin' up a little money to buy a bottle of wine Pregnant women and the Vietnam vets I say beggin' on the freeway 'bout as hard as it gets Well I slept in the graveyard, it was cool and still Cool and still, it was cool and still Slept in the graveyard, it was cool and still Cool and still and it was cool Slept all night in a Cedar grove I was born to ramble, born to rove Some men are searchin' for the Holy Grail But there ain't nothin' sweeter than ridin' the rails I look fortyseven but I'm twentyfour Well they shooed me away from here the time before Turned their backs and they locked their doors I'm watchin' TV in the window of a furniture store And I woke up this morning with the cold water With the cold water, with the cold water I woke up this morning with the cold water With the cold water, with the cold Well I woke up this morning with the cold water Cold water, with the cold water Woke up this morning with the cold water Cold water, with the cold PonyI've seen it all boys, I've been all over Been everywhere in the whole wide world I rode the high line with Old Blind Darby I danced real slow with Ida Jane I was full of wonder when I left Murfreesboro Now I am full of hollow on Maxwell Street And I hope my pony I hope my pony I hope my pony knows the way back home I walked from Natchez to Hushpukena I built a fire by the side of the road I worked for nothin' in a Belzoni saw mill And I caught a blind out on the B and O Talullah's friendly, Belzoni ain't so A 44 will get you 99 I hope my pony I hope my pony I hope my pony knows the way back home I run my race with Burnt Face Jake gave him a Manzanita cross I lived on nothin' but dreams and train smoke somehow my watch and chain got lost I wish I was home, in Evelyn's kitchen with old Gyp curled around my feet I hope my pony I hope my pony I hope my pony knows the way back home I hope my pony I hope my pony I hope my pony knows the way back home What's He Building?What’s he building in there? What the hell is he building in there? He has subscriptions to those magazines He never waves when he goes by He’s hiding something from the rest of us He’s all to himself, I think I know why He took down the tire-swing from the pepper tree He has no children of his own, you see He has no dog, he has no friends And his lawn is dying And what about those packages he sends? What’s he building in there? With that hook light on the stairs What’s he building in there? I’ll tell you one thing, he’s not building a playhouse for the children What’s he building in there? Now what’s that sound from underneath the door? He’s pounding nails into a hardwood floor And I swear to God I heard someone moaning low And I keep seeing the blue light of a TV show He has a router and a table saw And you won’t believe what Mr. Sticha saw There’s poison underneath the sink of course There’s also enough formaldehyde to choke a horse What’s he building in there? What the hell is he building in there? I heard he has an ex-wife in some place called Mayors Income, Tennessee And he used to have a consulting business in Indonesia But what’s he building in there? He has no friends but he gets a lot of mail I bet he spent a little time in jail I heard he was up on the roof last night, signaling with a flashlight And what’s that tune he’s always whistling? What’s he building in there? What’s he building in there? We have a right to know Black Market BabyShe lives in a house That's way back off the road There's a man with a lantern And he carries her soul A coal stove and a bed A skillet and a hound She drove a camel through a needle In this sinking boardwalk town She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's a diamond who wants to stay coal Wants to stay coal I swang out wide with her On hell's iron gate Anything that you wanted You could have My eyes say their prayers to her Sailors ring her bell The way a moth mistakes a light bulb for the moon and goes to hell She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's a diamond who wants to stay coal Wants to stay coal There's no prayer like desire There's amnesia in her kiss She's a swan and a pistol And she will follow you like this In Moberly, Missouri At the Iroquois Hotel She checked in with the President And she ran up quite a Bill She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's a diamond who wants to stay coal Wants to stay coal Well, she's whiskey in a teacup She gives blondes a lousy name She's a Bonzai Aphrodite And a ticket back to Spain She's a hard way to go And there ain't no way to stop Everytime you play the red the black is coming up She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's my Black Market baby (She's my baby) She's a diamond who wants to stay coal (She's my baby) She wants to stay coal (She's my baby) My baby wants to stay coal, coal, coal My baby wants to stay coal Eyeball KidWell, Zenora Bariella and Coriander Pyle They had sixteen children in the usual style They had a curio museum and they had no guile All they ever wanted was a showbiz child The seventh of December nineteen fortynine They got what they’d been wishing for all of the time He grew up in a trailer, by the time he was nine He rolled off to join the circus, telling fortunes on the side Hail, hail, The Eyeball Kid Well, the first time I saw him was a Saigon jail Cost me twentyseven dollars just to go his bail I said your name will be in lights, and there’s no doubt But you got to have a manager, that’s what it’s all about Yeah, yeah, yeah The people would point, the people would stare I’ll always be here to protect you and to cut down on the glare I know you can’t speak, I know you can’t sign So cry right here on the dotted line Hail, hail, The Eyeball Kid Well, he was born without a body, not even a brow I made the kid a promise, I made the kid a vow He’s not conventionally handsome, he’ll never be tall He said, ’All you got to do is book me into Carnegie Hall’ He’s just a little bitty thing, he’s just a little guy But women go crazy for the big blue eye How does he dream, how does he think When he can’t even speak and he can’t even blink I said: Hail, hail The Eyeball Kid Hail, hail The Eyeball Kid Hail, hail Eyeball Kid Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball Kid They say, how does he dream, how does he think When he can’t even speak, and he can’t even blink We’re all lost in the wilderness, we’re blind as can be He came down to teach us how to really see Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah So give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball Kid Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball Kid Give it up, give it up Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody will want to see the Eyeball Kid Eyeball Kid Eyeball Kid Oh, Eyeball Kid Picture In A FrameThe sun come up it was blue and gold The sun come up it was blue and gold The sun come up it was blue and gold ever since I put your picture in a frame I come calling in my Sunday best I come calling in my Sunday best I come calling in my Sunday best ever since I put your picture in a frame I'm gonna love you till the wheels come off Oh yeah... I love you baby and I always will I love you baby and I always will I love you baby and I always will ever since I put your picture in a frame I love you baby and I always will ever since I put your picture in a frame ever since I put your picture in a frame ever since I put your picture in a frame Chocolate JesusWell, I don't go to church on Sunday Don't get on my knees to pray Don't memorize the books of the bible I got my own special way I know Jesus loves me maybe just a little bit more I fall down on my knees every Sunday at Zerelda Lee's candy store Well, I've got to be a chocolate Jesus Make me feel good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied Well, I don't want no Abba Zabba Don't want no Almond Joy There ain't nothing better suitable for this boy Well, it's the only thing that can pick me up It's better than a cup of gold See, only a chocolate Jesus can satisfy my soul When the weather gets rough and it's whiskey in the shade it's best to wrap your savior up in cellophane He flows like the big muddy but that's okay pour him over ice cream for a nice parfait Well, it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Good enough for me Got to be a chocolate Jesus It's good enough for me And it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Make me feel so good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied Georgia LeeCold was the night and hard was the ground They found her in a small grove of trees And lonesome was the place where Georgia was found She's too young to be out on the street Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Ida said she couldn't keep Georgia from dropping out of school I was doing the best that I could Oh, but she just kept running away from this world These children are so hard to raise good Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Close your eyes and count to ten I will go and hide but then Be sure to find me, I want you to find me And we'll play all over We'll play all over We'll play all over again There's a toad in the witch grass, there's a crow in the corn Wild flowers on a cross by the road And somewhere a baby is crying for her mom As the hills turn from green back to gold Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Filipino Box Spring HogWell I hung on to Mary's stump I danced with a soldier's glee With a rum soaked crook and a big fat laugh I spent my last dollar on thee I saw Bill Bones, gave him a yell Kehoe spiked the nog With a chain link fence and a scrap iron jaw Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Spider rolled in from Hollister Burn with a one-eyed stolen Mare Donned himself with chicken fat Sawin' on a jaw bone violin there Kathleen was sittin' down in Little Reds Recovery Room in her criminal underwear bra I was naked to the waist with my fierce black hound And I'm cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Dig a big pit in a dirt alley road Fill it with madrone and bay Stinks like hell and the neighbors complain Don't give a hoot what they say Gotta slap that hog Roll em over twice Gotta baste him with a sweeping broom You gotta swat them flies and chain up the dogs Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Rattle snake piccata with grapes and figs Old brown Betty with a yellow wig Tain't the mince meat filagree And it ain't the turkey neck stew And it ain't them bruleed okra seeds though she made them especially for you Worse won a prize for her bottom black pie The beans got to thrown to the dogs Jaheseus Christ, I can always make room Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Take It with MeThe phone’s off the hook, no one knows where we are It’s a long time since I drank champagne The ocean is blue, as blue as your eyes I’m gonna take it with me when I go Old long since gone, now way back when We lived in Coney Island There ain’t no good thing ever dies I’m gonna take it with me when I go Far, far away a train whistle blows Wherever you’re goin’, wherever you’ve been Waving good bye at the end of the day You’re up and you’re over, and you’re far away Always for you, and forever yours It felt just like the old days We fell asleep on Beaula’s porch I’m gonna take it with me when I go All broken down by the side of the road I was never more alive or alone I’ve worn the faces off all the cards I’m gonna take it with me when I go The children are playing at the end of the day Strangers are singing on our lawn It’s got to be more than flesh and bone All that you’ve loved is all you own In a land there’s a town, and in that town there’s a house And in that house there’s a woman And in that woman there’s a heart I love I’m gonna take it with me when I go I’m gonna take it with me when I go Come On Up To The HouseWell, the moon is broken and the sky is cracked Come on up to the house The only things that you can see is all that you lack Come on up to the house All your crying don't do no good Come on up to the house Come down off the cross, we can use the wood You gotta come on up to the house Come on up to the house Come on up to the house The world is not my home I'm just a-passing through You got to come on up to the house There's no light in the tunnel, no irons in the fire Come on up to the house And you're singing lead soprano in a junkman's choir You got to come on up to the house Does life seem nasty, brutish and short Come on up to the house The seas are stormy and you can't find no port Got to come on up to the house, yeah You gotta come on up to the house Come on up to the house The world is not my home I'm just a-passing through You got to come on up to the house, yeah You gotta come on up to the house Come on up to the house The world is not my home I'm just a-passing through You got to come on up to the house There's nothing in the world that you can do You gotta come on up to the house And you been whipped by the forces that are inside you Gotta come on up to the house Well, you're high on top of your mountain of woe Gotta come on up to the house Well, you know you should surrender, but you can't let it go You gotta come on up to the house, yeah Gotta come on up to the house Gotta come on up to the house The world is not my home I'm just a-passing through You gotta come on up to the house Gotta come on up to the house You gotta come on up to the house Yeah yeah yeah |