The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
She 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
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
Lyrics submitted by Dr_Colossus
Black Market Baby Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits Kathleen Brennan
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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It's probably my filthy mind, but I still think that when Waits sings "She checked in with the President/& she ran up quite a bill" he's making an unspeakably lewd reference to Mr Clinton.
@morbid morag More appropriate for Trump, 10 years later.