Put a dead cat on the railroad tracks
When the wolf bains blooming by the tressle
And get the eyeball of a rooster
And the stones from a ditch
And wash em down with bilge water
And say you'll never snitch
Take the buttons from a yellow jacket
The feather from a buzzard
And the blood from the bounty hunters cold black heart
Catch the tears of a window
In a thimble made of glass
Tell your mama and your papa
They can kiss your ass
Poison all the water in the wishin' well
And hang all them scarecrows from a sycamore tree
Burn down all those honeymoons
Put em in a pillow case
And wait next to the switch blades at the amusements park for me
Strangle all the Christmas carols
Scratch out all you prayers
Tie em up with barbed wire
And push them down the stairs
And I'll whittle you a pistol
For reepin' nightmares off the blinds
Those sunsabitches always seem to sneak up from behind
Syphon all the gas from your daddy's pickup truck
Fill up Johnny's t bird
I got a couple bucks
Put on little perfume and ribbon in your hair
Careful that you don't wake up the hounds
Tear a bolt of lightning
Off the side of the sky
And throw in the cedar chest
If you want me to tell you why
Bring the gear shift knob from a forty nine mere
And lay down here beside me
Let me hold you in the dirt
And you'll tremble as the flames
Tear the throat out of the night
Sink your teeth into my shoulder
Dig your nails into my back
Tell that little girl to let go of my sleeve
You'll be a woman when I catch you
As you fall in love with me

Then with my double barrel shotgun
And a whole box of shells
We'll celebrate the fourth of July
We'll do a hundred mph
Spendin' someone else's dough
And we'll drive all the way to Reno
On the wrong side of the road


Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by joaoSoares, Mellow_Harsher, liamg14

Wrong Side of the Road Lyrics as written by Tom Waits

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC

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Wrong Side of the Road song meanings
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    General Comment

    classic tom waits one of the first songs I ever heard of his, still one of teh best.

    fuck_gravityon April 10, 2002   Link

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