| Tom Waits – Downtown Train Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It's one of his best songs - the lyrics are just so great. You'd think this is would be an impossible song to screw up, but somehow Rod Stewart sure managed it. How could the guy who sang "Stay with me" turn in such a sappy, pathetic piece of easy-listening crap? The saddest part is knowing that 99% of the world thinks Rod's version is the original. And even sadder is that those bastards would probably still prefer Mr. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy's version even if they heard both. It's all enough to make you lose faith in humanity... |
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| Tom Waits – Downtown Train Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It's one of his best songs - the lyrics are just so great. You'd think this is would be an impossible song to screw up, but somehow Rod Stewart sure managed it. How could the guy who sang "Stay with me" turn in such a sappy, pathetic piece of easy-listening crap? The saddest part is knowing that 99% of the world thinks Rod's version is the original. And even sadder is that those bastards would probably still prefer Mr. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy's version even if they heard both. It's all enough to make you lose faith in humanity... |
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| Tom Waits – Burma-Shave Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It's a great song, but not the only one on Foreign Affairs - check out "Jack and Neil" and "Sight For Sore Eyes" Anyway, Burma Shave was a shaving product that was advertised from the 30's through the 50's with series' of signs along highways throughout the U.S. Each little poem would be on a series of five or six signs, one line per sign. They were an extremely common sight on highways evrywhere, so "going to Burma Shave" simply means "going further down the road". Here are a couple samples of Burma Shave slogans from the signs: His cheek Was rough His chick vamoosed And now she won't Come home to roost Burma-Shave If your peach Keeps out Of reach Better practice What we preach Burma-Shave Not exactly Tom Waits quality, but kind of amusing. People were still finding some of the signs as recently as 1986. In contemporary advertising the term "Burma Shave Signs" has come to mean any series of billboards. |
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| Tom Waits – Burma-Shave Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It's a great song, but not the only one on Foreign Affairs - check out "Jack and Neil" and "Sight For Sore Eyes" Anyway, Burma Shave was a shaving product that was advertised from the 30's through the 50's with series' of signs along highways throughout the U.S. Each little poem would be on a series of five or six signs, one line per sign. They were an extremely common sight on highways evrywhere, so "going to Burma Shave" simply means "going further down the road". Here are a couple samples of Burma Shave slogans from the signs: His cheek Was rough His chick vamoosed And now she won't Come home to roost Burma-Shave If your peach Keeps out Of reach Better practice What we preach Burma-Shave Not exactly Tom Waits quality, but kind of amusing. People were still finding some of the signs as recently as 1986. In contemporary advertising the term "Burma Shave Signs" has come to mean any series of billboards. |
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| Tom Waits – Anywhere I Lay My Head Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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One my favorite Tom Waits songs - "the wind is blowing cold". You can just feel his crushed hopes and dreams. |
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| Tom Waits – Anywhere I Lay My Head Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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One my favorite Tom Waits songs - "the wind is blowing cold". You can just feel his crushed hopes and dreams. |
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| Tom Waits – Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| I love this song. Obviously it's Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassidy - the whole On The Road thing. Anybody know what "md 2020" is? I assume it's the cheap red wine Jack liked so much. | |
| Tom Waits – Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| I love this song. Obviously it's Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassidy - the whole On The Road thing. Anybody know what "md 2020" is? I assume it's the cheap red wine Jack liked so much. | |
| Tom Waits – Chocolate Jesus Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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My brother told me "Chocolate Jesus" was 1930's slang for heroin which would make the whole thing about addiction. Then again, Christians like to slap the image of Jesus on just about anything, so maybe you can actually buy a piece of chocolate in the shape the ol' Son of God. Who the Hell knows? |
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| The White Stripes – Ball and Biscuit Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It's a rockin' song alright. The seventh son thing goes back a lot further than Dylan and Willie Dixon. It's an ancient legend in several cultures that the seventh son of a seventh son will have extraordinary powers, including magical healing skills. Good and evil forces often fight for the soul of the seventh son. There are also several biblical references to a seventh son - King David was one. And there are no shortage of other references in contemporary culture: Iron Maiden recorded a concept album about the seventh son myth, sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card used the legend in his Alvin Maker series and there is a blues band called Seventh Son. |
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