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The Part You Throw Away Lyrics
You dance real slow
You wreck it down
And you walk away
Then you turn around
What did that old blonde gal say?
That is the part
You throw away
I want that beggars eyes
A winning horse
A tidy Mexican divorce
St. Mary's prayers
Houdini's hands
And a barman who always
Understands
Will you loose the flowers
Hold on to the vase
Will you wipe all those teardrops
Away from your face
I can't help thinking
As I close the door
I have done all of this
Many times before
The bone must go
The wish can stay
The kiss don't know
What the lips will say
Forget I've hurt you
Put stones in your bed
And remember to never
Mind instead
Well all of your letters
Burned up in the fire
Time is just memory
Mixed with desire
That's not the road it is
Only the map...I say
Gone just like matches
From a closed down cabaret
In a Portuguese Saloon
A fly is a circling around
The room
You'll soon forget the
Tune that you play
For that is the part
You throw away
Ah, that is the part
You throw away
You wreck it down
And you walk away
Then you turn around
That is the part
You throw away
A winning horse
A tidy Mexican divorce
Houdini's hands
And a barman who always
Understands
Hold on to the vase
Will you wipe all those teardrops
Away from your face
I can't help thinking
As I close the door
I have done all of this
Many times before
The wish can stay
The kiss don't know
What the lips will say
Put stones in your bed
And remember to never
Mind instead
Burned up in the fire
Time is just memory
Mixed with desire
That's not the road it is
Only the map...I say
Gone just like matches
From a closed down cabaret
A fly is a circling around
The room
You'll soon forget the
Tune that you play
For that is the part
You throw away
Ah, that is the part
You throw away
It's about divorce and each part taking things for themselves.
for some reason this reminds me a lot of albert finney's character in "under the volcano," as a hopelessly misguided near suicidal drunk. seems as though it's about a troubled marriage (which correlates to the impassable rift finney creates in his own marriage through alcoholism), at least on the surface, but in some fundamental way, as most of tom's songs are, it is about the deepest despair. he sings it so matter of factly though and seems so extremely credible with world weariness, like sorrow has most tragically lost all of its surprise or shock factor, and at his own guilty hands.