Operator, number, please
It's been so many years
Will she remember my old voice
While I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this Martha?
This is old Tom Frost
And I am calling long distance
Don't worry 'bout the cost
'Cause it's been forty years or more
Now Martha please recall
Meet me out for coffee
Where we'll talk about it all

And those were the days of roses
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrows
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day

And I feel so much older now
And you're much older too
How's the husband?
And how's your kids?
You know that I got married too?
Lucky that you found someone
To make you feel secure
'Cause we were all so young and foolish
Now we are mature

And those were the days of roses
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrow
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day

And I was always so impulsive
I guess that I still am
And all that really mattered then
Was that I was a man
I guess that our being together
Was never meant to be
And Martha, Martha
I love you can't you see?

And those were the days of roses
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrows
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day

And I remember quiet evenings
Trembling close to you


Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira

Martha Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Martha song meanings
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29 Comments

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  • +3
    My Opinion

    Duke Special did a great job! But I cannot agree that it's better and has more feeling than Tom's. I give them credit, it was well done and true to the original! But there is a feeling on Tom's original (and the whole "Closing Time" album) that no one can duplicate. Not even Tom, because he sings so different now. There is something so profound in his first album that is totally unique next to everything else. It's one of the most beautiful albums ever...words can't do it justice. Oddly enough, Tom (according to quotes I've read) seems to think he sounded like everyone else then, and later found his own style...he all but puts down the first album. However, while his later stuff is great, when I heard Captain Beefheart, I was kinda bummed to notice that Tom didn't exactly make up his own style after all. (But kudos to Beefheart, and I still love Tom's new music too, and think he's excellent! And when he does ballads these days, they can be just as tender as Martha.)

    SongMeanings2009on October 14, 2009   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    For me, it's Martha who says the last line and not old Tom Frost. The song only makes sense, to me, if it's Martha who says this.

    The last line is in response to Tom putting his feelings to her. I imagine Tom spilling his guts out, a silence as he waits for her to say something, anything, then she says this line and more silence.....it puts shivers down my spine!

    I think, Martha saying this adds more layers and questions to the song - she remembers her time with Tom dearly and has obviously thought about their time a lot too. But she does not tell him she loves him. He broke her heart ("All that really mattered then was that I was a man") and the more he has lived the more this has haunted him to the point that he called. Perhaps it's guilt and not love and Martha recognises this.

    The reason I think this (apart from the above!) is that an ex of mine had to move away for a few months while we were going out. She used to write me letters and always signed them with the last line from this song. From that point onwards I realised this was Martha talking.

    FourSheetstotheWindon March 09, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Is it just me or is this song one of the best songs ever written?? It truley is Amazing!

    evilspazzon September 15, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I know someday I will be doing this, if I ever get to that age.

    Now it's just about finding out who will I be calling.

    superchangoon June 24, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Amazing. I love it

    hang on to a dreamon May 28, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    when i listen to this, i always think, "this realy has to be your fave song!" the best sad lovesong, ever!

    Lightningon April 17, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is great. amazing, yeah, like you said.

    tom waits' voice inspires me to fight all the problems we have in this bastard life. martha is a beautiful song.

    yewon April 19, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Possibly the saddest song ever written. Difficult to even hear it without crying...

    Takes me back to the guy I fell for because (back then) he also loved Tom Waits. We listened to this song a lot, and I always suspected that we would somehow NOT end up together, and that someday I would hear "Martha" and think of calling him.

    I was right.

    driggsyon June 05, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Truly magnificent !!!!!!!!!!

    Carlos deJackalon October 19, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me. There was no tomorrows, we'd packed away our sorrows And we saved them for a rainy day.

    I want to write & compose as geniously as this man

    MardyAsson January 26, 2005   Link

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