I think this comes from a playground chant - goes something like:- 3-6-9 the goose drank wine the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line the line broke the monkey got the choke & they all went to heaven in a little row boat clap clap!" (Correct me if I've got that wrong, it was a long time ago). Waits often uses little snippets like that in his songs.
I think this comes from a playground chant - goes something like:- 3-6-9 the goose drank wine the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line the line broke the monkey got the choke & they all went to heaven in a little row boat clap clap!" (Correct me if I've got that wrong, it was a long time ago). Waits often uses little snippets like that in his songs.