Rain Dogs
We sail tonight for Singapore We're all as mad as hatters here I've fallen for a tawny moor Took off to the land of Nod Drank with all the Chinamen Walked the sewers of Paris I danced along a colored wind Dangled from a rope of sand You must say goodbye to me We sail tonight for Singapore Don't fall asleep while you're ashore Cross your heart and hope to die When you hear the children cry Let marrow bone and cleaver choose While making feet for children shoes Through the alley Back from Hell When you hear that steeple bell You must say goodbye to me. Wipe him down with gasoline Till his arms are hard and mean, From now on boys this iron boat's your home So heave away boys. We sail tonight for Singapore Take your blankets from the floor Wash your mouth out by the door The whole town is made of iron ore Every witness turns to steam They all become Italian dreams Fill your pockets up with earth Get yourself a dollar's worth Away boys, away, boys, heave away The captain is a one-armed dwarf He's throwing dice along the wharf In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King So take this ring
Sane, sane, they're all insane The fireman's blind, the conductor's lame A Cincinatti jacket and a sack luck dame Hanging out the window with a bottle full of rain Clap hands, Clap hands Clap hands, Clap hands Said roar, roar the thunder and the roar Son of a bitch is never comin' back here no more Moon in the window; a bird on the pole Can always find a millionaire to shovel all the coal Clap hands, Clap hands Clap hands, Clap hands Steam, steam a hundred bad dreams Goin' up to Harlem with a pistol in his jeans A fifty dollar bill inside a Palladin's hat And nobody's sure where Mr. Knickerbocker's at Repeat Second Verse Shine, shine a Roosevelt dime All the way to Baltimore and runnin' out of time Salvation Army seemed to wind up in the hole They all went to Heaven in the little row boat Clap hands, Clap hands Clap hands, Clap hands
Uncle Vernon Uncle Vernon Independent as a Hog on ice He's a big shot down there At the slaughterhouse He plays accordion For Mr. Weiss Uncle Bittmore and Uncle William Made a Million during World War II But they're tightwads And they're Cheap skates And they'll never give a dime to you Auntie Mame Has gone Insane She lives in The doorway of an old hotel And the Radio's playing opera and All she ever says Is go to Hell. Uncle Violet Flew as pilot He said there Ain't no pretty Girls in France Now he runs a Tiny little Bookie joint they say He never Keeps it in his pants Uncle Bill Will never leave a will And the tumour is as Big as an egg He has a mistress She's a Puerto Rican And I heard she has A wooden leg. Uncle Phil Can't live without his pills He has emphysema and He's almost blind And we must find out Where the money is Get it now Before he loses his mind
Edna Million in a drop dead suit Dutch pink on a downtown train Two dollar pistol but the gun won't shoot I'm in the corner in the pouring rain 16 men on a deadman's chest And I've been drinking from a broken cup 2 pairs of pants and a mohair vest I'm full of bourbon; I can't stand up. Chorus: Hey little bird, fly away home Your house is on the fire; your children all alone Hey little bird, fly away home Your house is on the fire; your children all alone Schiffer broke a bottle on Morgan's head And I've been stepping on the devil's tail Across the stripes of a full moon's head Through the bars of a Cuban jail Bloody fingers on a purple knife A flamingo drinking from a coctail glass I'm on the lawn with somebody else's wife Come admire the view from up on top of the mast Chorus Yellow sheets in a Hong Kong bed Stazybo horn and a Slingerland ride To the carnival is what she said A hundred dollars makes it dark inside.
Well ya play that Tarantella All the hounds they start to roar And the boys all go to hell Then the Cubans hit the floor And they drive along the pipeline They tango till they're sore They take apart their nightmares And they leave them by the door Chorus: Let me fall out the window With confetti in my hair Deal out jack or better On a blanket by the stairs I'll tell you all my secrets But I lie about my past So send me off to bed forever more. Make sure they play my theme song I guess daisies will have to do Just get me to New Orleans And paint shadows on the pews Turn the spit on that pig Kick the drum and let me down Put my clarinet beneath your bed Till I get back in town. Chorus Just sure she's all in calico And the colour of a doll Wave the flag on cadillac day And a skillet on the wall Cut me a switch or hold your breath Till the sun goes down Write my name on the hood Send me off to another town
Cuttin' through the cane break Rattling the sill Thunder that the rain makes When the shadow tops the hill Big light on the back street Hill to ever more, Packin' down the ladder With hammer to the floor Here comes the Big Black Mariah Here comes the Big Black Mariah Here comes the Big Black Mariah Here comes the Big Black Ford. Well he's all boxed up On a red bell dame Hunted Black Johnny with A blind man's cane A yellow bullet with a Rag out in the wind An old blind tiger Get an old bell Jim Mariah, Here comes the Big Black Mariah, Here comes the Big Black Mariah, Here comes the Big Black Ford. Sent to the skies on a Benny Jag Blue Off to bed without his supper Like the Linda brides do Now he's got to do the story With the old widow Jones... He's got s wooden coat this boy Is never coming home Here comes the Big Black Mariah Here comes the Big Black Mariah Here comes the Big Black Mariah Here comes the Big Black Ford. Cut through the Cane break...
The broken glass And the rusty nails Where the violets grow Say goodbye to the railroad And the mad dogs of summer And everything that I know Chorus: What some men will do here for diamonds What some men will do here for gold They're wounded but they just keep on climbin' And they sleep by the side of the road There's a hole in the ladder A fence we can climb Mad as a hatter You're thin as a dime Go out to the meadow The hills are agreen Sing me a rainbow Steal me a dream Small time Napoleons Shattered his knees But he stays in the saddle for Rose And all his disciples They shave in the gutter And gather what's left of his clothers Chorus There's a hole in the ladder A fence we can climb Mad as a hatter You're thin as a dime Go out to the meadow The hills are agreen Sing me a rainbow Steal me a dream
Hush a wild violet, hush a band of gold Hush you're in a story I heard somebody told Tear the promise from my heart, tear my heart today You have found another, oh baby I must go away So hang down your head for sorrow, hang down your head for me Hang down your head tomorrow, hang down your head Marie Hush my love the rain now, hush my love was so true Hush my love a train now well it takes me away from you So hang down your head for sorrow, hang down your head for me Hang down your head, hang down your head, hang down your head Marie So hang down your head for sorrow, hang down your head for me Hang down your head, hang down your head, hang down your head Marie
Well, the smart money's on Harlow And the moon is in the street The shadow boys are breaking all the laws And you're east of East St. Louis And the wind is making speeches And the rain sounds like a round of applause Napoleon is weeping in the Carnival saloon His invisible fiance is in the mirror The band is going home It's raining hammers, it's raining nails Yes, it's true, there's nothing left for him down here Chorus: And it's Time Time Time And it's Time Time Time And it's Time Time Time That you love And it's Time Time Time And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember Tell the things you can't forget that History puts a saint in every dream Well she said she'd stick around Until the bandages came off But these mamas boys just don't know when to quit And Matilda asks the sailors are those dreams Or are those prayers So just close your eyes, son And this won't hurt a bit Chorus Well, things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl The boys just dive right off the cars And splash into the streets And when she's on a roll she pulls a razor From her boot and a thousand Pigeons fall around her feet So put a candle in the window And a kiss upon his lips Till the dish outside the window fills with rain Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart And pay the fiddler off till I come back again
Inside a broken clock Splashing the wine With all the Rain Dogs Taxi, we'd rather walk. Huddle a doorway with the Rain Dogs For I am a Rain Dog, too Chorus: Oh, how we danced and we swallowed the night For it was all ripe for dreaming Oh, how we danced away All of the lights We've always been out of our minds. The Rum pours strong and thin Beat out the dustman With the Rain Dogs Aboard a shipwreck train Give my umbrella to the Rain Dogs For I am a Rain Dog, too. Oh, how we danced with the Rose of Tralee Her long hair black as a raven Oh, how we danced and you Whispered to me You'll never be going back home You'll never be going back home
Well it's 9th and Hennepin And all the donuts have Names that sound like prostitutes And the moon's teeth marks are On the sky like a tarp thrown over all this And the broken umbrellas like Dead birds and the steam Comes out of the grill like The whole goddamned town is ready to blow. And the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos And everyone is behaving like dogs. And the horses are coming down Violin Road And Dutch is dead on his feet And the rooms all smell like diesel And you take on the Dreams of the ones who have slept here. And I'm lost in the window I hide on the stairway I hang in the curtain I sleep in your hat And no one brings anything Small into a bar around here. They all started out with bad directions And the girls behind the counter has a tattooed tear, One for every year he's away she said, such A crumbling beauty, but there's Nothing wrong with her that $100 won't fix, she has that razor sadness That only gets worse With the clang and the thunder of the Southern Pacific going by As the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet Till you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin And you spill out Over the side to anyone who'll listen And I've seen it All through the yellow windows Of the evening train.
Falling James in the Tahoe mud Stick around to tell us all the tale He fell in love with a Gun Street Girl and Now he's dancing in the Birmingham jail Dancing in the Birmingham jail. Took a 100 dollars off a slaughterhouse Joe Brought a bran' new michigan 20 gauge Got all liquored up on that road house corn, Blew a hole in the hood of a yellow corvette Blew a hole in the hood of a yellow corvette. Bought a second hand Nova from a Cuban Chinese Dyed his hair in the bathroom of a Texaco With a pawnshop radio, quarter past 4 Well ,he left Waukegan at the slammin' of the door He left Waukegan at the slammin' of the door Chorus: I said John, John he's long gone Gone to Indiana Ain't never coming home I said John, John he's long gone Gone to Indiana, ain't never coming home. Sitting in a sycamore in St. John's Wood Soakin' day old bread in kerosene He was blue as a robin's egg brown as a hog Stayin' out of circulation till the dogs get tired Stayin' out of circulation till the dogs get tired Shadow fixed the toilet with an old trombone He never got up in the morning on a Saturday Sittin' by the Erie with a bull whipped dog Tellin' everyone he saw They went thatta way Tellin' everyone he saw They went thatta way. Now the rain's like gravel on an old tin roof And the Burlinton Northern's pullin' out of the world With a head full of bourbon and a dream in the straw. And a Gun Street Girl was the cause of it all A Gun Street Girl was the cause of it all. Riding in the shadow by the St. Joe Ridge He heard the click clack tappin' of a blind man's cane Pullin' into Baker on a New Year's Eve With one eye on the pistol the other on the door With one eye on the pistol the other on the door. Miss Charlotte took her satchel down to King Fish Row And he smuggled in a bran' new pair of alligator shoes. With her fireman's raincoat and her long yellow hair, well They tired her to a tree with a skinny millionaire They tired her to a tree with a skinny millionaire. Chorus: I said John, John he's long gone Gone to Indiana Ain't never coming home I said John, John he's long gone Gone to Indiana, ain't never coming home Bangin' on a table with an old tin cup Sing I'll never kiss a Gun Street Girl again, I'll never kiss a Gun Street Girl again. UNION SQUARE Well time is always money For the boys at Union Square You can bust your ass till doomsday But don't forget to say your prayers Someone's got a wad on the backstreet. Sacco got a bran' new slack And your baby is handcuffed on the front seat You just sit right there, boy and relax Chorus: I'm goin' down down down I'm goin' down down down I'm goin' down down down I'm goin' down down town Well they spill out of the Cinema 14 To that drag bar there on the block Best live show by far in the whole east coast With a bank rolled up in your sock She stand right there for your pleasure Half Puerto Rican Chinese You got to find your baby somebody to measure I'm goin' to get me some of these baby. Chorus Four in the mornin' on a Sunday Sacco Drinkin' whiskey in church Half pint festival brandy That boy 'bout to fall right off his perch The guy in the sweaters off duty Out in front of the welfare hotel The guy in the dress is a beauty Go all the way and I swear you never can tell
Well time is always money for the boys on Union Square Go on and bust your ass 'til doomsday, don't forget to say your prayers Someone's riding down the backstreet, said papa got a brand new slack And your baby is handcuffed on the front seat Sit right there, boy and you relax, c'mon honey We're all going down down down downtown, down downtown We're going down downtown, We're going down downtown Well you spill out of the Cinema Fourteen To that drag bar there on the block Whizzin' on down in front of the East Coast Bank rolled up on your sock She stand right there for your pleasure, half Puerto Rican Chinese You got to find your baby somebody to measure I'm going to get me some of these, baby C'mon honey, do you hear what I'm doing now? Down down down, down down down downtown Down downtown, I'm going down downtown 'Bout four in the morning on a Sunday Sacco drinking whiskey in church Half pint of Festival brandy That boy 'bout to fall right off his perch Well that guy in the sweater's off duty Well he's out in front of that welfare hotel The guy in the dress is a beauty Go all the way, I swear you never can tell C'mon honey, and pull up your socks Down down down, I'm going down down down downtown Down downtown, down down down Down down down, c'mon down downtown Going down downtown, I'm going down downtown
Now you're gone, and it's hotels and whiskey and sad-luck dames And I don't care if they miss me, I never remember their names They say if you get far enough away, you'll be on your way back home Well, I'm at the station, and I can't get on the train Must be blind love, only kind of love is stone blind love Blind love, the only kind of love is stone blind love With your blind love, oh it's blind love, stone blind love It's your stone blind love Now the street's turning blue, the dogs are barking and the night has come And there's tears that are falling from your blue eyes now I wonder where you are and I whisper your name The only way to find you is if I close my eyes I'll find you with my blind love, the only kind of love is stone blind love The only kind of love is stone blind love The only kind of love is stone blind love With your blind love, oh your blind love, your stone blind love It's your blind love, the only kind of love is stone blind love Stone blind love, the only kind of love is stone blind love With your blind love, the only kind of love is stone blind love Stone blind love, stone blind love
He's got himself a homemade special You know his glass is full of sand And it fells just like a jaybird The way it fits into his hand He rolled a blade up in his trick towel They slap their hands against the wall You never trip, you never stumble He's walking spanish down the hall Slip him a picture of our Jesus Or give him a spoon to dig a hole What all he done ain't no one's business But he'll need blankets for the cold They dim the lights over on Broadway Even the king has bowed his head Every face looks right up at Mason He's walking spanish down the hall Latella's screeching for a blind pig Punk Sander's carved it out of wood He never sang when he got hoodwinked They tried it all but he never would Tomorrow morning there'll be laundry But he'll be somewhere else to hear the call Don't say goodbye he's just leaving early He's walking spanish down the hall All St. Bartholemew said was whispered Into the ear of Blind Jack Dawes All the Baker told the machine Was thet he never broke the law Go on and tip your hat up to the Pilate Take off your watch, your rings and all Even Jesus wanted just a little more time When he was walking spanish down the hall
Outside another yellow moon Punched a hole in the nightmare, yes I climb through the window and down the street Shining like a new dime The downtown trains are full With all those Brooklyn girls They try so hard to break out of their little worlds You wave your hand and they scatter like crows They have nothing that will ever capture your heart They're just thorns without the rose Be careful of them in the dark Oh if I was the one You chose to be your only one Oh baby can't you hear me now Chorus: Will I see you tonight On a downtown train Every night its just the same You leave me lonely, now I know your window and I know its late I know your stairs and your doorway I walk down your street and past your gate I stand by the light at the four way You watch them as they fall They all have heart attacks They stay at the carnival But they'll never win you back Chorus: Will I see you tonight On a downtown train With Every night its just the same You leave me lonely Will I see you tonight On a downtown train All of my dreams just fall like rain All upon a downtown train
My head is spinning round My heart is in my shoes I went and set the Thames on fire No I must come back down She's laughing in her sleeve at me I can feel it in my bone But anywhere, I'm gonna Lay my head, boys I will call my home. Well I see that The world is upside down My pockets were filled up with gold. Now the clouds have covered o'er And the wind is blowing cold I don't need anybody Because I learned to be alone And anewhere I lay my head, boys I will call my home.