Lyrics to
I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward)

This version of I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) was released by Tom Waits in 1976.

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Well, I wish I was in New Orleans, I can see it in my dreams,
Arm-in-arm down Burgundy, a bottle and my friends and me

Hoist up a few tall cool ones, play some pool and listen
To that tenor saxophone calling me home
And I can hear the band begin “When the Saints Go Marching In”,
And by the whiskers on my chin, New Orleans, I’ll be there

I’ll drink you under the table, be red-nosed, go for walks,
The old haunts what I wants is red beans and rice
And wear the dress I like so well, and meet me at the old saloon,
Make sure that there’s a Dixie moon, New Orleans, I’ll be there

And deal the cards roll the dice, if it ain’t that old Chuck E. Weiss,
And Claiborne Avenue, me and you Sam Jones and all

And I wish I was in New Orleans, ’cause I can see it in my dreams,
Arm-in-arm down Burgundy, a bottle and my friends and me
New Orleans, I’ll be there

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Tom Waits has released many songs over the years besides I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward). Tom Waits released songs from 1973 to 2004 spanning across albums like Closing Time, The Heart Of Saturday Night, Nighthawks At The Diner, Small Change, Foreign Affairs, Blue Valentine, Heartattack And Vine, Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Franks Wild Years, The Early Years Vol. 1, Bone Machine, The Black Rider, The Early Years Vol. 2, Mule Variations, Blood Money, Alice, and Real Gone. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Tom Waits.

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About Lyrics and I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) by Tom Waits

When you decide to study the lyrics to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward), you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1976 song by Tom Waits. Some of the lyrics to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Tom Waits and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward)" means the words set to the music of I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward), or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Tom Waits. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) and the lyrics to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Tom Waits who came here looking just for the lyrics to I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward), but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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