This version of Potter’S Field was released by Tom Waits in 1977.
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well you can buy me a drink and i’ll tell you what i seen
and i’ll give you a bargain from the edge of a maniac’s dream
that buys a black widow spider with a riddle in his yarn
that’s clinging to the furrow of a blindman’s brow
i’ll start talking from the brim of a thimble full of whiskey
on a train through the bronx that will take you just as far
as the empty of a bottle to the highway of a scar
that stretched across the blacktop of my cheek like that
and then ducks beneath the brim of a fugitive’s hat
and you’ll learn why liquor makes a stool pigeon rat on every face
that ever left his shadow down on saint marks place
hell i’d double cross my mother if it was whiskey that they payed
and so an early bird says nightsticks on the hit parade
and he ain’t got a prayer and his days are numbered
and you’ll track him down like a dog
well it’s a tough customer you’re getting in this trade
Oause the nightstick’s heart pumps lemonade
well whiskey keeps a blindman talkin alright
and i’m the only one who knows just where he stayed last night
he was in a wreckin yard in a switchblade storm
in a wheelbarrow with nothing but revenge to keep him warm
and a half a million dollars in unmarked bills
was the nightstick’s blanket in a febuary chill
and as the buzzard drove a crooked sky
he was dealin high chicago in the mud
and stackin’ the deck against a dragnet’s eye
a shivering nightstick in a miserable heap
with the siren for a lullaby singing him to sleep
he was bleeding from a buttonhole
torn by a slug fired from the barrel of a two dollar gun
that scorched a blister on the grip of a punk by now
is learnin what you have to pay to be a hero anyhow
he dressed the hole in his gut with a hundred dollar bandage
a king’s ransom for a bedspread that don’t amount to nuttin
just cobweb strings on a busted ukulele
and the nightstick leaned on a black shillelagh
with the poison of a junkie’s broken promise on his lip
he staggered in the shadows screaming i ain’t never been afraid
and he shot out every street light on the promenade
past the frozen ham and eggers at the penny arcade
throwin out handfuls of a blood stained salary
they were dead in their tracks at the shootin gallery
and they fired off a twenty one gun salute
and from the corner of his eye he caught the alabaster orbs
and from a dime a dance hall girl and stuffed a thousand dollar bill
in her blouse and caught the cruel and unusual punishment of her smile
and the nightstick winked beneath a rainsoaked brim
ain’t no one seen hide nor hair of him see
no one but a spade on rikers island and me
and so if you’re mad enough to listen to a full of whiskey blindman
then you’re mad enough to look beyond where bloodhounds dare to go
so if you want to know just where the nightstick’s hidin out
you be down at the ferry landin oh let’s say bout half past a nightmare
when it’s twisted on a clock you tell ’em nickels sentcha
whiskey always makes him talk
and you ask for captain charon with the mud on his kicks
he’s the skipper of the deadline steamer
and she sails from the bronx across the river styx
and a riddle’s just a ticket for a dreamer
cause when the weathervane’s sleepin and the moon turns his back
you crawl on your belly long the railroad tracks
and cross your heart and hope to die and stick a needle in your eye
cause he’d cut my bleedin heart out if he found out that i squealed
cause you see a scarecrow’s just a hoodlum
who marked the cards that he dealed
and pulled a gypsy switch
out on the edge of potter’s field
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About Lyrics and Potter’S Field by Tom Waits
The lyrics to Potter’S Field are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Tom Waits used when the song was created in 1977. The lyrics to Potter’S Field have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Tom Waits and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song. If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Potter’S Field by Tom Waits.
More Songs & Lyrics by Tom Waits
- Grapefruit Moon (1973)
- I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You (1973)
- Ice Cream Man (1973)
- Little Trip To Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love) (1973)
- Lonely (1973)
- Martha (1973)
- Midnight Lullaby (1973)
- Ol’ 55 (1973)
- Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards) (1973)
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- Rosie (1973)
- Virginia Avenue (1973)
- (Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night (1974)
- Depot, Depot (1974)
- Diamonds On My Windshield (1974)
- Drunk On The Moon (1974)
- Fumblin’ With The Blues (1974)
- New Coat Of Paint (1974)
- Please Call Me, Baby (1974)
- San Diego Serenade (1974)
- Semi Suite (1974)
- Shiver Me Timbers (1974)
- The Ghosts Of Saturday Night (After Hours At Napoleone’s Pizza House) (1974)
- Better Off Without A Wife (1975)
- Big Joe And Phantom 309 (1975)
- Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson) (1975)
- Emotional Weather Report (1975)
- Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street) (1975)
- Nobody (1975)
- On A Foggy Night (1975)
- Putnam County (1975)
- Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission) (1975)
- Warm Beer And Cold Women (1975)
- Bad Liver And A Broken Heart (In Lowell) (1976)
- I Can’t Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On Montgomery Avenue) (1976)
- I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward) (1976)
- Invitation To The Blues (1976)
- Jitterburg Boys (1976)
- Pasties And A G-String (At The Two O’Clock Club) (1976)
- Small Change (Got Rained On With His Own .38) (1976)
- Step Right Up (1976)
- The One That Got Away (1976)
- The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (1976)
- Tom Traubert’s Blues (1976)
- A Sight For Sore Eyes (1977)
- Barber Shop (1977)
- Burma Shave (1977)
- Foreign Affair (1977)
- I Never Talk To Strangers (1977)
- Medley: Jack & Neal / California, Here I Come (1977)
- Muriel (1977)
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