This version of Swordfishtrombones was released by Tom Waits in 1983.
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Well he came home from the war
with a party in his head
and modified Brougham DeVille
and a pair of legs that opened up
like butterfly wings
and a mad dog that wouldn’t
sit still
he went and took up with a Salvation Army
Band girl
who played dirty water
on a swordfishtrombone
he went to sleep at the bottom of
Tenkiller lake
and he said “gee, but it’s
great to be home.”
Well he came home from the war
with a party in his head
and an idea for a fireworks display
and he knew that he’d be ready with
a stainless steel machete
and a half a pint of Ballentine’s
each day
and he holed up in room above a hardware store
cryin’ nothing there but Hollywood tears
and he put a spell on some
poor little Crutchfield girl
and stayed like that for 27 years
Well he packed up all his
expectations he lit out for California
with a flyswatter banjo on his knee
with a lucky tiger in his angel hair
and benzedrine for getting there
they found him in a eucalyptus tree
lieutenant got him a canary bird
and shaked her head with every word
and Chesterfielded moonbeams in a song
and he got 20 years for lovin’ her
from some Oklahoma governor
said everything this Doughboy
does is wrong
Now some say he’s doing
the obituary mambo
and some say he’s hanging on the wall
perhaps this yarn’s the only thing
that holds this man together
some say he was never here at all
Some say they saw him down in
Birmingham, sleeping in a
boxcar going by
and if you think that you can tell a bigger tale
I swear to God you’d have to tell a lie…
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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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