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Tom Waits : Blue Valentine
1978

  1. Somewhere
  2. Red Shoes By The Drugstore
  3. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis
  4. Romeo Is Bleeding
  5. $29.00

  6. Wrong Side Of The Road
  7. Whistlin' Past The Graveyard
  8. Kentucky Avenue
  9. A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun
  10. Blue Valentines

Somewhere

<Bernstein/Sondheim>
G
C
F
Dm
There's a place for us
G
C
F
Somewhere a place for us
G
G7
Em
Am
Peace and quiet and open air
F
Bb
G
Wait for us somewhere
G
C
F
Dm
There's a time for us
G
C
F
Someday a time for us
G
G7
Em
Am
Time together with time to spare
F
Bb
Gm
Eb
Time to learn, time to care
Ab
Fm
Someday, somewhere
Cm
Dm
Ab
We'll find a new way of living
Fm
Eb
We'll find a way of forgiving
D
Somewhere
G
C
F
Dm
There's a place for us
G
C
F
A time and a place for us
G
G7
Em
Am
Hold my hand and we're halfway there
F
Bb
Gm
Eb
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Ab
Fm
C
G
Somehow, someday, somewhere

Red Shoes By The Drugstore

Bm
She wore red shoes by the newsstand As the rain splashed the nickel And spilled like Chablis all along the midway There's a little bluejay In a red dress on a sad night One straw in a root beer A compact with a cracked mirror A bottle of Evening In Paris perfume What is this sad tune? He told her to wait by the magazines He had to take care of business, it seems Bring a raincoat Bring a suitcase Bring your dark eyes And wear those red shoes There's a dark huddle at the bus stop Umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet Little Caesar got caught, he's going on down to second He was cooled, changing stations on the chamber To steal a diamond ring from a jewelry store for his baby He loved the way she looked in those red shoes She waited by the drugstore Caesar had never been this late before Dogs bayed at the moon Rattle their chains And the cold jingle of taps in the puddle Was the burglar alarm snitchin' on Caesar The rain washes memories from the sidewalks And the hounds splash the nickle Full of soldiers Santa Claus is drunk in the ski room And it's Christmas Eve in a sad cafe When the moon gets its way There's a little bluejay by the newsstand Wearing red shoes Wearing red shoes So meet me tonight by the drugstore Meet me tonight by the drugstore Meet me tonight by the drugstore Going out tonight Going out tonight Going out tonight Wear your red shoes Red shoes Red shoes Red shoes Red shoes

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis

Gm
Am7
Bb
C
F
F
A7
Bb9
/c
Hey Charlie, I'm pregnant, living on 9th street
F
A7
Bb9
/c
Right above a dirty bookstore off Euclid Avenue
F
A7
Dm7
F/eb
I stopped taking dope, I quit drinking whiskey
Gm7
F/a
Bb9
C
F
C11
F
My old man plays the trombone and works out at the track He says that he loves me, even though it's not his baby And he says that he'll raise him up like he would his own son And he gave me a ring that was worn by his mother And he takes me out dancing every Saturday night Hey Charlie, I think about you every time I pass the filling station On account of all the grease you used to wear in your hair And I still have that record of Little Anthony and the Imperials But someone stole my record player, now how do you like that?
Dm7
F
Gm7
Am
Hey Charlie I almost went crazy after Mario got busted
Bb
C
C7
F
A7
So I went back to Omaha to live with my folks
Dm7
F
Bb9
But everyone I used to know was either dead or in prison
Gm7
Fadd9/a
Bb
C
C7
F
So I came back to Minneapolis, this time I think I'm gonna stay Hey Charlie, I think I'm happy, for the first time since my accident And I wish I had all the money we used to spend on dope I'd buy me a used car lot and I wouldn't sell any of 'em I'd just drive a different car every day, depending on how I feel Hey Charlie, for chrissakes, do you want to know the truth of it? I don't have a husband, he don't play the trombone And I need to borrow money to pay this lawyer, Charlie, hey They say I'll be eligible for parole come Valentine's Day

Romeo Is Bleeding

Capo:
II
Show fingerings
E9 xx2132
E7 x20132
Am
E9
E7
Romeo is bleeding, but not so as you'd notice
Am
E9
E7
He's over on 18th street as usual
Am
E9
E7
Looking so hard against the hood of his car
Am
E9
E7
And putting out a cigarette in his hand For all the pachucos at the pumps at Romero's Paint and Body They're all seeing how far they can spit, well, it was just another night And now they're huddled in the brake lights of a fifty-eight Bel-Air And listening to how Romeo killed a sheriff with his knife And they all jump when they hear the sirens, but Romeo just laughs "All the racket in the world ain't never gonna save that copper's ass He ain't never gonna see another summertime for gunning down my brother Leaving him like a dog, beneath a car without his knife" Romeo says, "Hey man, gimme a cigarette," and they all reach for their pack Frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back And throws a bottle at a milk truck, and as it breaks, he grabs his nuts And they all know, they could be just like Romeo if they only had the guts Romeo is bleeding, but nobody can tell And he sings along with the radio with a bullet in his chest And he combs back his fenders they all agree it's clear That everything is cool, now that Romeo is here Romeo is bleeding and he winces now and then And he leans against the car door, feels the blood in his shoes Someone's crying at the Five Points, the phone booth by the store Romeo starts his engines, the blood off the door And he brodies through the signal with the radio full blast Leaving the boys there hiking up their chinos And now they're all trying to stand like Romeo, with the moon cut like a sickle And they're talking now in Spanish, all about their hero Romeo is bleeding as he gives the man his ticket And he climbs the balcony at the movies And he'll die without a whimper like every hero's dream Like an angel with a bullet and Cagney on a screen Romeo is bleeding Romeo is bleeding, hey man Romeo is bleeding Hey man, Romeo is bleeding... Romeo is bleeding Romeo is bleeding, hey, man Romeo is bleeding Hey man, Romeo is bleeding...
Hey, pachuco! Hey, pachuco!
Dame esa pistola, hombre! Hago la lucha!
Ay, que pinche pancho! Vamos a dormir, hombre!

$29.00

Little black girl in a red dress on a hot night with a broken shoe Little black girl you should've never left home There's probably someone still waiting up for you It's cold back in Chicago but the Los Angeles street is worse All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse See that vulture in the Fleetwood with the chartreuse hood Sees you're trying to get your bearings Say, hey baby, which way's the main stem? Wherever you say you're from he'll say he grew up there himself He gonna come on and make you feel like you grew up right next door to him Take a left on Central, he gonna throw it in reverse All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse He gonna come on just like a gentleman Oh baby you're gonna be a little shy You say your ex-old man was a sax player He says, "Baby I used to play bass with Sly" And you say you like his Cadillac, says "Honey I got two or three" Sweetheart you're sure fortunate that you ran into me You've done a dime in the joint, you figure nothing could be worse Than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse Got Pharaoh on 8-track you start smoking a little boo Thinking getting out of Chicago was just about The best thing that's ever happened to you You starting to like it already this cat seems to be cool He says, baby, I know a good old jailhouse in West Hollywood, be just right for you He ain't no good Samaritan, he gonna make sure he's reimbursed A lot more than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse And when the streets get hungry baby and you almost hear 'em growl Someone's savin' a place for you when the dogs begin to howl And the streets are dead they creep up and take whatever's left on the bone And remember suckers always make mistakes when they're far away from home Chicken in the pot, whoever gets there first Is gonna get themselves twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse And the siren's just an epilogue, the cops here always get there too late They always stop for coffee on their way to the scene of the crime They always try so hard to look just like movie stars But they couldn't catch a cold, baby, don't waste your dime She's lucky to be alive the doctor whispered to the nurse She only lost half a pint of blood, twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse

Wrong Side Of The Road

Bm7
E7
Bm7
E7
Bm7
E7
Bm7
E7
Bm7
E7
Put a dead cat on the railroad tracks
Bm7
E7
When the wolfbane's blooming by the trestle
G7
F#7
And get the eyeball of a rooster and the stones from a ditch
G7
F#7
And wash 'em down with bilge water and you say you'll never snitch Take the buttons from a yellow-jacket, the feather from a buzzard And the blood from a bounty hunter's cold, black heart Catch the tears of a widow in a thimble made of glass Tell your mama and papa, they can kick your ass Poison all the water in the wishing well And hang all them scarecrows from a sycamore tree Burn down all those honeymoons, put 'em in a pillow case And wait next to the switch-blades at the amusement park for me Strangle all the Christmas carols, scratch out all the prayers Tie 'em up with barbed wire and push them down the stairs And I'll whittle you a pistol for keeping nightmares off your blinds Them sons-of-bitches always seem to sneak up from behind Syphon all the gas from your daddy's pick-up truck Fill up Johnny's T-Bird, I got a couple of bucks Pour out a little perfume, wrap a ribbon in your hair Careful that you don't wake up the hounds Tear a bolt of lightning from the side of the sky And throw it in the cedar chest if you want to tell me why Bring the gear shift knob from a '49 Merc Lie down here beside me, let me hold you in the dirt You're gonna tremble as the flames tear the throat out of the night Sink your teeth into my shoulder, dig your nails into my back Tell that little girl to let go of my sleeve You'll be a woman when I catch you, come baby, fall in love with me With my double barrel shotgun and a whole box of shells We'll celebrate the 4th of July We'll do a hundred miles an hour, spending someone else's dough Drive all the way to Reno on the wrong side of the road

Whistlin' Past The Graveyard

Bm
E|------------|------------------|
B|------------|-3--3-------------|
G|------------|-4--4-------------|
D|------------|-4--4-------------|
A|------0---0-|-2--2-------2---2-|
E|----2---2---|----------0---0---|
 Well, I come in on a night train With an arm full of box cars On the wings of a magpie Across a hooligan night And I busted up a chifforobe Way out by the Kokomo Cooked up a mess of mulligan And got into a fight
G
F#
Whistlin' past the graveyard, steppin' on a crack
G
F#
Mean Mother Hubbard, papa one-eyed jack You probably seen me sleepin' Out by the railroad tracks Go on and ask the prince of darkness What about all that smoke come from the stack? Sometimes I kill myself a jacket Suck out all the blood Steal myself a station wagon Drivin' through the mud Whistlin' past the graveyard... I know you seen my headlights And the honkin' of my horn I'm callin' out my bloodhounds Chase the devil through the corn Last night I chugged the Mississippi Now that sucker's dry as a bone Born in a taxi cab I'm never comin' home Whistlin' past the graveyard... My eyes have seen the glory Of the draining of the ditch I only come to Baton Rouge To find myself a witch I'm gonna snatch me up a couple of 'em Every time it rains You see a locomotive Probably thinkin' it's a train Whistlin' past the graveyard... What you think is the sunshine Is just a twinkle in my eye That ring around my finger's Just the 4th of July When I get a little bit lonesome And a tear falls from my cheek There's gonna be an ocean in The middle of the week Whistlin' past the graveyard... I rode into town on a night train With an arm full of box cars On the wings of a magpie Across a hooligan night I'm gonna tear me off a rainbow And wear it for a tie I never told the truth So I can never tell a lie Whistlin' past the graveyard...

Kentucky Avenue

Aadd9/c#
D6
x2
Aadd9/c#
D6
Eddie Grace's Buick got four bullet holes in the side
Aadd9/c#
Bm7
E7
And Charlie Delisle is sittin' at the top of an avocado tree Mrs Storm will stab you with a steak knife if you step on her lawn I got a half a pack of Lucky Strikes, man, so come along with me Let's fill our pockets with macadamia nuts And go over to Bobby Goodmanson's and jump off the roof Well, Hilda plays strip poker when her mama's 'cross the street Joey Navinski says she put her tongue in his mouth
Aadd9/c#
D6
C#7
Dicky Faulkner's got a switch-blade and some gooseneck risers
F#m7
B9
Bm7
E7
That eucalyptus is a hunchback, there's a wind up from the south So let me tie you up with kite string and I'll show you the scabs on my knee Watch out for the broken glass, put your shoes and socks on and come along with me Let's follow that fire truck, I think your house is burnin' down Then go down to the hobo jungle and kill some rattlesnakes with a trowel And we'll break all the windows in the old Anderson place And we'll steal a bunch of boysenberries and I'll smear 'em on your face I'll get a dollar from my mama's purse and buy that scull and crossbones ring And you can wear it round your neck on an old piece of string Then we'll spit on Ronnie Arnold and flip him the bird And slash the tires on the school bus, now don't say a word I'll take a rusty nail and scratch your initials in my arm And I'll show you how to sneak up on the roof of the drugstore I'll take the spokes from your wheelchair and a magpie's wings And I'll tie 'em to your shoulders and your feet I'll steal a hacksaw from my dad and cut the braces off your legs And we'll bury them tonight out in the cornfield
Aadd9/c#
D6
Just put a church key in your pocket, we'll hop that freight train in the hall
Aadd9/c#
Bm7
E7
Aadd9/c#
We'll slide all the way down the drain to New Orleans in the fall

A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun

Am
D/f#
E
F#7
Gm
G#m
Am
Well it's raining it's pouring, you didn't bring a sweater
Am
D7/f#
E
F#7
Gm
G#m
Nebraska will never let you come back home Hollywood and Vine by the Thrifty Mart sign Any night I'll be willin' to bet There's a young girl with sweet little dreams and pretty blue wishes Standin' there just gettin' all wet And there's a place off the drag called the Gilbert Hotel And there's a couple letters burned out in the sign And it's better than a bus stop they do good business every time it rains For little girls with nothing in their jeans But pretty blue wishes and sweet little dreams
Am
And it's raining it's pouring, the old man is snoring Now I lay me down to sleep, I hear the sirens in the street All my dreams are made of chrome
D7/f#
E
F#7
Gm
G#m
I have no way to get back home
Am
D7/f#
I'd rather die before I wake, like Marilyn Monroe
Am
And you could throw my dreams out in the street
D7/f#
E
Am
And let the rain make 'em grow
Am
Now the night clerk he got a club foot He's heard every hard luck story
D7/f#
E
F#7
Gm
G#m
At least a hundred times or more
Am
He says: Check out time is 10 AM, and that's just what it means
D7/f#
E
Am
Go on up the stairs with sweet little wishes and pretty blue dreams
Am
D7/f#
And it's raining it's pouring and Hollywood's just fine
Am
Swindle a little girl out of her dreams
E
F#7
Gm
G#m
Another letter in the sign
Am
Now never trust a scarecrow wearin' shades after dark
D7/f#
Be careful of that old bow tie he wears It takes a sweet little bullet from a pretty blue gun
D7/f#
E
Am
To put those scarlet ribbons in your hair
Am
D/f#
No, that ain't no cherry bomb, 4th of July's all done Just some fool playin' that second line
D7/f#
E
Am
From the barrel of a pretty blue gun
Am
D/f#
No, that ain't no cherry bomb, 4th of July's all done Just some fool playin' that second line
D7/f#
E
Am
From the barrel of a pretty blue gun

Blue Valentines

Show fingerings
Dm7 x57565 B7 x21202
Am x02210 Dm9 ACAAAC
A7 x02023 Em9 07577X
Dm9
Em9
x2
Dm7
Em9
Dm7
Em9
She sends me blue valentines, all the way from Philadelphia
Dm7
Em9
Am
A7
To mark the anniversary of someone that I used to be
Dm7
Em9
Am
A7
And it feels like a warrant is out for my arrest
Dm7
Em9
Am
A7
Baby, you got me checkin' in my rear-view mirror
Dm7
Em9
Am
A7
That's why I'm always on the run, that's why I changed my name
B7
Em9
And I didn't think you'd ever find me here To send me blue valentines, like half forgotten dreams Like a pebble in my shoe as I walk these streets And the ghost of your memory is the thistle in the kiss And the burglar that can break a rose's neck It's the tattooed broken promise I gotta hide beneath my sleeve I'm gonna see you every time I turn my back She sends me blue valentines, though I try to remain at large They're insisting that our love must have a eulogy Why do I save all this madness here in the nightstand drawer? There to haunt upon my shoulders, baby I know I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go With this blind and broken heart that sleeps beneath my lapel She sends these blue valentines, to remind me of my cardinal sin I can never wash the guilt or get these blood-stains off my hands And it takes a whole lot of whiskey to make these nightmares go away And I cut my bleedin' heart out every night If I'm gonna die just a little more on each St. Valentine's day Don't you remember I promised I would write you?
Dm7
Em9
These blue valentines
Dm9
Em9
Blue valentines
Dm9
Em9
Am
Blue valentines