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Tom Waits : Mule Variations
1999

  1. Big In Japan
  2. Lowside Of The Road
  3. Hold On
  4. Get Behind The Mule

  5. House Where Nobody Lives
  6. Cold Water
  7. Pony
  8. What's He Building?
    1


  9. Black Market Baby
  10. Eyeball Kid
  11. Picture In A Frame
  12. Chocolate Jesus

  13. Georgia Lee
  14. Filipino Box Spring Hog
  15. Take It With Me
  16. Come On Up To The House

Big In Japan

Dm
Dm/f
Dm
Dm/f
I got the style but not the grace I got the clothes, but not the face I got the bread, but not the butter I got the window, but not the shutter
Dm
Dm/f
Dm
Dm/f
But I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan But, hey I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan I got the house, but not the deed I got the horn, but not the reed I got the cards, but not the luck I got the wheel, but not the truck But, hey I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan
Gm
Dm
I got the moon, I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation on its knees I got the rooster, I got the crow
E7
A
I got the ebb, I got the flow I got the powder, but not the gun I got the dog, but not the bun I got the clouds, but not the sky I got the stripes but not the tie But, hey I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan Heigh-ho, they love the way I do it Heigh-ho, there's really nothin' to it I got the moon, I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation on its knees I got the rooster, I got the crow I got the ebb, I got the flow I got the sizzle, but not the steak I got the boat, but not the lake I got the sheets, but not the bed I got the jam, but not the bread But, hey I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan

Lowside Of The Road

-------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
-------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
-------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
-------|----2---------|-----2--------|--------------|----2---------|
-----2-|-4----4---2-4-|-(4)---4--2-4-|-(4)-2--------|-4----4---2-4-|
-2-4---|--------4-----|----------4---|--------4-0-4-|--------4-----|
C#m
I'm on a black elevator goin' down Little Joe from Kokomo, it rattles to the ground The dice is laughin' at the man that it throwed I'm rollin' over to the lowside of the road The moon is red and you're dancin' real slow Twenty-nine miles left to go The chain monkeys help you with your load I'm rollin' over to the lowside of the road
F#7
C#m
Jezebel is naked with an axe
F#7
C#m
The prosecution tells you to relax
F#7
C#m
Your head feels like it's ready to explode
D#7
G#+
You're rollin' over, you're rollin' over
C#m
Well, the clapper has been ripped out of the bell The flapper has been kicked right out of hell When the horse whips the man that he rode You're rollin' over to the lowside of the road The dog won't bite if you beat him with a bone And she's so shy when she's talkin' on the phone And then the ground rises up and starts to groan And rollin' over to the lowside of the road Unto the lowside of the road Unto the lowside of the road

Hold On

Capo:
II
C
F
They hung a sign up in our town
G
C
"If you live it up, you won't live it down"
C
F
So, she left Monte Rio, son
G
C
Just like a bullet leaves a gun
F
G
With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
C
F
She went and took that California trip
Dm
G
Well the moon was gold, her hair like wind
Dm
G
She said, "Don't look back, just come on, Jim"
C
G
C
F
Oh, you got to hold on, hold on, baby gotta hold on
C
G
C
Take my hand, I'm standin' right here, you gotta hold on Well, he gave her a dime store watch And a ring made from a spoon Everyone is looking for someone to blame But you share my bed, you share my name Well go ahead and call the cops You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops She said "Baby, I still love you Sometimes there's nothin' left to do" Oh, you got to hold on, hold on, baby gotta hold on Take my hand, I'm standin' right here, you gotta hold on Well, God bless your crooked little heart St. Louis got the best of me I miss your broken-china voice How I wish you were still here with me Well you build it up, you wreck it down You burn your mansion to the ground When there's nothing left to keep you here When you're falling behind in this big blue world Oh, you got to hold on, hold on, baby gotta hold on Take my hand, I'm standin' right here, you gotta hold on Down by the Riverside Motel It's ten below and falling By a 99 cent store She closed her eyes and started swaying But it's so hard to dance that way When it's cold and there's no music Well your old hometown is so far away But inside your head there's a record that's playing Oh, you got to hold on, hold on, baby gotta hold on Take my hand, I'm standin' right here, you gotta hold on

Get Behind The Mule

Molly-be-damned smote Jimmy the Harp With a horrid little pistol and a lariat She's goin' to the bottom, she's goin' down the drain Said she wasn't big enough to carry it She got to get behind the Mule In the morning and plow She got to get behind the Mule In the morning and plow She got to get behind the Mule In the morning and plow She got to get behind the Mule In the morning and plow Choppity-chop goes the axe in the woods You gotta meet me by the fall down tree Shovel of dirt upon a coffin lid And I know they'll come lookin' for me, boys I know they'll come a-lookin' for me Got to get behind the Mule... Big Jack Earl was eight foot one And he stood in the road and he cried He couldn't make her love him, he couldn't make her stay But tell the good Lord that he tried Got to get behind the Mule... Dusty trail from Atchison to Placerville On the wreck of the Weaverville stage Beaula fired on Beatty for a lemonade I was stirring my brandy with a nail, boys Stirring my brandy with a nail Got to get behind the Mule... Well the rampaging sons of the widow James Jack the cutter and the pock-marked kid They had to stand naked at the bottom of the cross And tell the good Lord what they did Tell the good Lord what they did Got to get behind the Mule... Punctuated birds on the power line In a Studebaker with Birdie Joe Joaks I'm digging all the way to China with a silver spoon While the hangman fumbles with the noose, boys The hangman fumbles with the noose Got to get behind the Mule... Pin your ear to the wisdom post Pin your eye to the line Never let the weeds get higher than the garden Always keep a sapphire in your mind Always keep a diamond in your mind Got to get behind the Mule...

House Where Nobody Lives

Capo:
III
C
G
There's a house on my block that's abandoned and cold
C
F
The folks moved out of it a long time ago
C
G
And they took all their things, and they never came back
C
F
It looks like it's haunted, with the windows all cracked
C
G
F
C
And everyone calls it the house, the house where nobody lives
F
Once it held laughter, once it held dreams
C
Did they throw it away, do they know what it means?
F
Did someone's heart break?
D7
G
G7
Or did someone do somebody wrong? Well the paint was all cracked, it was peeled off the wood The papers were stacked on the porch where I stood And the weeds had grown up just as high as the door There were birds in the chimney and an old chest of drawers Looks like no one will ever come back to the house where nobody lives Once it held laughter, once it held dreams Did they throw it away, do they know what it means? Did someone's heart break? Or did someone do somebody wrong? So if you find someone, someone to have, someone to hold Don't trade it for silver, don't trade it for gold 'Cause I have all of life's treasures, and they're fine and they're good They remind me that houses are just made of wood What makes a house grand, oh, it ain't the roof or the doors If there's love in a house, it's a palace for sure Without love it ain't nothin' but a house, a house where nobody lives Without love it ain't nothin' but a house, a house where nobody lives

Cold Water

A
Well I woke up this morning with the cold water
E
A
With the cold water, with the cold water
A
Well I woke up this morning with the cold water
E
A
With the cold water, with the cold Police at the station and they don't look friendly They don't look friendly no they don't look friendly Police at the station and they don't look friendly They don't look friendly no they don't
D
Blind or crippled, sharp or dull
A
I'm reading the Bible by a forty watt bulb
D
What price freedom? Dirt is my rug
E7
Well I sleep like a baby with the snakes and the bugs Well the stores are open but I ain't got no money I ain't got no money, I ain't got no money Well the stores are open but I ain't got no money I ain't got no money, well I ain't Found an old dog and he seems to like me Seems to like me, well he seems to like me Found an old dog and he seems to like me Seems to like me, well he seems See them fellows with the cardboard signs Scrapin' up a little money to buy a bottle of wine Pregnant women and the Vietnam vets I say Beggin' on the freeway 'bout as hard as it gets Well I slept in the graveyard it was cold and still Cold and still, it was cold and still Well I slept in the graveyard it was cold and still Cold and still, and it was cold Slept all night in the Cedar Grove I was born to ramble, born to rove Some men are searchin' for the Holy Grail But there ain't nothin' sweeter than ridin' the rails
Solo over verse chords x2
I look 47 but I'm 24 Well they shooed me away from here the time before Turned their backs and they locked their doors I'm watching TV in the window of a furniture store
Repeat first verse x2

Pony

Capo:
I
|
C
F
|
C
F
|
C
|
F
C
I've seen it all, boys, I've been all over
F
G
Been everywhere in the whole wide world
F
C
I rode the high line with old blind Darby
F
G
I danced real slow with Ida Jane
F
C
I was full of wonder when I left Murfreesboro
F
G
Now I am full of hollow on Maxwell street
F
C
/b
Am
I hope my Pony, I hope my Pony
C
G
C
I hope my Pony knows the way back home I walked from Natchez To Hushpukena Built a fire by the side of the road I worked for nothing in a Belzoni saw mill I caught a blind out on the B&O Talullah's friendly, Belzoni ain't so A .44 will get you 99 I hope my Pony, I hope my Pony I hope my Pony knows the way back home
Instrumental verse
I run my race with burnt face Jake Gave him a Manzanita cross I lived on nothing but dreams and train smoke Somehow my watch and chain got lost I wish I was home in Evelyn's Kitchen With old Gyp curled around my feet I hope my Pony, I hope my Pony I hope my Pony knows the way back home I hope my Pony, I hope my Pony I hope my Pony knows the way back home

What's He Building?

What's he building in there? What the hell is he building in there? He has subscriptions to those magazines He never waves when he goes by He's hiding something from the rest of us He's all to himself I think I know why He took down the tire swing from the pepper tree He has no children of his own you see He has no dog and he has no friends And his lawn is dying And what about all those packages he sends? What's he building in there? With that hook light on the stairs What's he building in there I'll tell you one thing He's not building a playhouse for the children What's he building in there? Now what's that sound from under the door? He's pounding nails into a hardwood floor And I swear to God I heard someone moaning low And I keep seeing the blue light of a TV show He has a router and a table saw And you won't believe what Mr Sticha saw There's poison underneath the sink, of course But there's also enough formaldehyde to choke a horse What's he building in there? What the hell is he building in there? I heard he has an ex-wife in some place Called Mayors Income, Tennessee And he used to have a consulting business in Indonesia But what is he building in there? What the hell is building in there? He has no friends, but he gets a lot of mail I'll bet he spent a little time in jail I heard he was up on the roof last night Signaling with a flash-light And what's that tune he's always whistling? What's he building in there? What's he building in there? We have a right to know...

Black Market Baby

G#m
G#m6
A#7
D#7
She lives in a house that's way back off the road
G#m
G#m6
A#7
D#7
There's a man with a lantern and he carries her soul
C#m7
A7
G#m7
A coal stove and a bed, a skillet and a hound
C#m7
A7
D#7
G#m7
She drove a camel through a needle in this sinking boardwalk town
C#m7
She's my Black Market baby
G#m7
She's my Black Market baby
D#7
G#m
E7
She's a diamond who wants to stay coal
G#m
E7
Wants to stay coal I swang out wide with her on hell's iron gate Anything that you wanted, you could have My eyes say their prayers to her, sailors ring her bell The way a moth mistakes a light bulb for the moon and goes to hell She's my Black Market baby She's my Black Market baby She's a diamond who wants to stay coal Wants to stay coal There's no prayer like desire, there's amnesia in her kiss She's a swan and a pistol and she will follow you like this In Moberly, Missouri, at the Iroquois Hotel She checked in with the President and she ran up quite a Bill She's my Black Market baby She's my Black Market baby She's a diamond who wants to stay coal Wants to stay coal Well, she's whiskey in a teacup, she gives blondes a lousy name She's a Bonzai Aphrodite and a ticket back to Spain She's a hard way to go, and there ain't no way to stop Every time you play the red the black is coming up She's my Black Market baby She's my Black Market baby She's a diamond who wants to stay coal She wants to stay coal My baby wants to stay coal, coal, coal My baby wants to stay coal

Eyeball Kid

Well Zenora Bariella and Coriander Pyle They had sixteen children in the usual style They had a curio museum and they had no guile All they ever wanted was a showbiz child On the 7th of December 1949 They got what they'd been wishing for all of the time He grew up in a trailer and by the time he was nine He rolled off to join the circus telling fortunes on the side Hail, Hail, the Eyeball kid Well the first time I saw him was a Saigon jail Cost me 27 dollars just to go his bail I said your name will be in lights, and that's no doubt But you got to have a manager that's what it's all about People would point, people would stare I'll always be here to protect you and to cut down on the glare I know you can't speak, I know you can't sign So cry right here on the dotted line Hail, Hail, the Eyeball kid Well he was born without a body, not even a brow I made the kid a promise, I made the kid a vow He's not conventionally handsome, he'll never be tall He said, "All you got to do is book me into Carnegie Hall" Hail, Hail, the Eyeball kid He's just a little bitty thing, he's just a little guy But women go crazy for the big blue eye They say how does he dream? How does he think? When he can't ever speak and he can't ever blink? I said Hail, Hail, the Eyeball kid Hail, Hail, the Eyeball kid Hail, Hail, the Eyeball kid Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid How dies he dream? How does he think? When he can't even speak and he can't even blink? We are all lost in the wilderness, we're as blind as can be He came down to teach us how to really see So give it up and throw me down a couple of quid Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid

Picture In A Frame

C
C7
F
C
The sun come up, it was blue and gold
G
G7
C
The sun come up, it was blue and gold
C
C7
F
Fm
The sun come up, it was blue and gold
C
G
C
Ever since I put your picture in a frame I come callin' in my Sunday best I come callin' in my Sunday best I come callin' in my Sunday best Ever since I put your picture in a frame
F
G
C
Am
I'm gonna love you till the wheels come off
F
G
Oooh, yeah
Instrumental verse
I love you baby, and I always will I love you baby, and I always will I love you baby, and I always will Ever since I put your picture in a frame I love you baby, and I always will Ever since I put your picture in a frame Ever since I put your picture in a frame
C
G
F
C
Ever since I put your picture in a frame

Chocolate Jesus

Em
Am
Am
Em
B7
Em
Em
Don't go to church on Sunday
Am
Don't get on my knees to pray
Em
Don't memorize the books of the Bible
B7
I got my own special way
Em
But I know Jesus loves me
Am
Maybe just a little bit more
Em
I fall on my knees every Sunday
B7
Em
At Zerelda Lee's candy store Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Make me feel good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied Well I don't want no Anna Zabba Don't want no Almond Joy There ain't nothing better Suitable for this boy Well it's the only thing That can pick me up Better than a cup of gold See only a chocolate Jesus Can satisfy my soul
Am
When the weather gets rough And it's whiskey in the shade It's best to wrap your savior
Em
Up in cellophane
Am
He flows like the big muddy But that's OK
B7
Pour him over ice cream for a nice parfait Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Good enough for me Got to be a chocolate Jesus Good enough for me Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Make me feel good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied

Georgia Lee

Capo:
I
C
G
C
C
F
C
F
C
Cold was the night, hard was the ground
F
C
G
G7
They found her in a small grove of trees
C
F
C
F
C
Lonesome was the place where Georgia was found
F
C
G
She's too young to be out on the street
G7
C
C/b
F
Why wasn't God watching?
G7
C
C/b
F
Why wasn't God listening?
G7
C
G7
C
Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Ida said she couldn't keep Georgia from dropping out of school I was doing the best that I could But she just kept runnin' away from this world These children are so hard to raise good Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee?
G
C
F
C
Close your eyes and count to ten
G
C
F
G
I will go and hide but then
Em
A
F
G
Be sure to find me, I want you to find me
C
F
C
F
And we'll play all over, we will play all over
C
F
C
G
G7
We will play all over again There's a toad in the witch grass, there's a crow in the corn Wild flowers on a cross by the road And somewhere a baby is crying for her mom As the hills turn from green back to gold Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee? Why wasn't God watching? Why wasn't God listening? Why wasn't God there for Georgia Lee?
F
C
G
C

Filipino Box Spring Hog

Well I hung on to Mary's stump, I danced with a soldiers glee With a rum-soaked crook, and a big fat laugh, I spent my last dollar on thee I saw Bill Bones, gave him a yell, Kehoe spiked the nog With a chain link fence and a scrap-iron jaw Cooking up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cooking up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Cooking up a Filipino Box Spring Hog Spider rolled in from Hollister Burn on a one-eyed, stolen mare Donned himself with the chicken fat, sawin' on a jawbone violin there Kathleen was sitting down in little Red's recovery room in her criminal underwear bra I was naked to the waist with my fierce black hound And I'm cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Dig a big pit in a dirt alley road, fill it with madrone and bay Smells like hell and the neighbours complain, don't give a hoot what they say You gotta slap that hog... Roll him over twice... Gotta baste him with a sweeping broom You gotta swat them flies, and chain up the dogs Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Rattlesnake piccata with grapes and figs, Old Brown Betty with a yellow wig T'ain't the mince-meat filigree, and it ain't the turkey neck stew And it ain't them bruleed ochra seeds, though she made them special for you Worse won a prize for the bottom-black pie, the beans got thrown to the dogs Jesus Christ, I can always make room Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog Cooking up a Filipino box spring hog

Take It With Me

Bm
A
G
D
G
Phone's off the hook, no one knows where we are
E9
A
It's a long time since I drank champagne
Bm
A
G
D
The ocean is blue, as blue as your eyes
D
A
D
I'm gonna take it with me when I go Old long since gone, now way back when We lived in Coney Island Ain't no good thing ever dies I'm gonna take it with me when I go
Bm
Bm/a
Bm/g
Far far away
D
A train whistle blows
Bm
Wherever you're goin'
D
A
Wherever you've been Waving goodbye at the end of the day You're up and you're over and you're far away Always for you, and forever yours It felt just like the old days We fell asleep on Beaula's porch I'm gonna take it with me when I go All broken down by the side of the road I was never more alive or alone I've worn the faces off all the cards I'm gonna take it with me when I go Children are playing at the end of the day Strangers are singing on our lawn It's got to be more than flesh and bone All that you're loved is all you own In a land there's a town And in that town there's a house And in that house there's a woman And in that woman there's a heart I love I'm gonna take it with me when I go I'm gonna take it with me when I go

Come On Up To The House

Capo:
III
C
Am
F
C
Well the moon is broken and the sky is cracked
C
Am
F
Come on up to the house
C
Am
F
C
The only things that you can see, is all that you lack
C
G
C
Come on up to the house All your cryin' don't do no good Come on up to the house Come down off the cross, we can use the wood Come on up to the house
C
Come on up to the house
C
Am
Come on up to the house
C
Am
F
C
The world is not my home I'm just a-passin' through
C
G
C
You gotta come on up to the house There's no light in the tunnel, no irons in the fire Come on up to the house And you're singin' lead soprano in a junkman's choir You gotta come on up to the house Does life seem nasty, brutish and short Come on up to the house The seas are stormy and you can't find no port Got to come on up to the house You gotta come on up to the house... You gotta come on up to the house... There's nothin' in the world that you can do You gotta come on up to the house And you've been whipped by the forces that are inside you Gotta come on up to the house Well you're high on top of your mountain of woe Gotta come on up to the house Well you know you should surrender but you can't let go You gotta come on up to the house Gotta come on up to the house... Gotta come on up to the house Gotta come on up to the house
C
G
F
C
You gotta come on up to the house