Lucky New Year

New Year Greetings; this time I'll use Tom's view: a low ballad, much in his old style, full of rock 'n roll cliches and a bit of despair but, well, it's Tom Waits after all.





The door was open I was seething
Your mother burst in it was freezing
She said it looks like it’s trying to rain
I was lost I felt sea sick
You convinced me that he’d left
You said keep talking but don’t use any names
I scolded your driver and your brother
We are old enough to know how long you’ve been hooked
And we’ve all been through the war
And each time you score
Someone gets hauled and handcuffed and booked
It felt like four in the morning
What sounded like fire works
Turned out to be just what it was
The stars looked like diamonds
Then came the sirens
And everyone started to cuss
All the noise was disturbing
And I couldn’t find Irving
It was like two stations on at the same time
And then I hid your car keys
And I made black coffee
And I dumped out the rest of the rum
Nick and Socorro broke up
And Candice wouldn’t shut up
Fin he recorded the whole thing
Ray he said damn you
And someone broke my camera
And it was New Years
And we all started to sing
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot for the sake of auld lang syne
I was leaving in the morning with Charles for Las Vegas
And I didn’t plan to come back
I had only a few things
Two hundred dollars
And my records in a brown paper sack
I ran out on Sheila
Everything’s in storage
Calvin’s right I should go back to driving truck
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot for the sake of auld lang syne


If you wish to hear the whole album, it's here. More by him here, and elsewhere.

Happy New Year, and good luck!