Monday 25 June 2018

Talky Songs #4: Frank's Wild Years



You may be one of those people who claims not to love / like / get Tom Waits. I dunno. I know such people are out there. Some of them are even people whose opinions on other matters I respect greatly.

But really...

I mean, really...

How could you not love this?

Frank settled down in the Valley
And he hung his wild years
On a nail that he drove through
His wife's forehead.
He sold used office furniture
Out there on San Fernando Road
And assumed a $30,000 loan
At 15¼% and put a down payment
On a little two bedroom place.
His wife was a spent piece of used jet trash
Made good bloody marys,
Kept her mouth shut most of the time
Had a little Chihuahua named Carlos
That had some kind of skin disease
And was totally blind. They had a
Thoroughly modern kitchen
Self-cleaning oven (the whole bit),
Frank drove a little sedan.
They were so happy.

One night Frank was on his way home
From work, stopped at the liquor store,
Picked up a couple Mickey's Big Mouths
Drank 'em in the car on his way
To the Shell station. He got a gallon of
Gas in a can, drove home, doused
Everything in the house, torched it.
Parked across the street, laughing,
Watching it burn, all Halloween
Orange and chiminey red. Then
Frank put on a top forty station
Got on the Hollywood Freeway.
Headed north.

(And they gave Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize for Literature!?)



Never could stand that dog... 

3 comments:

  1. I liked him before his voice went all like Christian Bale in The Dark Knight...

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's impossible not to love this superb songs and words, Rol.

    ReplyDelete
  3. First Waits song I ever heard and pound for pound my favorite Waits song. Have listened to it hundreds of times in my life.

    ReplyDelete

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