Well, I got a bad liver and a broken heart
Yeah, I drunk me a river since you tore me apart
And I don’t have a drinking problem
‘cept when I can’t get a drink
And I wish you’d known her, we were quite a pair
She was sharp as a razor and soft as a prayer
So welcome to the continuing saga
She was my better half, and I was just a dog
And so here am I slumped
I’ve been chipped and I’ve been chumped on my stool
So buy this fool some spirits and libations
It’s these railroad station bars
And all these conductors and the porters
And I’m all out of quarters
And this epitaph is the aftermath
Yeah, I choose my path, hey come on, Kath
He’s a lawyer, he ain’t the one for ya
No, the moon ain’t romantic, it’s intimidating as hell
And some guy’s trying to sell me a watch
And so I’ll meet you at the bottom of a bottle of bargain Scotch
I got me a bottle and a dream, it’s so maudlin it seems
You can name your poison
Go on ahead and make some noise
I ain’t sentimental
This ain’t a purchase, it’s a rental, and it’s purgatory
And hey, what’s your story, well I don’t even care
Cause I got my own double-cross to bear
And I’ll see your Red Label, and I’ll raise you one more
And you can pour me a cab, I just can’t drink no more
Cause it don’t douse the flames that are started by dames
It ain’t like asbestos
It don’t do nothing but rest us assured
And substantiate the rumors that you’ve heard
Words and music by Tom Waits
©1976 Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Produced and engineered by Bones Howe
2nd engineers: Geoff Howe and Bill Broms
Recorded at Wally Heider Recording, Hollywood, California in July 1976
Tom Waits: Vocals and piano
Track 8 on the album ‘Small Change’ 1976
Time: 4.46
A version of the song was performed on September 7, 1978, during the Paradise Alley sessions, available on these bootleg albums:
Click HERE for live versions
