Well, take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Just like they say in the Bible
Well, never leave a trace, or forget a face
Of any man at the table
Any man at the table
When the moon is a cold chiseled dagger
And it’s sharp enough to draw blood from a stone
He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses
And the fence posts in the moonlight look like bones
Well they’ve stopped trying to hold him 2ith mortar, stone and chain
He broke out of every prison
Well, the boots mount the staircase, the door is flung back open
He’s not there for he has risen
He’s not there for he has risen
Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string
He’s been seen at the table with kings
Well, he once saved a baby from drowning
There are those that say beneath his coat there are wings
Well, some say they fear him
Well, some say they fear him, others admire him
Because he steals his promise
Well, one look in his eye, and everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
He can turn himself into a stranger
Well, they broke a lot of canes on his hide
He was born away in a cornfield
A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside
Some say they fear him, others admire him
Because he steals his promise
One look in his eye, everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Words and music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
©1992 Jalma Music Inc. (ASCAP)
Produced by Tom Waits
Associate producer: Kathleen Brennan
Recorded by Biff Dawes at Prairie Sun, Cotati
Mixed by Tchad Blake
2nd engineer: Joe Marquez
3rd engineer: Shawn Michael Morris
Tom Waits: Vocals, guitar, and drums
Larry Taylor: Upright bass
Joe Gore: Guitar
Track 12 on the album ‘Bone Machine’ 1992
Time: 4.35
Live versions available on these bootlegs
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose,
Rehearsals, San Francisco, December 31, 1990
Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, December 31, 1990
Paramount Theatre, Oakland, February 4, 1996
The Raven, Healdsburg, August 11, 1996