Licorice tattoo turned a gun metal blue
Scrawled across the shoulders of a dyin’ town
Took the one eyed Jacks across the railroad tracks
And the scar on its belly pulled a stranger passin’ through
He’s a juvenile delinquent, never learned how to behave
But the cops’d never think to look in Burma-Shave
And the road was like a ribbon, and the moon was like a bone
He didn’t seem to be like any guy she’d ever known
He kind of looked like Farley Granger, with his hair slicked back
She says, I’m a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat
How far are you goin’? Said, Depends on what you mean
He says, I’m only stoppin’ here to get some gasoline
I guess I’m goin’ thataway, just as long as it’s paved
And I guess you’d say I’m on my way to Burma-Shave
And with her knees up on the glove compartment
She took out her barrettes, and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
And she popped her gum and arched her back
Hell, Marysville ain’t nothin’ but a wide spot in the road
Some nights my heart pounds like thunder
Don’t know why it don’t explode
Cause everyone in this stinkin’ town’s got one foot in the grave
And I’d rather take my chances out in Burma-Shave
Presley’s what I go by, why don’t you change the stations
Count the grain elevators in the rearview mirror
She said, Mister, anywhere you point this thing
It got to beat the hell out of the sting
Of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin’
And so drill me a hole with a barber pole
And I’m jumpin’ my parole just like a fugitive tonight
Why don’t you have another swig, and pass that car if you’re so brave
I wanna get there before the sun comes up in Burma-Shave
And the spider web crack and the mustang screamed
The smoke from the tires and the twisted machine
Just a nickel’s worth of dreams, and every wishbone that they saved
Lie swindled from them on the way to Burma-Shave
And the sun hit the derrick and cast a bat wing shadow
Up against the car door on the shotgun side
And when they pulled her from the wreck
You know, she still had on her shades
They say that dreams are growing wild just this side of Burma-Shave
Words and music by Tom Waits
©1977 Fifth Floor Music Inc.
Produced and engineered by Bones Howe
2nd engineer: Geoff Howe
Recorded July or August 1977 at Filmways / Heider Recording, Hollywood
Tom Waits: Vocals and piano
Jack Sheldon: Trumpet
Time: 6.31
Track 7 on the album ‘Foreign Affairs’ 1977
Track 9 on the compilation ‘Bounced Checks’ 1981
Track 10 on the compilation ‘Anthology’ 1984
Track 10 on the compilation ‘Asylum Years’ 1984
Track 7 on the compilation CD ‘Asylum Years’ 1989
Click HERE for live bootlegs, and a transcript of the Sydney 1979 version
Click HERE for everything you ever wanted to know about the Burma-Shave signs
