Crest fallen sidekick in an old cafe
Never slept with a dream before he had to go away
There’s a bell in the tower, Uncle Ray bought a round
Don’t worry ‘bout the army in the cold cold ground
Cold cold ground
Cold cold ground
Cold cold ground
Now don’t be a cry baby when there’s wood in the shed
There’s a bird in the chimney and a stone in my bed
When the road’s washed out, we pass the bottle around
And wait in the arms of the cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
There’s a ribbon in the willow and a tire swing rope
And a briar patch of berries takin’ over the slope
The cat’ll sleep in the mailbox and we’ll never go to town
Till we bury every dream in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Give me a Winchester rifle and a whole box of shells
Blow the roof off the goat barn, let it roll down the hill
The piano is firewood, Times Square is a dream
I find we’ll lay down together in the cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Call the cops on the Breedloves, bring a Bible and a rope
And a whole box of Rebel and a bar of soap
Make a pile of trunk tires and burn ‘em all down
Bring a dollar with you, baby, in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Take a weathervane rooster, throw rocks at his head
Stop talking to the neighbors until we all go dead
Beware of my temper and the dog that I’ve found
Break all the windows in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Words and music by Tom Waits
©1986, 1987 Jalma Music
Produced by Tom Waits
Producer’s assistant: Ellen Smith
Recorded by Danny Leake and Biff Dawes in Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, Sunset Sound Factory, Los Angeles or Universal Recording Corp., Chicago
Mixed by Biff Dawes at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles
Tom Waits: Vocals and guitars
David Hidalgo: Accordion
Larry Taylor: Bass
Time: 4.06
Track 15 on the album ‘Franks Wild Years’ 1987
Track ? on the soundtrack album ‘Leolo’ 1992
Click HERE for live bootlegs
The Grievous Angels did a cover version on their album ‘Miles On the Rail’ 1998
