9th
& Hennepin - Tom Waits
Well
it's Ninth and Hennepin
All
the doughnuts have names that sound like prostitutes
And
the moon's teeth marks are on the sky
Like
a tarp thrown all over this
And
the broken umbrellas like dead birds
And
the steam comes out of the grill
Like
the whole goddamn town's ready to blow...
And
the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos
And
everyone is behaving like dogs
And
the horses are coming down Violin Road
And
Dutch is dead on his feet
And
all the rooms they smell like diesel
And
you take on the dreams of the ones who have slept here
And
I'm lost in the window, and I hide in the stairway
And
I hang in the curtain, and I sleep in your hat...
And
no one brings anything small into a bar around here
They
all started out with bad directions
And
the girl behind the counter has a tattooed tear
"One
for every year he's away", she said
Such
a crumbling beauty, ah
There's
nothing wrong with her that a hundred dollars won't fix
She
has that razor sadness that only gets worse
With
the clang and the thunder of the Southern Pacific going by
And
the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet
'til
you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin
And
you spill out over the side to anyone who will listen...
And
I've seen it all, I've seen it all
Through
the yellow windows of the evening train...