Nighthawk Postcards
Tom Waits

b
there's a blur drizzle down the plateglass
as a neon swizzle stick stirrin up the sultry night air
and a yellow biscuit of a buttery cue ball moon
rollin' maverick across an obsidian sky
as the busses go groanin' and wheezin',
down on the corner I'm freezin';
on a restless boulevard at a midnight road
I'm across town from EASY STREET
with the tight knots of moviegoers and out of towners
on the stroll
and the buildings towering high above
lit like dominoes or black dice
all the used car salesmen dressed up in
Purina Checkerboard slacks
and Foster Grant wrap-around,
pacing in front of EARL SCHLEIB
$39.95 merchandise
like barkers at a shootin' gallery
they throw out kind of a Texas Guinan routine
Hello sucker, we like your money
just as well as anybody else's here
or they give you the P.T. Barnum bit
There's a sucker born every minute
you just happened to be comin' along at the right time
come over here now
you know... all the harlequin sailors are on the stroll
in a search of LIKE NEW, NEW PAINT,
decent factory air and AM-FM dreams
and the piss yellow gypsy cabs
stacked up in the taxi zones waitin' like
pinball machines
to be ticking off a joy ride to a magical place
waitin' in line like truckers welcome diners
with dirt lots full of
Peterbilts, Kenworths, Jimmy's and the like, and
they're hiballin' with bankrupt brakes, over driven
under paid, over fed, a day late and a dollar short
but Christ I got my lips around a bottle and
my foot on the throttle and I'm standin' on the corner
standin' on the corner like a just in town
jasper, on a street corner with a gasper lookin
' for some kind of Cheshire billboard grin
stroking a goateed chin, and using parking meters
as walking sticks on the inebriated stroll
with my eyelids propped open at half mast
but you know... over at Chubb's Pool Hall and Snooker
it was a nickle after two, yea it was a nickle after two
and in the cobalt steel blue dream smoke, it
was the radio that groaned out the hit parade
and the chalk squeaked, the floorboards creaked
and an Olympia sign winked through a torn yellow
shade, old Jack Chance himself leanin' up against
a Wurlitzer and eyeballin' out a 5 ball combination shot
impossible you say? ...hard to believe?, perhaps
out of the realm of possibility? naaaa
he be stretchin' out long tawny fingers out across a
cool green felt with a provocative golden gate
and a full table railshot that's no sweat and I leaned
up against my bannister and wandered over to the
Wurlitzer and I punched A-2 I was lookin' for
something like Wine, Wine, Wine by the Night Caps
starring Chuck E. Weiss or High Blood Pressure
by George (cryin' in the streets) Perkins - no dice
that's life, that's what all the people say ridin' high
in April, seriously shot down in May, but I know I'm
gonna change that tune when I'm standing underneath
a buttery moon that's all melted off to one side
It was just about that time that the sun
came crawlin' yellow out of a manhole
at the foot of 23rd Street
and a dracula moon in a black disguise
was making its way back to its
pre-paid room at the St. Moritz Hotel (scat)
and the El train came tumbling across the trestles and it sounded
like the ghost of Gene Krupa
with an overhead cam and glasspacks
and the whispering brushes of wet radials
on a wet pavement and there's a
traffic jam session on Belmont tonight
and the rhapsody of the pending
evening, I leaned up against
my bannister and I've been looking
for some kind of an emotional
investment with romantic dividends
kind of a physical negociation
is underway
as I attempt to consolidate all my
missed weekly payments, into
one-low-monthly payment
through the nose
with romantic residuals and leg akimbo
but the chances are more than likely I'll probably
be held over for another smashed weekend


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Lyrics by Tom Waits

  ...But There's Never A Rose   'Til the Money Runs Out   (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night   \'til The Money Runs Out   $29.00   16 Shells From A 30.06   16 Shells From A 306   16 Shells from a Thirty - Ought - Six   16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought-Six   16 Shells from a Thrity-Ought Six   29 00   9th & Hennepin   9th & Hennepin   9th and Hennepin     Turntable   A Good Man Is Hard To Find   A Little Rain   A Sight For Sore Eyes   A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue   A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun   After You Die   Ain\'t 2 Proud 2 Beg   Ain\'t 2 Proud 2 Beg (Left Eye\'s 3 Minutes & Coun...   Alice   All I Want For Christmas   All Stripped Down   All The World Is Green   Altar Boy   And No One Knows I'm Gone   Annie\'s Back In Town   Another Man's Vine   Anywhere I Lay My Head   Automatic   Baby Baby Baby   Baby Baby Baby (Extended Remix)   Back In The Crowd   Back in the Good Old World   Back In The Good Old World Gypsy   Bad As Me   Bad By Myself   Bad Liver and a Broken Heart   Bad Liver And A Broken Heart (In Lowell)   Barber Shop   Barcarolle   Better off without a Wife   Big Black Mariah   Big In Japan   Big Joe & Phantom 309   Big Joe and Phantom 309   Black Market Baby   Black Wings   Blind Love   Blow Wind Blow   Blue Skies   Blue Valentine   Blue Valentines   Books of Moses   Broken Bicycles   Burma Shave   Buzz Fledderjohn   Candy Apple Red   Careless Love   Case of the Fake People   Cemetery Polka   Chained Together For Life   Chicago   Chocolate Jesus   Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis   Christmas Cards From A Hooker In Minneapolis   Christmas Sucks   Circus   Clap Hands   Cold Cold Ground   Cold Cold Ground (Live)   Cold Water   Come On Down   Come on up to the House   Coney Island Baby   Credits   Creep   Creep (DARP Remix)   Crossroads   Damaged   Danny Says   Das Da Way We Like \'Em   Date To Church   Day After Tomorrow   Dead and Lovely   Dear Lie   Depend On Myself   Depot, Depot   Diamonds & Gold   Diamonds & Gold   Diamonds And Gold   Diamonds On My Windshield   Diamonds On My Windshield (Looking For)   Diamonds On My Windshield Looking For   Diggin\' On You   Dirt In The Ground   Dirty Dirty   Don't Go into That Barn   Don\'t Pull Out On Me Yet   Down The Reeperbahn   Down, Down, Down   Downtown   Downtown Train   Downtown Trains   Drunk on the Moon   Earth Died Screaming   Eggs & Sausage   Eggs & Sausage   Eggs and Sausage   Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac With Susan Michels...   Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac With Susan Michels...   Eggs and Sausage (Intro)   Eggs And Sausage – Invitation To The Blues   Emotional Weather Report   Everything Goes To Hell   Everything You Can Think   Everything You Can Think Of Is True   Eyeball Kid   Face To The Highway   Fall Of Troy   Falling Down   Falling Down   Fanmail   Fannin Street   Filipino Box Spring Hog   First Kiss   Fish & Bird   Fish & Bird   Flash Pan Hunter   Flash Pan Hunter Intro   Flowers Grave   Foreign Affair   Frank's Song   Frank's Theme   Frank's Wild Years   FRANK\'S SONG   Frank\'s Theme   Frank\'s Wild Years   Frank\'s Wild Years For Frankie Z   Fumblin' With The Blues   Fumblin\' With The Blues   Georgia Lee   Get Away (Bonus Track)   Get Behind The Mule   Get it Up   Get Los   Get Lost   Gin Soaked Boy   Girl Talk   Give it to Me While It\'s Hot   God's Away On Busines   God's Away On Business   God's Away On Bussiness   God\'s Away On Business   Goin' Down Slow   Goin' Out West   Goin\' Down Slow   Goin\' Out West   Good Love   Good Old World   Good Old World (Waltz)   Good Old World Waltz   Goodnight Irene   Goodnight Loving Trail   Gospel Train   Gospel Train Orchestra   Gospel Train\/Orchestra   Grapefruit Moon   Green Grass   Gun Street Girl   Had Me A Girl   Hands Up   Hang Down Your Head   Hang Me In The Bottle   Hang On St. Christopher   Hat 2 Da Back   Heartattack and Vine   Heartattack and Vine   Heigh Ho   Heigh Ho! (The Dwarfs' Marching Song)   Hell Broke Luce   Hey Hey Hey Hey   His Story   Hoist That Rag   Hold On   Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You   Hope I Don\'t Fall In Love With You   House Where Nobody Lives   How's It Gonna End   I Beg Your Pardon   I Can't Wait To Get Off Work   I Can't Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On M...   I Can\'t Wait To Get Off Work   I Can\'t Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On ...   I Can\'t Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On ...   I Can’t Wait To Get Off To Work   I Can’t Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On...   I Cant Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On Mo...   I Don't Wanna Grow Up   I Don\'t Wanna Grow Up   I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You   I Hope That I Don\'t Fall In Love With You   I Miss You So Much   I Need That *   I Never Talk to Strangers   I Want You   I Wish I Was in New Orleans   I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In The Ninth Ward)   I Wish I Was In New Orleans – Small Change   I'll Be Gone   I'll Shoot the Moon   I'll Take New York   I'm Still Here   I'm Your Late Night Evening Prostitute   I\'ll Be Gone   I\'ll Shoot The Moon   I\'ll Take New York   I\'m Good at Being Bad   I\'m Still Here   I\'M YOUR LATE NIGHT EVENING PROSTITUDE   I\'m Your Late Night Evening Prostitute   Ice Cream Man   If I Have To Go   If I Was Your Girlfriend   If They Knew   In Between Love   In the Colosseum   In the Neighborhood   In Your Arms Tonight   Innocent When You Dream   Innocent When You Dream Barroom   Invitation to the Blues   Invitation To The Blues – Eggs And Sausage   Is There Any Way Out Of This Dream   Jack & Neal – California, Here I Come   Jack and Neal   Jersey Girl   Jesus Gonna Be Here   Jitterbug Boy   Jitterburg Boys   Jockey Full Of Bourbon   Johnsburg, Illinois   Just the Right Bullets   Kentuchy Avenue   Kentucky Anvenue   Kentucky Avenue   Kick Your Game   King Kong   Kiss Me   Komme Nie Zu Spät   Kommienezuepadt   Kommienezuspadt   Last Leaf   Let\'s Do it Again   Little Boy Blue   Little Drop Of Poison   Little Trip To Heaven   Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love)   Live Circus   Lonely   Long Way Home   Looking For, The Heart Of Saturday Night   Looks Like I'm Up Shit Creek Again   Looks Like I\'m Up Shit Creek Again   Lost In The Harbor   Lost In The Harbour   Lovesick   Lowside Of The Road   Lucinda / Ain't Goin Down   Lucky Day   Lucky Day Overture   Lullaby   Make It Rain   Martha   Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come   Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come   Metropolitan Glide   Midnight Lullaby   Midnight Lullabye   Misery Is The River Of The World   Mockin' Bird   Mockin\' Bird   More Than Rain   Mr. Henry   Mr. Siegal   Murder in the Red Barn   Muriel   My Life   My Secret Enemy   New Coat of Paint   New Year's Eve   New Year\'s Eve   New York Theme   New York Theme (instrumental)   Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)   Nighthawk Postcards From Easy Street   No One Knows I'm Gone   No Scrubs (LP Version)   Nobody   November   Oily Night   Ol '55   Ol' 55   Ol\' 55   Old Boyfriends   Old Shoes   Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)   Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)   On a Foggy Night   On the Nickel   On the Other Side of the World   On The Road   Once Upon A Time (Empty Pockets)   Once Upon a Town   Once Upon A Town/Empty Pockets   Open Intro   Over Me   Pasties and a G-string   Pasties And A G-String (At The Two O’Clock Club)   Pasties Gstrin   Picking Up After You   Picture In A Frame   Please Call Me, Baby   Please Wake Me Up   Poncho's Lament   PONCHO\'S LAMENT   Pony   Poor Edward   Potter's Field   Potter\'s Field   Putnam County   Quickie   Rain Dogs   Red Light Special   Red Shoes by the Drugstore   Reeperbahn   Rockin Chair   Rockin' Chair   Romeo Is Bleeding   Rosie   Ruby's Arms   Ruby\'s Arms   San Diego Serenade   Saving All My Love for You   Semi Suite   Shake It   She Stole The Blush   Shiver Me Timbers   Shock Dat Monkey   Shore Leave   Shout   Singapore   Sins of My Father   Sins Of The Father   Sleigh Ride   Small Change   Small Change (Got Rained On With His Own .38)   Small Change\/Hey Big Spender   So It Goes   So Long I'll See Ya   So Long I\'ll See Ya   So So Dumb   Soldier's Things   Soldier\'s Things   Somethin\' You Wanna Know   Somewhere   Somewhere (from West Side Story)   Spare Parts   Spare Parts I   Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission)   Spare Parts I A Nocturnal Emission   Standin’ On The Corner   Starving In The Belly Of A Whale   Step Right Up   Story   Straight to the Top   Straight To the Top (Rhumba)   Straight To the Top (Vegas)   Strange Weather   Strange Weather (Live)   Such A Scream   Switch   Swordfishtrombone   Swordfishtrombones   T'ain't No Sin   T\'ain\'t No Sin   Table Top Joe   Tabletop Joe   Take It With Me   Take Me Home   Take One Last Look   Take Our Time   Talking At The Same Time   Tango 'Til They're Sore   Tango \'til They\'re Sore   Tango Til They’re Sore   Tango Till They're Sore   Tango Till They\'re Sore   Telephone Call From Istanbul   Tell Me   Temptation   That Feel   That's the Way   That\'s The Way   The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)   The Black Rider   The Briar and the Rose   The Ghosts Of Saturday – The Heart Of Saturday N...   The Ghosts of Saturday Night   The Ghosts Of Saturday Night (after Hours At Napol...   The Ghosts Of Saturday Night (After Hours At Napol...   The Ghosts Of Saturday Night (After Hours At Napol...   The Heart of Saturday Night   The Last Rose of Summer   The Ocean Doesn't Want Me   The Ocean Doesn\'t Want Me   The One That Got Away   The Other Side Of The World   The Part You Throw Away   The Piano Has Been Drinking   The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)   The Piano Has Been Drinking Not Me   The Return of Jackie and Judy   The Wages of Love   There's Only Alice   This is How it Should Be Done   This is How it Works   This One's From the Heart   This One\'s From the Heart   Til The Money Runs Out   Time   Time (Live)   Tom Traubert's Blues   Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In C...   Tom Traubert\'s Blues   Tom Traubert’s Blues   Top Of The Hill   Town With No Cheer   Train Song   Trampled Rose   Trouble's Braids   Trouble\'s Braids   Twenty Nine Dollars   U in Me (Bonus Track)   Underground   Union Square   Unpretty   Unpretty (Don\'t Look Any Further Remix With Rap)   Virginia Ave   Virginia Ave.   Virginia Avenue   Walk Away   Walking Spanish   Warm Beer and Cold Women   Watch Her Disappear   Waterfalls   Way Down in the Hole   Way Down Inthe   We're All Mad Here   What About Your Friends   What Keeps Mankind Alive   What's He Building?   What\'s He Building?   When You Ain't Got Nobody   WHEN YOU AIN\'T GOT NOBODY   Whislin Past The Graveyard   Whistle Down the Wind   Whistlin' Past the Graveyard   Whistlin'past The Graveyard   Whistlin\' Past The Graveyard   Who Are You   Woe   Wrong Side of the Road   Yesterday Is Here   You Can't Unring a Bell   You Can\'t Unring a Bell

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