A sad and sorrowful tale of someone who is not only down and out, but has hit rock bottom.

Tom Waits – “Tom Traubert’s Blues”

“Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)”    (1976)

Dating from way back in the early years of Tom Waits’ career, “Tom Traubert’s Blues”  has remained one of his signature tunes for close to half a century now.  

Perfectly Wretched

This song is both perfectly crafted and superbly rendered. At the same time, it tells a sad and sorrowful tale of someone who is not only down and out, but has hit rock bottom – in a distant foreign country to boot. He’s “wasted and wounded,”  and he’s broke. He’s “down on my knees tonight,”  and suffering “a wound that will never heal.”     

The producer Bones Howe praised the lyrics as the “brilliant,”  work of “an extremely talented lyricist.”  The music critic Thomas Ward provided the most succinct and accurate description, saying that the song is “heartbreakingly beautiful.”  Indeed, almost every word and note is. 

Perfect Rest

And regardless of all the sadness, sorrow, and misery of this blue tale, it ends with a compassionate “Goodnight”  – a  tender “Goodnight”  to all.   _{(Image source)}

Tom Waits

Tom Waits is a US singer, songwriter, and actor. His music has been categorized as blues, jazz, rock, even experimental, but none of those labels come close to describing or defining his consistently unique musical creations.  

Among the Finest and Most Important

Although Waits has never attained widespread popularity or great commercial success, he has a large cult following around the world. Furthermore, one of his biographers wrote that Waits was one of the most important American artists of the 20th century. Another biographer stated that Waits was “one of America's finest post-Dylan singer-songwriters.”  

Among the Greatest

Tom Waits has won numerous Grammy awards, and in 2011, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On “Rolling Stone”  magazine’s 2010 list of “100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time,”  Tom Waits is ranked at Number 55.  _{(Image source)}

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
I've got what I paid for now
See you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English, and everything's broken, and my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cabs parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered, you'd bury the dagger
In your silhouette window light
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

Now I lost my Saint Christopher, now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinamen, and the cold-blooded signs
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows
Go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

No, I don't want your sympathy, the fugitives say
That the streets aren't for dreaming now
And manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
They want a piece of the action anyhow
Go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

And you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailor
And the old men in wheelchairs know
And Mathilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

And it's a battered old suitcase, to a hotel someplace
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on an
Old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers, the night watchmen flame keepers
And goodnight to Mathilda, too  _{(Image source)}
Lyrics by Tom Waits, courtesy of – AZLyrics.com
Reference – Wikipedia
Reference – Wikipedia
Reference – RollingStone.com

Into your ears … through 5 channels

 The various posts are categorized into 5 channels _{(Right-Click to see details)}
         1 – “Music to Your Ears” (MTYE)
         2 – “Cover Versions”
         3 – “Honor Roll”
         4 – “Documentaries”
         5 – “Mock’n’Roll”

More “Music to Your Ears” ...

          Previous posts in this series – "MTYE posts 1–20"
          Previous posts in this series – "MTYE posts 21–40"

Links to my other series ...

          Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 1"
          Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 2"

          Great Lyrics, a compilation – “Part One – My Lyrics Posts 3~30”
          Great Lyrics, a compilation – “Part Two – My Lyrics Posts 31~60”  

          Vocab-Ability – "Introduction to Vocab-Ability"  
          Vocab-Ability – "Index"  to all Chapters and Sections  

          Notes from Under the Tatami Mats – "Part One – Notes 1~50"  
          Notes from Under the Tatami Mats – "Part Two – Notes 51~87"