You Got To Come on up to the House

Well the moon is broken
And the sky is cracked
Come on up to the house
The only things that you can see
Is all that you lack
Come on up to the house

All your cryin don't do no good
Come on up to the house
Come down off the cross
We can use the wood
Come on up to the house

Come on up to the house
Come on up to the house
The world is not my home
I'm just a passin thru
Come on up to the house

There's no light in the tunnel
No irons in the fire
Come on up to the house
And your singin lead soprano
In a junkman's choir
You gotta come on up to the house

Does life seem nasty, brutish and short
Come on up to the house
The seas are stormy
And you can't find no port
Come on up to the house
There's nothin in the world

(Chorus)
there's nothin in the world
that you can do
you gotta come on up to the house
and you been whipped by the forces
that are inside you
come on up to the house
well you're high on top
of your mountain of woe
come on up to the house
well you know you should surrender
but you can't let go
you gotta come on up to the house
(Chorus)

(Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan)

If you haven't, maybe you should. Hell, you don't even have to convert.

Comments

[Rhod]

Never really took to Tom Waits. The shtick seems to have eclipsed the talent. But this is good.

[tag]

If you have not heard Nighthawks at the Diner, you have not experienced a golden age of Tom Waits. I am not disparaging his other work, but for an audio LA novel story that could be the soundtrack to a Charles Bukowski documentary- this one is perfect.

If you like him, have you heard of Jelly Roll Morton, Toledo, Chuck Weiss, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Steely Dan, or Jimmy Luxury?

I am assuming that you are also a fan of Captain Beefheart and Harry Partch. These two are two elements that are core to understanding where Waits comes from.

tag

[chip]

in 1973 while in college i worked at a nightclub in denver called ebbetts field.it wsa the perfect job for a rock & roll kid & provided me a chance to see a lot of great acts.for example lynyrd skynyrd played there when they toured behind their first album.

that year i was excited to see roger mcguinn as the byrds (circa 1965-1968) were & are one of my favorite bands

the night of the show i was in the backstage area where i notice a derelict weaving around.ebbets was located about 3 blocks from denver's skid row area.as no one else had noticed i decided to help the guy to the main entrance if he wanted to see the show.
smiling,in a raspy voice he informed me that he was the opening act.it was of course tom waits.

tom was a regular in denver for awhile & hooked up with a local crazy named chuck e weiss.chuke e is pictured sitting across from tom on the cover of night hawks at the diner.

tom & chuck e co wrote a song on nighthawks called spare parts.there is a long scat section in that song where tom references howling at the moon behavior in & around reese's coffee shop located in the same building as ebbets.the cover shot may have been taken there as well.

chuck e later shed some of his bad habits (or used them ) to record 2 well recieved albums and with johhny depp was involved in opening the viper room in los angeles.

he will always be known of course as the subject of ricky lee jones song

memories

[callmeBetty]

Used to see Tom play a lot of small venues in San Diego, early 80's........... vintage classics. Moved to LA three blocks away from "Burito King", lol, we eat there all the time. It's still good!!!

Ah, Nick Cave, Captain Beefheart and Harry Partch - has it really been 25 years? Seems like only yesterday.......... They're still cool.

[Damon]

Tom Wait's album The Heart of Saturday Night may be the greatest album ever made. He's like the finest gourmet meal you will ever eat. Anyone who can't appreciate it should stick to Britney Spears and McDonalds.