Tom Traubert's Blues
Occasionally, I lie to myself and say that, just maybe, during my life, I'll stumble upon a song better than Tom Wait's 'Tom Traubert's Blues'.
Wasted n' wounded,
T'ain't what the moon did,
Got what I paid for now.
I see ya tomorrow,
Hey Frank, can I borrow
a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda 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 staisey's are soaking wet.
To go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda with me.
Now, the dogs are barking,
the taxi cab's 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.
O'er bushmills I staggered,
You bury the dagger,
Your silhouette windowlight.
To go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda with me.
Now I lost my St. Christopher,
Now that I've kissed her,
and the one-armed bandit knows.
Maverick chinaman, and the coldblooded signs,
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows go
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You go waltzing Matilda with me.
No I don't want your sympathy,
Fugitives say
That the streets aren't for dreaming now.
Manslaughter dragnets
And the ghosts that sell memories,
They want a piece of the action anyhow.
Go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda with me.
You can ask any sailor,
and the keys from the jailor,
and the old men in wheelchairs know.
Matilda's the defendant,
She killed about a hundred,
And she follows wherever you may go.
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda 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,
Matilda... too....
I need only listen to it once more to know that I won't.
Wasted n' wounded,
T'ain't what the moon did,
Got what I paid for now.
I see ya tomorrow,
Hey Frank, can I borrow
a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda 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 staisey's are soaking wet.
To go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda with me.
Now, the dogs are barking,
the taxi cab's 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.
O'er bushmills I staggered,
You bury the dagger,
Your silhouette windowlight.
To go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda with me.
Now I lost my St. Christopher,
Now that I've kissed her,
and the one-armed bandit knows.
Maverick chinaman, and the coldblooded signs,
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows go
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You go waltzing Matilda with me.
No I don't want your sympathy,
Fugitives say
That the streets aren't for dreaming now.
Manslaughter dragnets
And the ghosts that sell memories,
They want a piece of the action anyhow.
Go waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda with me.
You can ask any sailor,
and the keys from the jailor,
and the old men in wheelchairs know.
Matilda's the defendant,
She killed about a hundred,
And she follows wherever you may go.
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You, go waltzing Matilda 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,
Matilda... too....
I need only listen to it once more to know that I won't.