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Click on the ‘Play’ button above to hear the song, you can read the lyrics via the links below. If the player doesn’t start straight away, wait and then press the ‘Play’ button again.
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Tom Waits is from our forthcoming album The Chelsea Hotel#4 by ‘Les Paul’s’ (The Paul’s), which is the 4th album in the series of albums about those celebrities, actors, artists, writers, poets, songwriters and musicians that have stayed at the iconic New York through the years or have a strong connection to the hotel. You can visit visit The Chelsea Hotel#4 HERE, The Chelsea Hotel#3 HERE, The Chelsea Hotel#2 HERE and The Chelsea Hotel#1 HERE
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The middle arc of the album is where The Chelsea Hotel #4 reveals its full narrative depth. “Nick Cave” and “Tom Waits” stand as twin reflections of the nocturnal soul – two songwriters who inhabit the dark corners of human emotion. The former pulses with gothic grandeur, evoking Cave’s brooding romanticism, while the latter slouches through smoky barroom imagery, steeped in Waits’ gravelly storytelling.
– Read the just published Jamsphere magazine review our album HERE
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download the track Tom Waits at download stores HERE and on Bandcamp HERE
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You can download the album The Chelsea Hotel#4 at download stores HERE and on Bandcamp HERE
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Watch the Tom Waits video promo on YouTube HERE
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Tom Waits lyrics
Saw you hanging around The Chelsea, in the lobby
Many had stayed there including Janis, Jimi and Bobby
You breathed in the same air as the greats
Many think you yourself are great, Tom Waits
You liked Jack and his beats
Also thought that Bobby was pretty neat
You both sing with voices so different
That some dislike, that some say are magnificent
Laid your gravel and sand down on the tracks
Binding them together like vinyl and wax
No one can do it quite like you do
Even though your train is just passing through
Johnny met you down there by the train
By the tracks there were dogs in the rain
The black rider sits behind the wheel
There’s no getting off, our fate is sealed
For the train and time waits for no man
Something that Tom fully understands
Blow that whistle Tom, all aboard
Have mercy on our soul, oh my sweet lord
Train, train, train
Rolling down the tracks
Ain’t nothing coming back
That downtown train, train, train
Is rolling down the tracks
Ain’t never coming back
Ain’t never coming back
They said that you were big in Japan
Well, you are nearly six feet, man
Bette left Bobby in buckets of rain
She’d then be with you, but it wasn’t the same
That Christmas card from that hooker in Memphis
Said wish you were here in this fiery tempest
Later that Jersey girl Kathy, chased the clouds away
By her side you saw clear blue skies every day
Many are on the train and can’t get off
It’s going faster and faster and just won’t stop
Whistle’s on past the graveyard of fallen stars
They roll down their sleeves to hide their marks and scars
The last stop seems a long ride away
But it’s getting nearer every day
You gotta hold on and never let go
Feel the wind blow, blow wind blow, blow wind blow, blow wind blow
Train, train, train
Rolling down the tracks
Ain’t never coming back
That downtown train, train, train
Is rolling down the tracks
Ain’t never coming back
Is rolling down the tracks
Ain’t never coming back
Is rolling down the tracks
Ain’t never coming back
Is rolling down the tracks
Ain’t never coming back
Music composed and performed by Paul Odiase BMI No. 1252265 (Switzerland)
Song lyrics by Paul Robert Thomas PRS No. 497904008 (London)
PRS Tunecode 842081FQ
ISRC: US5UL2554868
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“Tom Waits” is a vivid, atmospheric tribute to the gravel-voiced bard of smoky bars, city streets, and endless trains. The song paints a picture of Waits as both observer and participant in the lives of eccentrics and legends, roaming the halls of the Chelsea Hotel, breathing the same air as icons like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Bobby Dylan, while leaving his own indelible mark.
Through poetic imagery and recurring train metaphors, the lyrics explore the relentless passage of time, fate, and creativity — the unstoppable motion of life that Waits understands better than most. Lines like “Laid your gravel and sand down on the tracks / Binding them together like vinyl and wax” celebrate his unique voice and storytelling craft, while the evocative “Train, train, train / Rolling down the tracks / Ain’t never coming back” underscores the transience and urgency that permeate his music.
The song also touches on intimate glimpses of human connection and fleeting love, reflecting the bittersweet, often surreal world Waits inhabits in both life and song. “Tom Waits” is a musical portrait of an artist who observes, endures, and transforms the mundane into the extraordinary, capturing the essence of a man whose art is timeless, gravelly, and unforgettable.
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