(Frank's Wild Years studio version, 1987)(1)
Crest fallen(2)
sidekick(3) in an old cafe
Never slept with a dream before he had to go away
There's a bell in the tower, Uncle Ray bought a round
Don't worry 'bout the army in the cold cold ground
Cold cold ground
Cold cold ground
Cold cold ground
Now don't be a cry baby when
there's wood in the shed
There's a bird in the chimney and a stone in my bed
When the road's washed out, we pass the bottle around
And wait in the arms of the cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
There's a ribbon in the willow and
a tire swing rope
And a briar patch of berries takin' over the slope
The cat'll sleep in the mailbox and we'll never go to town
Till we bury every dream in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Give me a Winchester rifle and a
whole box of shells
Blow the roof off the goat barn, let it roll down the hill
The piano is firewood, Times Square is a dream
I find we'll lay down together in the cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
The cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Call the cops on the Breedloves(4),
bring a Bible and a rope
And a whole box of Rebel(5) and a bar of soap
Make a pile of trunk tires and burn 'em all down
Bring a dollar with you, baby, in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Take a weathervane rooster, throw
rocks at his head
Stop talking to the neighbors until we all go dead
Beware of my temper and the dog that I've found
Break all the windows in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Written by: Tom Waits
Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 1986-1987
Official release: Frank's Wild Years, Island Records Inc., 1987
Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom
Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)
Further reading: Frank's
Wild Years the play
(Big Time live version, 1988)(1)
Well, Crest fallen(2)
sidekick(3) in an old cafe
It slept with a dream before he had to go away
There's a bell in the tower, Uncle Ray bought a round
Don't worry 'bout the army in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Now don't be a cry baby when
there's wood in the shed
There's a bird in the chimney and a stone in my bed
And the road's washed out, we pass the bottle around
And wait in the arms of the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
There's a ribbon in the willow and
a tire swing rope
A briar patch of berries takin' over the slope
The cat'll sleep in the mailbox and we'll never go to town
Bury every dream in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Give me a Winchester rifle and a
whole box of shells
Blow the roof off the goat barn, let it roll down the hill
The piano is firewood, Times Square is a dream
Lay down together in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Call the cops on the Breedloves(4),
bring a Bible and a rope
Whole box of Rebel(5) and a bar of soap
Make a pile of trunk tires and burn 'em all down
Bring a dollar with you, baby, in the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
In the cold cold ground
Written by: Tom Waits
Published by: Jalma Music, Admin. by Ackee Music, Inc. (ASCAP), ©
1986-1987-1988-1998
Official release: "Big Time", © Island Visual Arts Inc. (P) Island
Records Inc., 1988 &
"Beautiful Maladies", Island Records Inc., 1998
Arrangement and lyrics published in "Tom
Waits - Beautiful Maladies" (Amsco Publications, 1997)
Further reading: Frank's
Wild Years the play
Also included in Big Time movie (1988). Further reading: Big
Time full story
Known covers:
Leave A Light On, John Gogo. August, 1997. Cd Cd's (Canada)
Miles On The Rail. Grievous Angels. September 8, 1998. Bloodshot Records, BS 038
Bukowski Waits For Us - Vol. 1. Michael Kiessling. September 25, 2000. Buschfunk
(Germany)
Being Tom Waits. Billy`s Band. 2001. Self-released demo album (Russia)
Saving All My Love For You (a tribute to Tom Waits). Claudia Bettinaglio.
January, 2001. Taxim Records (Germany)
The Greatest Story Ever Hula'd. Grabass Charlestons. October 31, 2003. No Idea
Records
Music video promoting: "Cold Cold Ground" taken from the Big Time concert video.
Recorded live at the Wiltern Theatre. Los Angeles/ USA. November 9, 1987.
PolyGram Video (Island Visual Arts)/ Fries Home Video (Fries Entertainment Inc.), 1988.
With: Michael Blair, Ralph Carney, Greg Cohen, Marc Ribot and Willy Schwarz.
Stage show concept: Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits. Directed by Chris Blum.
Notes:
(1) Cold Cold Ground:
- Tom Waits
(1987): "That's the only real Marty Robbins-influenced number
on there. Just kind of a hardening back to his earlier times; a romantic
song thinking about home, and all that." (Source:
"From
the set of Ironweed, Tom Waits talks with Rip Rense". New York Post: Rip
Rense. Early 1987)
-
Intro from the movie 'Big Time'
(1988): "It's good to be back in the land of wigs and
novelties. Go ahead and laugh, but when you're in Indiana and you need
wigs and novelties... You can hang it up, buddy! I looked everywhere.
Woke up in a cold sweat, one thing on my mind I wanted a cigarette
lighter as big as an encyclopedia You know those? You open the top and
it goes CLINK And then WHOOM It's thrilling It's good to be in the
Wilshire district, you know You know, close to everything Shopping and
that type of thing All real important things with us Actually, Wilshire's
a little snooty Western's very friendly So we're kind of... we're
kind of... Would you say we're on the corner of Friendly and Snooty?
The two missing seven dwarfs Friendly and Snooty All right, this is a
song about a little guy who lives in a little house... " (Submitted
by Ulf Berggren. Tom Waits eGroups discussionlist, 2000).
Refers to the Wiltern Theatre being on the corner of Wilshire
Boulevard and Western Avenue.
(2) Crestfallen: To be or to look disheartened, saddened, depressed, like chapfallen and chopfallen, indicates the physical signs of a drooping spirit. A bird with a drooping crest is cast down in spirits, confidence and courage (Source: A dictionary of euphemisms, Neaman/ Silver)
(3) Side-kick, sidekick n.: A partner; a close friend or comrade; a pal; a buddy (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)
(4) Breedlove: A name of a family from the book "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
(5) Whole box of Rebel: "Must say that I always thought "whole box of rebel and a bar of soap" was a reference to a case ("box") of Rebel Yell, a bourbon that is a favorite of Tom's close personal friend Keith Richards. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if Keith kept the company in business, and not through endorsements, if you know what I'm saying" (Submitted by Brendan Costello. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. September, 2000)