I spent all my money in a Mexican
whorehouse baby
across the street from a Catholic church
And then I wiped off my revolver
and I buttoned up my Burgundy shirt
I shot the morning in the back,
with my red wings on
old the sun he'd better go back down
And if I can find a book of matches
I'm goin' to burn this hotel down
You got to tell me brave captain
why are the wicked so strong
How do the angels(2) get to sleep
when the Devil leaves his porchlight on
Well I dropped thirty Grand on the
nugget slots
I had to sell my ass on Fremont Street
and the drummer said there's sanctuary
over at the Bagdad Room
Oh, and now that's one for the
money, two for the show
three to get ready, and go man go
I said tell me mister Siegel
how do I get out of here
Willard's knocked out on a bottle
of heat
drivin' dangerous curves across the dirty sheets
He said: man you ought to see her when her parents are gone
Man you ought to hear her when the siren's on
I said: tell me brave captain
why are the wicked so strong
How do the angels get to sleep
when the Devil leaves the porchlight on
Don't you know that ain't no
broken bottle, that I picked up in my headlights
on the other side of the Nevada line
Where they live hard die young
and have a good lookin' corpse every time
Well you know, the pit-boss said:
I should keep movin'
This is where you go when you die
So I shot a black beauty(3)
and I kissed her right between the eyes
Oh, well Willard's knocked out(4)
on a bottle of heat
drivin' dangerous curves across the dirty sheets
He said: when the bitch is wound up, and her parents are gone
Man you ought to hear her with the siren on
I said: tell me brave captain
why are the wicked so strong
How do the angels get to sleep
when the Devil leaves his porchlight on
I spent all my money now, in a
Mexican whorehouse
across the street from a Catholic church
And then I wiped off my revolver
and I buttoned up my Burgundy shirt
I shot the morning in the back,
with my red wings on
I told the sun he'd better go back down
and if I can find a book of matches
I'm goin' to burn this hotel down
Well it's one for the money, two
for the show(5)
I said: three to get ready, and go man go
I said: tell me mister Siegel
how do I get out of here
Written by: Tom Waits
Published by: Fifth Floor Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1980
Official release: Heartattack And Vine, Elektra Entertainment/ WEA Entertainment
Inc., 1980
Known covers:
Shopping In Bed. Jim Preen. 1997 (re-released in 2007). Self-released
Gonna Burn. Pete Cornelius & The De Villes. 2005. Only Blues Music
The Great Pretender. Seth Kibel. July 31, 2007. Azalea City Recordings
Notes:
(1) Siegal:
Spelled as: Siegal, Siegel, Siegle, Seigle. Refers to: Benjamin (Bugsy)
Siegel. Jewish gangster and dandy in the 30's and 40's. Earned fortunes
during the Prohibition with bootlegging. Founded the Screen Actors
Guild. was killed by the mafia in 1947. Hit ordered by Lucky Luciano and
carried out by Frankie Carbo.
Stephen Peeples (1980):
"Is the subject
of the next tune titled "Mr. Siegal," anyone in particular?
TW: "I'm trying to kind of refer to Bugsy Siegal."
SP: Several people who've heard this tune already think the line
"how do the angels get to sleep/when the devil leaves his porch
light on" was pretty good. TW: "I like it too." ("Heartattack
and Vine". Us promo pack: Stephen Peeples. September 4, 1980)
(2) Angels: n. [19C] 1. a prostitute. 2. a young woman, esp. a pretty one (Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Slang. Jonathon Green 1998. Cassel & Co., 2000)
(3) Black Beauty
- Street name for amphetamine. Amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, and
methamphetamine are collectively referred to as amphetamines. Their
chemical properties and actions are so similar that even experienced
users have difficulty knowing which drug they have taken. The effects of
amphetamines, especially methamphetamine, are similar to cocaine, but
their onset is slower and their duration is longer (Source:
Drug
Free Workplace, Daniel C. Drew, M.D.).
- Biphetamine. This is really a kind of amphetimine, as is dexedrine.
Black Beauty is the street name for biphetamine because the
pharmaceutical drug came in a black capsule (Submitted
by Richard Beckwith, Raindogs Listserv Discussionlist. August,
2000)
(4) Knocked out v.: 1. Drunk 2. Tired exhausted 3. Emotionally exhausted (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)
(5) Well it's one for the money, two for the show: Quoting: "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Lee Perkins (1955): "Well it's one for the money, two for the show. Three to get ready now go cat go. But don't you, step on my blue suede shoes. You Can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes. You can knock me down, step on my face. Slander my name all over the place. Do anything that you wanna do. But uh uh honey lay off of my shoes. You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes. You can burn my house, you can steal my car. Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar. Do anything that you wanna do But uh uh honey lay off of my shoes. But don't you, step on my blue suede shoes. Well you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes. Well it's one for the money, two for the show. Three to get ready, Now go cat go. But don't you, step on my blue suede shoes. You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes. Well it's blue, blue, blue suede shoes. Blue, blue, blue suede shoes yeh! Well blue, blue, blue suede shoes. Blue, blue, blue suede shoes. Well you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes."