(John Hammond version, 2001)(1)
There's a crooked street in
Houston town,
It's a well worn path I've traveled down
Now there's ruin in my name, I wish I never got off the train,
I wished I'd listened to the words you said.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
don't go down to Fannin Street
Once I held you in my arms, I was
sure
But I took that silent step through the guilded door
The desire to have much more, all the glitter and the roar,
I know this is where the sidewalk ends.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
don't go down to Fannin Street
When I was young I thought only of
getting out
I said goodbye to my street, goodbye to my house
Give a man gin, give a man cards, give an inch he takes a yard,
and I rue the day that I stepped off this train.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
don't go down to Fannin Street.
Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen
Waits-Brennan
Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2001
Official release (John Hammond version): Wicked Grin, John Hammond. 2001. Emd/Virgin
John Hammond: Acoustic Guitar and Vocal. Larry Taylor: Bass. Tom Waits: Piano
and Acoustic Guitar
(Orphans studio version, 2006)(1)
There's a crooked street in
Houston town,
It's a well worn path I've followed down
Now there's ruin in my name, I wish I never got off the train,
And I wished I'd listened to the words you said.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Oh, yeah
You'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Once I held you in my arms, I was
sure
Til I took that silent step through the gilded door
But the desire to have much more, all the glitter and the roar
Now I know that this is where the sidewalk ends.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street
When I was young I thought only of
getting out
I said good-bye to my street, good-bye to my house
Give a man gin, give a man cards, give an inch he takes a yard,
and I rue the day that I stepped off this train.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Oh, yeah
You'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Cause tou'll be lost and never found
you can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen
Waits-Brennan
Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2001/ 2006
Official release (Tom Waits version): Orphans (Bawlers), (P) & © 2006 Anti
Inc.
Known covers:
Wicked Grin, John Hammond. 2001.Emd/ Virgin
Anywhere I Lay My Head. Scarlett Johansson. May 20, 2008. Atco Records
Notes:
(1) Fannin Street:
Waits paying homage here by referring to Leadbelly's version. "Fannin
Street (Mr. Tom Hughes' Town): This song is autobiographical, telling the
story of how Huddie (Lead Belly) Ledbetter left his parent's home as a young
teenager to go to the bars and bawdy houses on Fannin Street in Shreveport,
only ten miles from his home in Mooringsport. John Lomax described it as the
gayest and saddest song in his repertoire. His drinking and carousing that
began on Fannin Street certainly served to make his life more difficult than
it might have been, yet his craving for fun and action also fed his talent for
making music." (Source: Harry
Lewman Music)
- Tom Waits (2006): "Yeah
he's [Leadbelly] got one with the same title. Uhm, he died the day after I was
born... And uh, I read a lot about him and you know, I heard all the records.
Yeah I really... He really speaks to me. And I had a chance at one point to be
part of a compilation, pick a Leadbelly song. One of his distant relatives had
his guitar, that had been beneath her bed for the last fifty years or
whatever, and uh she was gonna let everybody on the record play his guitar and
do a song. But I don't think they can get clearance from Alan Lomax, who has a
lot of his songs tied up. I guess that whole Lomax estate, you know? So it's
kind of a mess legally." (Source:
"Tom Waits: Rock Classics, With A Gravelly Rasp", NPR's World Café
from WXPN (USA) by David Dye. December 15, 2006)