Well, they call me William the
Pleaser
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
when the shadows get long I'll be dead
Now, her hair was as black as a
bucket of tar
her skin as white as a cuttlefish bone(1)
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
Now I'll never see heaven or home
I made a wish on a sliver of
moonlight
A sly grin and a bowl full of stars
Like a kid who captures a firefly
and leaves it only to die in the jar
As I kick at the clouds at my
hanging
As I swing out over the crowd
I will search every face for Lucinda's
And she will go off with me down to hell
I thought I'd broke loose of
Lucinda
The rain returned and so did the wind
I cast this burden on the god that's within me
and I'll leave this old world and go free
The devil dances inside empty
pockets(2)
but she didn't want money or pearls
No, that wasn't enough for Lucinda
She wasn't that kind of girl
Now I've fallen from grace for
Lucinda
Whoever thought that hell be'd so low
I did well for an old tin can sailor
but she wanted the bell in my soul
I've spoken the god on the
mountain
And I've swam in the Irish sea
I ate fire and drank from the Ganges(3)
and I'll beg there for mercy for me
I thought I'd broke loose from
Lucinda
the rain returned and so did the wind
I was standing outside the Whitehorse
Oh but I was afraid to go in
I heard someone pull the trigger
her breasts heaved in the moonlight again
There was a smear of gold in the window
and then I was the jewel of her sin
They call me William the Pleaser
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
when the shadows get long I'll be dead
Now her hair was a black as a
bucket of tar
skin as white as a cuttlefish bone
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
I know I'll never see heaven or home
I know I'll never see heaven or home
I know I'll never see heaven or home
Written by: Tom Waits and Kathleen
Waits-Brennan(4)
Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2006
Official release: Orphans (Brawlers), (P) & © 2006 Anti Inc.
Known covers:
None
Waits performing "Lucinda" on the Late Show With Conan O'Brien
NBC TV show with Conan O'Brien/ USA.
Broadcast May 4, 2007. Orpheum Theater San Francisco/ USA
Notes:
(1) Cuttlefish bone: A cuttlefish bone (the white calcareous internal shell of a cuttlefish, a cephalopod) is used as a dietary supplement for birds and reptiles (especially turtles), as it is usually very soft and dry. Often found washed ashore on beaches.
(2) The devil dances inside empty pockets: The devil dances in an empty pocket. 18th Century proverb of German origin: poverty tempts one to do evil.
(3) Drank from the Ganges: Devout Hindus begin to give their offerings of flowers or food, throwing handfulls of grain or garlands of marigolds or pink lotuses into the Ganges river India. Others will float small oil lamps on its surface. Or as stated in "Banaras City of Light" by Diana L. Eck, "they may take up her water and put it back into the river as an offering to the ancestors and the gods" (Eck 212). In cupped hands they will also take the ritual drink of the Ganges and then fill a container to take with them to the temple.
(4) Lucinda:
- Tom Waits (2006): "On Orphans there is a mambo about a convict
who breaks out of jail with a fishbone, a gospel train song about Charlie
Whitman and John Wilkes Boothe, a delta blues about a disturbing neighbor, a
spoken word piece about a woman who was struck by lightening, an 18th century
Scottish madrigal about murderous sibling rivalry, an American backwoods a
cappella about a hanging. Even a song by Jack Kerouac and a spiritual with
my own personal petition to the Lord with prayer... There's even a show tune
about an old altar boy and a rockabilly song about a young man who's begging
to be lied to." (Source: Anti Records
Orphans promo pack. August 2006)