Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay
down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me
Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the
rise
Think of me as a train goes by
Clear the thistles and
brambles
Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble'(1)
Now there's a bubble of me
and it's floating in
thee
Stand in the shade of me
Things are now made of me
The
weather vane will say:
It smells like rain today
God took the stars and he tossed
'em
Can't tell the birds from the blossoms
You'll never be
free of me
He'll make a tree from me
Don't say good bye to me
Describe
the sky to me(2)
And if
the sky falls, mark my words
we'll catch mocking birds(3)
Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay
down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me
Written by: Tom Waits and
Kathleen Waits-Brennan
Published by: Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2004
Official release: Real Gone, (P) & © 2004 Anti
Inc.
Known covers:
The Shine Of Dried Electric Leaves. Cibelle. April, 2006. Crammed Discs
Green Grass (7” limited edition). Cibelle. July 23, 2007. Self-released
Anywhere I Lay My Head. Scarlett Johansson. May 20, 2008. Atco Records
Notes:
(1) Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble': A traditional New Orleans funeral song, played as the procession returned from the burial site. "(Oh) Didn't He Ramble", by H. Bolton (Recorded by Louis Armstrong with his All Stars on April 26, 1950, and again in 1956): "Didn't he ramble.... he rambled Rambled all around.... in and out of town Didn't he ramble....didn't he ramble He rambled till the butcher cut him down His feet was in the market place..his head was in the street Lady pass him by, said..look at the market meat He grabbed her pocket book..and said I wish you well She pulled out a forty-five..said I'm head of personnel Didn't he ramble...I said he rambled Rambled all around...in and out of town Didn't he ramble...oh didn't he ramble He rambled till the butcher shot him down (instrumental break) He slipped into the cat house..made love to the stable Madam caught him cold..said I'll pay you when I be able Six months had passed ..and she stood all she could stand She said buddy when I'm through with you Ole groundhog gonna be shakin yo' hand And didn't he ramble...he rambled Rambled all around...in and out of town Oh didn't he ramble......he rambled You know he rambled...till the butcher...cut him down I said he rambled..lord...'till the butcher shot him down."
(2) Describe the sky to me: Notice this is sung from the grave.
(3) We'll catch mocking birds: The quote from Harper Lee's novel of racial injustice in a small Southern town goes: "Atticus said to Jem one day, 'I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. 'Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up peoples gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'" (Source: "To Kill A Mockingbird", chapter 10. Harper Lee, 1960)