Tom Waits - On The Nickel
I'd like to do a new song here. This is uh... it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street and... all the winos uh... affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby. It says sticks and stones can break my bones but I always will be true And when your mama's dead and gone, I'll sing this lullaby just for you What becomes of all the little boys who never comb their hair They're lined up all around the block on the nickel over there And if you chew tobacco and wish upon a star You'll find out where the scarecrows sit, now they just look like punch lines between the cars And I know a place where a royal flush can never beat a pair And even Thomas Jefferson is on the nickel over there So ring around the rosy, sleepin' in the rain You're always late for supper man you let me down again I thought I heard a mockingbird, Roosevelt knows where. I'm whistling past the graveyard, and they're on the nickel over there So what becomes of all the little boys who run away from home The world keeps gettin' bigger once you get out on your own But you never know how rich you are, you haven't got a prayer It's heads you win and tails they lose, You're on the nickel and you're over there...
