Shore Leave Lyrics - Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits

Well with buck shot eyes and a purple heart 

i rolled down the national stroll 

and with a big fat paycheck 

strapped to my hip sack 

and a shore leave wristwatch underneath 

my sleeve 

in a hong kong drizzle on cuban heels 

i rowed down the gutter to the blood bank 

and i'd left all my papers on the ticonderoga 

and was in a bad need of a shave 

and so i slopped at the corner on cold chow mein 

and shot billards with a midget 

until the rain stopped 

and i bought a long sleeved shirt 

with horses on the front 

and some gum and a lighter and a knife 

and a new deck of cards (with girls on the back) 

and i sat down and wrote a letter to my wife 

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And i said baby, i'm so far away from home 

and i miss my baby so 

i can't make it by myself 

i love you so 

Well i was pacing myself 

trying to make it all last 

squeezing all the life 

out of a lousy two day pass 

and i had a cold one at the dragon 

with some filipino floor show 

and talked baseball with a lieutenant 

over a singapore sling 

and i wondered how the same moon outside 

over this chinatown fair 

could look down on illinois 

and find you there 

and you know i love you baby 

And i'm so far away from home 

and i miss my baby so 

i can't make it by myself 

i love you so 

Shore leave... 

shore leave... 

Photos 

tom waits: chair, vocal 

stephen taylor arvizu hodges: drums 

randy aldcroft: trombone 

victor feldman: marimba, bass marimba & shaker, bass drum with rice 

larry taylor: acoustic bass 

fred tackett: banjo, guitar 

francis thumm: metal aunglongs