Waits describes On The Nickel as a either a Hobo's Lullaby or a Hobo's Nursery Rhyme. Both are good descriptions of this great and touching song (and one of my all time favourites). The Nickel is Hobos' Alley on 5th Street in Los Angeles. The song was written for a short movie by Ralph (Father Walton) Waite based around two homeless people meeting up again after a long time away from each other. Waits treat's his subjects with the dignity you would expect and whuch he repeated when he collaborated by providing some poetry for the book Hard Ground a photographic record of homeless people a few years back.
On the Nickel
sticks and stones will break my bones, but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone, i'll sing this lullabye just for you, and what
becomes of all the little boys, who never comb their hair, well they're lined
up all around the block, on the nickel over there.
so you better bring a bucket, there is a hole in the pail, and if you don't
get my letter, then you'll know that i'm in jail, and what becomes of all the
little boys, who never say their prayers, well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.
and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star, well you'll find out where
the scarecrows sit, just like punchlines 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 rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain, and you're always
late for supper, and man you let me down again, i thought i heard a
mockingbird, roosevelt knows where, you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.
so what becomes of all the little boys, who run away from home, well the
world just keeps gettin' bigger, once you get out on your own, so here's to
all the little boys, the sandman takes you where, you'll be sleepin' with a
pillowman, on the nickel over there.
so let's climb up through that button hole, and we'll fall right up the
stairs, and i'll show you where the short dogs grow, on the nickel over there.
becomes of all the little boys, who never comb their hair, well they're lined
up all around the block, on the nickel over there.
so you better bring a bucket, there is a hole in the pail, and if you don't
get my letter, then you'll know that i'm in jail, and what becomes of all the
little boys, who never say their prayers, well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.
and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star, well you'll find out where
the scarecrows sit, just like punchlines 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 rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain, and you're always
late for supper, and man you let me down again, i thought i heard a
mockingbird, roosevelt knows where, you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.
so what becomes of all the little boys, who run away from home, well the
world just keeps gettin' bigger, once you get out on your own, so here's to
all the little boys, the sandman takes you where, you'll be sleepin' with a
pillowman, on the nickel over there.
so let's climb up through that button hole, and we'll fall right up the
stairs, and i'll show you where the short dogs grow, on the nickel over there.
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