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Here is one of Tom Waits best songs from his brilliant album “Rain Dogs” (I’ll come back to this album tomorrow).

From allmusic – Bill Janovitz:

The street-poet and boho balladeer side of Tom Waits is on full display on this urban hymn. “Downtown Train” tackles the alienating anonymity of city life while simultaneously capturing the old romance of New York City and the potential small-town neighborhood feel of areas like Brooklyn. This romantic song about pursuing a love has some trademark sharp and quintessential Waits lines like “I’m shining like a new dime,” which seem old-fashioned in a warm and welcoming way, like the well-worn catch phrases your father or grandfather might toss around. The verses of “Downtown Train” are chock-full with more concrete and evocative images than all of the contemporary Top 40 pop hits combined; images like “another yellow moon has punched a hole in the nighttime,” “The downtown trains are full/With all those Brooklyn girls/They try so hard to break out of their little worlds,” and “you wave your hands and they scatter like crows” ring of Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter. The song is a perfect modern pop structure, somewhat rare for Waits in this era when he was moving away from the folk-jazz troubadour persona and a little more towards the avant-garde…. read more over @ allmusic.com

Lyrics:

Outside another yellow moon
Punched a hole in the nighttime, yes
I climb through the window and down the street
Shining like a new dime
The downtown trains are full
With all those Brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little worlds

You wave your hand and they scatter like crows
They have nothing that will ever capture your heart
They’re just thorns without the rose
Be careful of them in the dark
Oh if I was the one
You chose to be your only one
Oh baby can’t you hear me now

Chorus:
Will I see you tonight
On a downtown train
Every night its just the same
You leave me lonely, now
I know your window and I know its late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light at the four way
You watch them as they fall
They stay at the carnival
But they’ll never win you back
Chorus:
Will I see you tonight
On a downtown train
Where every night its just the same
You leave me lonely
Will I see you tonight
On a downtown train
All of my dreams just fall like rain
All upon a downtown train

a live version is mandatory…:

-Egil