I'm leaving my family & leaving my friends

My body's at home but my heart's in the wind

Where the clouds are like headlines

 on a new front page sky

My tears are salt water & the moon's full & high

& I know Martin Eden is gonna be proud of me

& many before me who've been called by the sea

To be up in the crow's nest & singing my say

& shiver me timbers I'm a-sailing away

The fog's lifting & the sand's shifting

 & I'm drifting on out

& Ol' Captain Ahab ain't got nothin' on me

So come on & swallow me, don't follow me

I travel alone

Blue water's my daughter

 & I'm skipping like a stone

So please call my old man, tell him not to cry

My goodbye is written by the moon in the sky

& nobody knows me

 I can't fathom my stayin'

& shiver me timbers I'm a-sailin' away

& the fog's lifting

 the sand's shifting & I'm drifting on out

Ol' Captain Ahab ain't got nothin' on me

So come on & swallow me,don't follow me

 I travel alone

Blue water's my daughter

 & I'm skipping like a stone

& I'm leaving my family leaving my friends

My body's at home but my heart's in the wind

Where the clouds are like headlines

 on a new front page sky

Shiver me timbers I'm a-sailin' away

Tom Waits

1971

"I'm Standing On The Corner Of Fifth & Vermouth." Considering Tom Waits On His Birthday

He is decidedly not gay & most assuredly not everyone's cup of tea, but not only is he a favorite of the Post Apocalyptic Bohemian, taking up a large section of the Ws in the CD collection, but he is the songwriter of a ditty that I wish to have played at my memorial service. Readers & husbands, take note.

Academy Award nominated & Grammy Award winner, Tom Waits has been one of my most influential musical artists because he has continuously created music outside of fad or fashion. His tunes are off-road adventures taken into the further beyond... way, way gone. Mixing & mashing, songs both sonic & sensual, musical traditions both new & old, & rhythms both mouth-made & sampled from his own instruments. He is equal parts Stephen Foster, Cole Porter, & Bob Dylan.

A successful musician, movie actor, theatre innovator & film composer, Waits has never had a commercial hit; most of his songs are best-known for being covered by other people. He has a huge fan base, but doesn't tour. His razor-sharp wit & lyrical prowess have put him in a category by himself. Just what that category is remains unclear. Waits has a voice soaked in whiskey, aged in the smokehouse & then run over by a 1954 Chevy. He has an obsession with shoes.

I have been listening to Waits for 40 years. I have many favorite Waits songs, but this one means so much to me that I want to leave this world with it as my soundtrack. He lives with his wife in Sonoma. Waits turns 62 today.