Merry Christmas...κι ένα τραγούδι του Tom Waits

Γι' αυτά τα περίεργα, μουδιασμένα χριστούγεννα, που τα μελομακάρονα πήραν μυρωδιά χημικών και, αντί για αγγελάκια, μπάτσοι φυλάνε το δέντρο στο Σύνταγμα...μαζί με τους τόσο πρόσφατους ήχους των χειροβομβίδων κρότου και λάμψης ακούμε και το "Silent Night, Holy Night" σαν εισαγωγή σε ένα διαμαντάκι του Tom Waits: "Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis"



Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis
hey Charley I'm pregnant
and living on 9-th street
right above a dirty bookstore
off cuclid avenue
and I stopped taking dope
and I quit drinking whiskey
and my old man plays the trombone
and works out at the track.

and he says that he loves me
even though its not his baby
and he says that he'll raise him up
like he would his own son
and he gave me a ring
that was worn by his mother
and he takes me out dancin
every saturday nite.

and hey Charley I think about you
everytime I pass a fillin' station
on account of all the grease
you used to wear in your hair
and I still have that record
of little anthony & the imperials
but someone stole my record player
how do you like that?

hey Charley I almost went crazy
after mario got busted
so I went back to omaha to
live with my folks
but everyone I used to know
was either dead or in prison
so I came back in minneapolis
this time I think I'm gonna stay.

hey Charley I think I'm happy
for the first time since my accident
and I wish I had all the money
that we used to spend on dope
I'd buy me a used car lot
and I wouldn't sell any of em
I'd just drive a different car
every day dependin on how
I feel.

hey Charley
for chrissakes
do you want to know
the truth of it?
I don't have a husband
he don't play the trombone
and I need to borrow money
to pay this lawyer
and Charley, hey
I'll be eligible for parole
come valentines day.

November songs...μία παράλειψη

Μία ασυγχώρητη παράβλεψη στα τραγούδια του Νοεμβρίου...Tom Waits, "November"

No shadows, no stars
There's no moon and no cars
November
Only believes in a pile of dead leaves
And a moon that's the color of bone
No prayers for November to linger longer
Stick your spoon in the wall(2)
And we'll slaughter them all
November has tied me to an old dead tree
Get word to April to rescue me
November's cold chain made of wet boots and rain
And shiny black ravens on chimney smoke lanes
November seems odd
You're my firing squad
November
With my hair slicked back with carrion shellac(3)
And the blood from a pheasant and the bone from a hare
Tied to the branches of a roebuck stag
Left to wave in the timber like a buck shot(4) flag
Go away, you rainsnout
Go away, blow your brains out
November

(2) Stick your spoon in the wall: Stick one's spoon in the wall: phr. [19C] to die (Source: "Cassell's Dictionary Of Slang". Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9)
(3) Carrion shellac: Many American "Indians" in the Northwest used bear fat to make their hair look slick. In the 50's, American teenagers used Wildroot Cream Oil and other brands to do the same thing. Shellac is a gluey paint - type stuff you put on wood to treat it and make it look shiny. You can do the same with your hair. And if you make it from carrion, you will carry with you the aroma of rotting meat that vultures might fight you for ;-) (Submitted by Gary Duncan. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. September, 2000)
(4) Buck shot flag- Flag shot with a shot gun; tattered (Submitted by El RayoX. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. September, 2000)- Buckshot n. 1. A large lead shot for shotgun shells, used especially in hunting big game (Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin - Third Edition) - One variation of the little metal pellets that fill a shotgun shell. An individual piece of buckshot is larger and more damaging than some other types, like birdshot. Larger pellets for larger animals

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