Better Off Without a Wife, Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits [028]

Guest host Catherine Hirst joins Song by Song, and straight away gives us new perspective on the yearning qualities of Waits’s peon to solitude. Whether the song is an honest rejection of marriage or just a cover for a sublimated desire to be told not to go fishing, we discuss the broader implications of mutual love vs. self-love and the fact that Sam isn’t typical of 1975 Americana - shocks all around! Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: [email protected] Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Better Off Without A Wife, Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits (1975) Icicle, Under the Pink, Tori Amos (1994) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly. Lyrics - Better Off Without A Wife All my friends are married Every Tom and Dick and Harry You must be strong if you're to go it alone Here's to the bachelors and the Bowery bums Those who feel that they're the ones That are better off without a wife Cause I like to sleep until the crack of noon Midnight howling at the moon Going out when I want to, And I'm coming home when I please Don't have to ask permission If I wanna go out fishing Never have to ask for the keys I've never been no Valentino But I had a girl who lived in Reno Left me for a trumpet player Well, it didn't get me down He was wanted for assault And though he said it weren't his fault You know the coppers rode him right out of town I'll be sleeping until the crack of noon Midnight howling at the moon And I'll be going out when I want to Coming home when I please Don't have to ask permission If I wanna go out fishing Never have to ask for the keys Yeah, you see I'm kinda selfish about my privacy Now as long as I can be with me We get along so well I can't even believe it I love to chew the fat with folks I'll be listening to all your dirty jokes I'm so thankful for these friends I do receive I'll be sleeping until the crack of noon Midnight howling at the moon And I'll be going out when I want to Coming home when I please Don't have to ask permission If I wanna go out fishing Never have to ask for the keys, no Hey, I got this girl I know, man, and I just She's been married several times and I don't wanna end up like her I mean, she's been married so many times She's got rice-marks all over her face Yeah, you know the kind