This song and lyric is so Charles Bukowski-esque. I know Waits adored Bukowski’s writing and narrated a number of his poems including Nirvana which I posted on. Tom Waits’ reading comes closest to the world-weary Bukowski voice and the grizzled sighs convey the dreary grit of the real world. It’s stated in the Wikipedia article below: (The album – Small Change) has a lyrical style that owed influence to Raymond Chandler and Charles Bukowski as well as a vocal delivery influenced by Louis Armstrong, Dr. John and Howlin’ Wolf.
Usually when I post on a song I add an excerpt of the song’s lyrics, but below I have copied the entirety of Pasties and a G-String because it’s just so darn good.
crawlin on her belly shakin like jelly
and I’m gettin harder than
Chinese algebraziers…
As an aside, in my last Tom Waits’ post Hold On I recalled in the comments section how a New York taxi driver would would put Tom’s music on to calm down unruly drunk passengers. I think today’s featured track Pasties and a G-String might well be the perfect antidote to curb such rowdy behaviour.
Smellin like a brewery
lookin like a tramp
ain’t got a quarter
got a postage stamp
and a five o’clock shadow boxing
all around the town
talking with the old men
sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin
al zootin al hoot
and Al Cohn
sharin this apartment
with a telephone pole
and it’s a fish net stockings
spike heel shoes
strip tease, prick tease
car kease blues
and the porno floor show
live nude girls
dreamy and creamy
and the brunette curls
chesty Morgan, and a
Watermelon Rose
raise my rent and take off
all your clothes
with the trench coats
magazines bottle full a rum
she’s so good, it make
a dead man cum, with
pasties and a g-string
beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
and a Buffalo squeeze
wrinkles and cherry
and twinky and pinky
and Fefe live from Gay Paree
fanfares rim shots
backstage who cares
all this hot burlesque for me
cleavage cleavage thighs and hips
from the nape of her neck
to the lips tick lips
chopped and channeled
and lowered and louvered
and a cheater slicks
and baby moons
she’s hot and ready
and creamy and sugared
and the band is awful
and so are the tunes
crawlin on her belly shakin like jelly
and I’m gettin harder than
Chinese algebraziers and cheers
from the compendium here
hey sweet heart they’re yellin for more
squashin out your cigarette butts
on the floor
and I like Shelly
you like Jane
what was the girl with the snake skins name
it’s an early bird matinee’
come back any day
getcha little sompin
that cha can’t get at home
getcha little sompin
that cha can’t get at home
pasties and a g-string
beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
and a Buffalo squeeze
popcorn front row
higher than a kite
and I’ll be back tomorrow night
and I’ll be back tomorrow night
Pasties and a G-String is the second song on side 2 of Tom Waits 4th studio album – Small Change. It was successful commercially and outsold his previous albums. This resulted in Waits putting together a touring band – The Nocturnal Emissions. At the time of the recording of Small Change Waits was drinking more and more heavily, and life on the road was starting to take its toll on him. Waits, looking back at the period said:
I was sick through that whole period […] It was starting to wear on me, all the touring. I’d been travelling quite a bit, living in hotels, eating bad food, drinking a lot – too much. There’s a lifestyle that’s there before you arrive and you’re introduced to it. It’s unavoidable.
More from the Wikipedia article below:
‘Waits recorded the album in reaction to these hardships. This is evident in the pessimism and cynicism that pervade the record, with many songs, such as “The Piano Has Been Drinking” and “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart” presenting a bare and honest portrayal of alcoholism, while also cementing Waits’ hard-living reputation in the eyes of many fans. The album’s themes include those of desolation, deprivation, and, above all else, alcoholism. The cast of characters, which includes hookers, strippers and small-time losers, are, for the most part, night-owls and drunks; people lost in a cold, urban world‘.
References:
1. Small Change (Tom Waits album) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I’m glad you posted about that song. “Downtown Train” still is the only song I can name by Tom Waits. And, yes, I heard it first by Rod Stewart before I listened to the original and thought, ‘gee, dude, maybe you should have cleared your throat first!’ 🙂
Kidding aside, I’d like to explore Waits. I think it’s going to be a little bit like my journey with prog rock. We may not be friends right away but eventually, I may come around.
I posted on Waits’ ‘Downtown Train’ and mentioned Stewart’s popular and comercializad version. His music has appeared here 16 times which confounds me since I would not consider myself conversant with his discography or a ‘fan’ per se.
What I would recommend re. your relationship with Waits’ music….. is the next time your going on a long drive or a bus trip or something of that nature…play a mix of his songs from You Tube or wherever and if after an hour his music still hasn’t grabbed you and / or made you appreciate the Waits brand and scene, then perhaps he was never your friend to begin with 😉
About a decade ago, my gf and I listened for the first time a mix of his music on a bus trip and after about 30 minutes we turned to each other and agreed ‘it was THE shit’ ie really good haha
Thanks, this sounds like an interesting strategy! And it wouldn’t be the first time I would come around to music I didn’t appreciate initially.
Perhaps the most prominent example are Led Zeppelin. I always loved the acoustic part of “Stairway to Heaven”, I guess in part because I was taking (acoustic) guitar lessons at the time. I was like 13 or 14.
When “Stairway” came on the radio in Germany, they would always fade it out during the transition to the heavy metal ending. When I heard “Stairway” for the first time in its entirety, I thought, ‘how could Zep have ruined this beautiful acoustic song with this horrible heavy metal ending?! Granted, I was pretty young.
Not only has “Stairway” since become one of my all-time favorite songs, in large part because of its brilliant build, but Led Zeppelin are also one of my all-time favorite bands.
Long-winded way of saying, maybe Tom ends up being my friend as well! 🙂
I have tried and tried with Led Zeppelin, but I’m afraid I found no love for them – at all! But musical appreciation is very personal and subjective. There are many artists who I adore, but the love isn’t reciprocated from my stalwart followers. So be it. If we were all the same how boring would it be. Cheers Christian and best wishes for 2024.
I can identify with this lol
I’d be concerned if someone couldn’t identify with any of it lol