Martha (1973) – Tom Waits

My wife, Martha, introduced me to this song, when all we had was each other.  We were married 23 years and she has now been gone for 11.  It’s not our story exactly, but this song still makes me cry.
-@vgalea (see YT comments in the audio link below)

Martha is the second song to feature here from Tom Waits’ debut album Closing Time after his first entry I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love With You. That song and today’s featured track are from Tom’s pre-minstrel days and are about as mellow as he gets. They are both hopelessly romantic and these lines from Martha in particular: There was no tomorrows, we packed away our sorrows / And we saved them for a rainy day remind me of what I tried to invoke in my reflective prose called Mornington. But there is a reason why Tom is a world renowned lyricist / writer of his epoch (not to mention musician, composer, singer, and actor) and I’m not.

Tom has a penchant for crafting songs that feel like short films or poignant novels. Martha is no exception. This ballad tells the tender, nostalgic story of an old man reaching out to a long-lost love, evoking powerful emotions through its simple yet profound narrative. Tom’s contemplative lyrics draw my mind to other sentimental nostalgic ballads like Bruce Springsteen’s The River, Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel, Joan Baez’s Diamonds and Rust and Christina Perri’s Back in Time.

[Verse 1]
Operator, number please, it’s been so many years
Will she remember my old voice while I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this Martha? This is old Tom Frost
And I am calling long distance, don’t worry about the cost
‘Cause it’s been forty years or more, now Martha please recall
Meet me out for coffee where we’ll talk about it all

[Chorus]
And those were the days of roses, of poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrows, we packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day

[Verse 2]
And I feel so much older now, you’re much older, too
How’s your husband? And how’s your kids? You know that I got married too
Lucky that you found someone to make you feel secure
‘Cause we were all so young and foolish, now we are mature

[Chorus]
And those were the days of roses, of poetry and prose
And Martha, all I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrow, we packed away our sorrows
And we saved ’em for a rainy day

[Verse 3]
And I was always so impulsive, I guess that I still am
And all that really mattered then was that I was a man
I guess that our being together was never meant to be
But Martha, Martha, I love you, can’t you see?

[Chorus]
And those were the days of roses, of poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrows, we packed away our sorrows
And we saved ’em for a rainy day

[Outro]
And I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you

Closing Time was the debut record from Tom Waits and is noted as being predominantly folk influenced. It did not chart and received little attention from music press. Some songs from the album were covered by Tim Buckley and Bette Midler. The album has since gained a contemporary cult following among rock fans. Tom Waits began his musical career in 1970, performing every Monday night at The Troubadour (featured in Elton John’s recent biopic – Rocketman), a venue in West Hollywood. In Rolling Stone, critic Stephen Holden praised Closing Time as “a remarkable debut album“.  William Ruhlmann, in a retrospective AllMusic review, holds the album in high regard, describing Waits’ “lovelorn lyrics” as being “sentimental without being penetrating“, while also noting Waits’ gift for ‘self-conscious melancholy“.

References:
1. Closing Time (album) – Wikipedia

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