Folk(rock)klassieker du jour: Cold Cold Ground

Armoede, wanhoop (we bury every dream in the cold, cold ground) en De Fles (Rebel is een merk whiskey). Aan het slot van de song heeft de zanger alle hoop opgegeven en resteert alleen nog eenzaamheid en machteloze woede.  Een van Tom Waits’ mooiste – zij het somberste – songs, met een voor zijn doen eenvoudig, maar uiterst effectief arrangement.

Crestfallen sidekick in an old cafe
Never slept with a dream before he had to go away
There’s a bell in the tower, Uncle Ray bought a round
Don’t worry ‘bout the army in the cold, cold ground

Cold, cold ground
Cold, cold ground
Cold, cold ground

Now don’t be a cry baby when there’s wood in the shed
There’s a bird in the chimney and a stone in my bed
When the road’s washed out, we pass the bottle around
And wait in the arms of the cold, cold ground

The cold, cold ground
The cold, cold ground
The cold, cold ground

There’s a ribbon in the willow and a tire swing rope
Oh, and a briar patch of berries takin’ over the slope
The cat’ll sleep in the mailbox and we’ll never go to town
Till we bury every dream in the cold, cold ground

In the cold, cold ground
The cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground

Give me a Winchester rifle and a whole box of shells
Blow the roof off the goat barn, let it roll down the hill
The piano is firewood, Times Square is a dream
I find we’ll lay down together in the cold, cold ground

The cold, cold ground
The cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground

We’ll call the cops on the Breedloves, bring a Bible and a rope
And a whole box of Rebel and a bar of soap
Make a pile of truck tires and burn ‘em all down
Bring a dollar with you, baby, in the cold, cold ground

In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground

Take a weathervane rooster, throw rocks at his head
Stop talking to the neighbors until we all go dead
Beware of my temper and the dog that I’ve found
Break all the windows in the cold, cold ground

In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground
In the cold, cold ground