Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Saturday Night at the Oldies II: Three Suicide Songs

You're getting a double dose this Saturday, muchachos — to make up for last Saturday.  These go out to S.S. Slim.  We begin on a humorous note with James Darren's hit from 1961, Goodbye Cruel World.  And then to a rather more somber number of the same name by Pink Floyd.  But neither can hold a candle to Tom Waits, Shiver Me Timbers.

Leavin' my family, I'm leavin' my friends
My body's at home but my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines on a new front page sky
Tears are salt water and the moon's full and high

And I know Martin Eden is gonna be proud of me
Many before me who've been called by the sea
To be up in the crow's nest and singin' my say
And shiver me timbers I'm a-sailin' away

The fog's liftin' and the sand's shiftin' and I'm driftin' on out
Ol' Captain Ahab ain't got nothin' on me
So come on and swallow me, don't follow me, I'll travel alone
Blue water's my daughter an' I'm skippin' like a stone

And please call my missus and tell her not to cry
My goodbye is written by the moon in the sky
And nobody knows me, I can't fathom my stayin'
And shiver me timbers, I'm a-sailin' away

The fog's liftin' and the sand's shiftin' and I'm driftin' on out
Ol' Captain Ahab ain't got nothin' on me
So come on and swallow me, don't follow me, I'll travel alone
Blue water's my daughter an' I'm skippin' like a stone

And I'm leavin' my family, and I'm leavin' my friends
My body's at home but my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines on a new front page sky
And shiver me timbers, I'm a-sailin' away.


Posted

in

by

Tags: