album cover
Poor Old Tom
215
Pop
Poor Old Tom was released on January 1, 1989 by Hip-O Select as a part of the album The Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar
album cover
Release DateJanuary 1, 1989
LabelHip-O Select
LanguageEnglish
Melodicness
Acousticness
Valence
Danceability
Energy
BPM

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Peter Case
Peter Case
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Peter Case
Peter Case
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Peter Case
Peter Case
Producer
Steven J. Soles
Steven J. Soles
Producer
Larry Hirsch
Larry Hirsch
Producer

Lyrics

A Tennessee boy joined the U.S. Navy
In 1950 he was seventeen
A quiet kid who'd never seen the ocean
His mama died his first trip at sea
He learned to work and he learned to whistle
He learned to gamble and he learned to fight
He learned to suck a bottle and go out whorin'
Somehow he learned to stagger in at night
Poor old Tom, he don't know
Why his teeth gotta rattle, shiver and shake
The night wind's free to blow wherever it pleases
Tom's free to walk 'til the cold day breaks
Poor old Tom, he's tellin' it all
His thoughts are roarin' like a waterfall
He never cared about money and there's no doubt
He never had much money to care about
Through typhoons and gales on the great Pacific
Proud to be servin' the U.S.A
He worked hard on board and he got promoted
He got VD but it went away
Poor old Tom, he ain't right
He went out in San Francisco on a Saturday night
Sunday morning his ship set sail
Tom was restin' in the old county jail
Now it's thirty-five years since his incarceration
On a morals charge, the words he said to me
From the brig on Treasure Island to the institution
They treated his depression with shock therapy
Poor old Tom, he don't know
He's got trouble recallin' his history
At the drop of a coin he'll start to ramble
How the whole damn thing's a mystery
Now his eyes bulge out as we talk on the corner
He turns on the gurney, they held him down
One morning they wheeled him to another building
A surgery room with doctors standin' around
He cried, "Lord help me" as they put him under
He sailed away on an ether sea
Ever since that day all he does is wonder
Did the surgeons perform a lobotomy?
Poor old Tom, his story's true
He's got nothin' to show, no one to show it to
The word for him is "nevertheless"
He fought for freedom, never took a free breath
Now the radios blare Muzak and Muzak
Diseases are cured every day
The worst disease in the world is to be unwanted
To be used up and cast away
So as we make our way towards our destinations
Fortunes are still made with flesh and blood
Progress and love got nothin' in common
Jesus healed a blind man's eyes with mud
Poor old Tom, he don't know
Why his teeth gotta rattle, shiver and shake
The night wind's free to blow wherever it pleases
Tom's free to walk 'til the cold day breaks
Written by: Peter Case
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