Lyrics: Shore Leave
Album: Swordfishtrombones
Artist: Tom Waits
 

Well with buck shot eyes and a purple heart
I rolled down the national stroll
And with a big fat paycheck
Strapped to my hip sack
And a shore leave wristwatch underneath
My sleeve
In a hong kong drizzle on cuban heels
I rowed down the gutter to the blood bank
And i’d left all my papers on the ticonderoga
And was in a bad need of a shave
And so i slopped at the corner on cold chow mein
And shot billards with a midget
Until the rain stopped
And i bought a long sleeved shirt
With horses on the front
And some gum and a lighter and a knife
And a new deck of cards (with girls on the back)
And i sat down and wrote a letter to my wife

And i said baby, i’m so far away from home
And i miss my baby so
I can’t make it by myself
I love you so

Well i was pacing myself
Trying to make it all last
Squeezing all the life
Out of a lousy two day pass
And i had a cold one at the dragon
With some filipino floor show
And talked baseball with a lieutenant
Over a singapore sling
And i wondered how the same moon outside
Over this chinatown fair
Could look down on illinois
And find you there
And you know i love you baby

And i’m so far away from home
And i miss my baby so
I can’t make it by myself
I love you so

Shore leave…
Shore leave…