Tom Waits
Shore Leave (2023 Remaster)
[Verse 1]
Well, with buckshot eyes and a purple heart
I rolled down the national stroll
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 I was in bad need of a shave
I slopped at the corner on cold chow mein
And shot billiards 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 lеtter to my wife

[Chorus]
And I said, "Baby
I'm so far away from home
And I miss my baby so
I can't makе it by myself
I love you so"

[Verse 2]
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 I 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
[Chorus]
I'm so far away from home
I'm so far away from home
And I miss my baby so
I can't make it by myself
I love you so

[Outro]
Shore leave
Shore leave, shore
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave