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...

tom waits: chair, vocal
stephen taylor arvizu hodges: drums
randy aldcroft: trombone
victor feldman: marimba, bass marimba & shaker, bass drum with rice
larry taylor: acoustic bass
fred tackett: banjo, guitar
francis thumm: metal aunglongs