What's He Building In There? (Tom Waits Cover)

Norm

I went over to Reg’s place the other day and he sort of scared me. He was out on his deck, pitching butts and spilling gin that he couldn’t afford. He was a mess and had a crazed look in his eyes. I could tell he was ruminating again about Desire. He was sick of maintaining his lawn, building a play house for the kids and pitching cards with Mr. Stiches. Instead, he was just watching his neighbor. Watching. Watching.

So, what’s up with Reg? We have a right to know.

Lyrics: Tom Waits
What’s he building in there?
What the hell is he building
In there?
He has subscriptions to those
Magazines… He never
Waves when he goes by
He’s hiding something from
The rest of us… He’s all
To himself… I think I know
Why… He took down the
Tire swing from the Peppertree
He has no children of his
Own you see… He has no dog
And he has no friends and
His lawn is dying… and
What about all those packages
He sends. What’s he building in there?
With that hook light
On the stairs. What’s he building
In there… I’ll tell you one thing
He’s not building a playhouse for
The children what’s he building
In there?

Now what’s that sound from under the door?
He’s pounding nails into a
Hardwood floor… and I
Swear to god I heard someone
Moaning low… and I keep
Seeing the blue light of a
T.V. show…
He has a router
And a table saw… and you
Won’t believe what Mr. Sticha saw
There’s poison underneath the sink
Of course… But there’s also
Enough formaldehyde to choke
A horse… What’s he building
In there. What the hell is he
Building in there? I heard he
Has an ex-wife in some place
Called Mayors Income, Tennessee
And he used to have a
consulting business in Indonesia…
but what is he building in there?
What the hell is building in there?

He has no friends
But he gets a lot of mail
I’ll bet he spent a little
Time in jail…
I heard he was up on the
Roof last night
Signaling with a flashlight
And what’s that tune he’s
Always whistling…
What’s he building in there?
What’s he building in there?

We have a right to know…

(You are welcome to play with this madness of course, and it is recorded at 160bpm in 5/4 meter. Madness. You can do madness, right?)