Romeo Is Bleeding

About Romeo Is Bleeding

"Romeo Is Bleeding" is a song written and performed by Tom Waits, and released on his 1978 album, Blue Valentine. The lyrics make frequent use of Spanish, including phrases such as "Hey Pachuco!", "Dáme esa pistola, hombre!" (Give me that pistol, man!), "Hijo de la chingada madre!" (You son of a fucking whore!), and "Vamos a dormir, hombre" (Let's go to sleep, man). Waits also makes a reference to gangster movie-star James Cagney, also mentioned in "Invitation to the Blues" from the album Small Change. Jay S. Jacobs, in his book Wild years: the music and myth of Tom Waits, describes "Romeo is Bleeding" as depicting "a guy who sticks a shiv into the local sheriff [and] is fatally shot in the chest — a familiar Waits image, with echoes of West Side Story". Waits had more overtly referenced West Side Story earlier on the Blue Valentine album, with "Somewhere" as the opening track. According to Waits, the song is based on a real incident in Los Angeles, and concerns "a Mexican gang leader who was shot and died in a movie house in downtown L. A."Music critic Adrian Denning wrote that "one song that would, could and SHOULD rank amongst [Waits'] finest moments is the fabulous Jazz swing and late night seedy feel of 'Romeo is Bleeding.'" While lukewarm towards Blue Valentine in general, Denning remarked that the song "corrects matters somewhat," citing the song's "great vocals and... bass groove." Robert Christgau wrote that "Romeo is Bleeding" was "easily my favorite among his Chandleroid sagas of tragedy outside the law," but added that it is "more effective on the jacket than when he [Waits] underlines its emotional resonance in song." Patrick Humphries, in his book The many lives of Tom Waits, was unimpressed, labelling the song a "rewrite" of Waits' 1976 song, "Small Change." The song later lent its name to the Peter Medak film Romeo Is Bleeding, which starred Gary Oldman. more »

Year:

1993

6:39

23 Views

Playlists:

#1

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Romeo is bleeding, not so as you'd notice
He's over on 18th street as usual
Lookin' so hard against the hood of his car
Puttin' out a cigarette in his hand
For all the pachucos at the pumps
At Romero's Paint and Body

They're all seein' how far they can spit
Well, it was just another night
And now they're huddled in the
Brake lights of a 58 Belair
And listenin' to how Romeo killed
The Sheriff with his knife

And they all jump when they hear the sirens
Romeo just laughs
"All the racket in the world ain't never gonna
Save that Coppers' ass
He ain't never gonna see another summertime
For gunnin' down my brother
Leavin' him like a dog
Beneath a car without his knife"

Romeo says," Hey man, gimme a cigarette"
And they all reach for their pack
Frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
An' throws a bottle at a milk truck
And as it breaks, he grabs his nuts
An' they all know, they could be just like Romeo
If they only had the guts

Romeo is bleeding, nobody can tell
An' he sings along with the radio
With a bullet in his chest
An' he combs back his fenders
They all agree it's clear
That everything is cool, and if Romeo was here

Romeo is bleeding an' he winces now an' then
An' he leans against the car door
Feels the blood in his shoes
Someone's cryin' at the fire point
In the phone booth by the store

Romeo starts his engines
Wipes the blood off the door
And he brodys through the signal
With the radio full blast
Leavin' the boys there, hikin' up their chinos
And now they're all tryin' to stand like Romeo
With the moon, cut like a sickle
And they're talkin' now in Spanish, all about their hero

Romeo is bleeding as he gives the man his ticket
And he climbs the balcony at the movies
And he'll die without a whimper
Like every hero's dream
Like an angel with a bullet
And Cagney on a screen

Romeo is bleeding
Romeo is bleeding
Hey man, Romeo is bleeding
Hey man, Romeo is bleeding
Hey man, Romeo is bleeding

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Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has worked as a composer for movies and musical plays and has acted in supporting roles in films including Paradise Alley and Bram Stoker's Dracula; he also starred in the 1986 film Down by Law. He was nominated for an Academy Awa… more »

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