Tom Waits

Eyeball Kid

Tom Waits


Hey you, hey you, hey you
Zenora Bariella and Coriander Pyle
They had sixteen children in the usual style
They had a curio museum and they had no guile
All they ever wanted was a show biz child
The 7th of December 1949
They got what they'd been wishing for all of the time
He grew up in a trailer by the time he was 9
He rolled off to join the circus
Telling fortunes on the side

Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid

Well the first time I saw him was a Saigon jail
Cost me 27 dollars just to go his bail
I said your name will be in lights and that's no doubt
But you got to have a manager that's what it's all about
Yeah yeah yeah
Well people would point, people would stare
I'll always be here to protect you and to cut down on the glare
I know you can't speak, I know you can't sign
So cry right here on the dotted line

Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid

Well he was born with out a body, not even a brow
I made the kid a promise, I made the kid a vow
He's not conventionally handsome, he'll never be tall
He said "all you got to do is book me into Carnegie Hall"

Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid

Oh, he's just a little bitty thing
He's just a little guy
But women go crazy for the big blue eye
How does he dream?
How does he think?
When he can't ever speak and he can't ever blink?

I said Hail Hail, Eyeball kid
Hail Hail, the Eyeball kid
Hail Hail, the Eyeball

Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid
Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid

They say how does he dream?
How does he think?
When he can't even speak and he can't even blink
We are all lost in the wilderness
We're as blind as can be
He come down to teach us how to really see

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid
Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid
Give it up and throw me down a couple of quid
Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid
Give it up, give it up, give it up and throw me down a couple of quid
Everybody wants to see the Eyeball kid
Eyeball kid, Eyeball kid, oh the Eyeball kid
Eyeball kid