Tom Waits - Chicago Lyrics






The seeds are planted here
But they won’t grow
We won’t have to say goodbye
If we all go
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
To leave all we’ve ever known
For a place we’ve never seen
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
Well It’s braver to stay
Even braver to go
Wherever she goes I go
Maybe things will be better in Chicago

What we need the lord will give us
All we want we carry with us
You know where I can be found
Where the rainbow hits the ground
I’m not alone
I’m not afraid
This bird has flown from his cage
There’s so much magic we have known
On this sapphire we call home
With my coat and my hat
I say goodbye to all that
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
Maybe things will be better in Chicago





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Tom Waits Chicago Comments
  1. L.... �....

    how can one say to me: 'Nah,,,,never liked him especially'?? don't say that to me!

  2. D.... T....

    A loving tribute to bad decision making.

  3. A.... F....

    Best album. Best song.

  4. m.... ....

    My girlfriend is taking me on a trip here. I'm kind of nervous, but "wherever she goes, I go..."

  5. S.... M....

    YEAH ... IN CHICAGO ............................

  6. m.... h....

    really smooth dadio

  7. S.... P....

    Chicago is the real deal!

  8. M.... ....

    I can't believe how good this is.

  9. C.... B....

    "Chicago"

    The seeds are planted here
    But they won’t grow
    We won’t have to say goodbye
    If we all go
    Maybe things will be better in Chicago
    To leave all we’ve ever known
    For a place we’ve never seen
    Maybe things will be better in Chicago
    Well It’s braver to stay
    Even braver to go
    Wherever she goes I go
    Maybe things will be better in Chicago

    What we need the lord will give us
    All we want we carry with us
    You know where I can be found
    Where the rainbow hits the ground
    I’m not alone
    I’m not afraid
    This bird has flown from his cage
    There’s so much magic we have known
    On this sapphire we call home
    With my coat and my hat
    I say goodbye to all that
    Maybe things will be better in Chicago
    Maybe things will be better in Chicago

  10. h.... ....

    like like like

  11. D.... L....

    *Cavalieredellafolli@*

  12. t.... ....

    This has the same rhythm as the instrumental section in Can't You Hear Me Knocking by the Rolling Stones. I wonder if that was an intentional homage since Keith Richards played guitar on this song.

  13. m.... m....

    yes this is Chicago, thank you Tom for your rhythm is the best with your sound

  14. M.... v....

    Love it Dusan!! Cheers Marco.

    M.... v....

    +Marco van Bergen Thanks Marco ;)

  15. W.... ....

    I like big butts

  16. E.... W....

    Awesome stuff. Our band's lead singer is very influenced by this stuff. Check it out if you get a chance. Peace!!

  17. M.... B....

    Yeah! Chicago-Wherever she goes, i go!

  18. �.... �....

    No Chicago - no fackin COOL MUSIC!

  19. S.... M....

    samba in CHICAGO , TOM wait for Us 
     {{{ SAMBA MACHINERY }}} NEEDS YOU on the STAGE  ...
          STOP THE WARS 

  20. M.... W....

    I keep singing this as I wait for the Blackhawks game 5

  21. t.... ....

    the music is, of course, superb.
    but i knew that, what i want to know is, what is the footage? all those bluesmen and street musicians doin' their thing-i want to see the whole movie, if there is one

  22. R.... ....

    We wont have to say goodbye, if we all go. GOD i love that line.

  23. M.... ....

    Damn> Jew town in Chic town torn down

  24. 6.... ....

    Love it!!!

  25. T.... H....

    I would think that they lyrics are self-explanatory. There are no resources of opportunities for the narrator, so they must leave their whole lives and try again in Chicago. Chicago, "where nobody could forget how the money was made. It was picked up from floors still slippery with blood." Chicago, "where loving the city is like loving a woman with a broken nose. You may well find lovelier lovelies, but never will you find a lovely so real."

    T.... H....

    Thomas H. Yeah. Spefically though, it's about the Great Migration.

  26. T.... L....

    This sounds almost like a slave song. Surprised to hear this at this day and age

    T.... L....

    Actually, it reminded me that in the 40s, most bluesmen from the south came to Chicago to escape misery and have a career too. That would also explain why this song sounds so much like an old Chess recording to me. Especially the harp: you would swear it's Little Walter who plays it...

    T.... L....

    Really??? 🤦‍♂️

    T.... L....

    I'm just reading this 6 years later.... 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

  27. m.... l....

    sykkeessä löytyy .....

  28. t.... ....

    I love him.

  29. T.... ....

    Anybody knows the meaning of the lyrics?

  30. �.... A....

    Love this ..

  31. F.... V....

    Ain't there a diffirence between swagger and swagga? And didn't bob dylan used the word swagger in a song somewhere in the sixties?

  32. C.... H....

    Tom doesn't have swagger... He has style, class, attitude, but not swagger.

  33. F.... V....

    god,i wish i had his swagger + voice

  34. s.... ....

    Pezzo fantastico...

  35. W.... ....

    I completely agree with you, I doubt he was as bad as he claims, but he certainly did have some very rough patches with drugs and alcohol. All you need to do is to watch to 1970s interviews with him. Either way he is sure as brilliant at making the appearance of being tormented by drugs and drink, nobody has done it better. I think Tom Waits should have his own genre though, they really isn't anyone like him.

  36. F.... H....

    Musically, Tom Waits is a singularly inventive and mischievous artist; but I think his image is largely phony. I don't think he ever was quite the raging alcoholic and cigarette-hound he would like us to believe; and if he is interested in the seamier underside of Americana, it's more of a vicarious luxury for the millionaire he is from a home base (no doubt more than one, perhaps one in the Caribbean) his songs' mythical protagonists would die for.

  37. a.... ....

    TOM SEI UN GRANDE !!!

  38. C.... ....

    in my gym people work out while listening to the radio ...it mostly plays very bad unmotivated junk pop music... But thanks to technology i crank this song up while i run on the treadmill and boy i am U_N_S_T_O_P_A_B_L_E .... sometimes put it up to speed 18-20 and i run LIKE A MANIAC!!!! Only tom waits does this to me... i could win a marathon with this song if it played loop

  39. g.... s....

    my father brought me here!

  40. G.... ....

    PLAY IT LOUD

  41. a.... ....

    too cool for school.

  42. D.... C....


    this really is a great song, and i love the old man at the end with the chicken and accordion. I really wish i could stand and watch his entire performance.

  43. J.... K....

    tom waits goes grocery shopping in junkyards. his idea of chewing gum is smelted metal. his vocal chords inspired the blender. his fingers have been broken so many times he uses super glue to fix them. he doesn't even smoke anymore, he just eats cigarettes. he ate a guitar when he was 7 so he would have a better musical taste. he uses a piano key to unlock his car door. his car is a horse. he is the most interesting man.

  44. V.... ....

    FAVORITE SONG on the album. Tom Waits is brilliant, beyond belief

  45. b.... ....

    Best song involving my home town ever.

  46. a.... ....

    All onboooaard? All onboooaard?

  47. s.... ....

    one of the best albums ever! :)

  48. P.... R....

    This footage is from the original Maxwell Street in Chicago. For a look at the way it was, the blues that was born in the streets and the fight to save the market, check out the documentary, "Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street"

  49. J.... c....

    i love this man and the things he does. i cover his song earth died screaming. check it out. little weasel house show. @3:50

  50. r.... ....

    @McNinjahFish haha

  51. N.... L....

    "To leave all we've ever know, for a place we've never seen" Waow.

  52. D.... ....

    I heard this in Barnes and Noble a while back, wasn't sure of the title or artist. The only hinting I got was some raspy sounding guy talking about "Chicago".

  53. S.... ....

    @ribeye671 I couldn't agree more!

  54. M.... ....

    That awkward moment when Tom Waits goes to Chicago and things are worse.

  55. e.... ....

    I WANT A MUSIC VIDEO!!!!!!

  56. �.... ....

    Like this so much.

  57. m.... d....

    The urgency with which the song moves; it's really an incredible piece of music, and Maxwell Street never looked so good.

  58. b.... ....

    tom wait belongs in the smithsonian or the gugenhiem

  59. J.... ....

    Ticket Please

  60. t.... ....

    I can't believe how great this song is, when I popped in the CD I didn't get past it for some time.

  61. s.... ....

    lol the chicken guy

  62. J.... K....

    the earliest prototype for the garbage disposal was influenced by tom wait's throat.

  63. p.... ....

    Bad ass album... Gritty sound & awesome songs!

    'Hell Broke Luce' is demonically hairraising good...

  64. C.... ....

    if these guys didnt move to chicago ...blues wouldnt be what it is today! :)

  65. b.... ....

    The song, combined with the old footage of Maxwell St.... Awesome.

  66. B.... N....

    Amazing song! Great album! Thanks for uploading and images!

  67. H.... V....

    Pfff, ondersteboven van de nieuwe Waits. Van de eerste minuut er boenk op!!!!

  68. M.... ....

    OMG, and he's BACK!!