Tom Waits - Reeperbahn Lyrics






Around the curve of The Parrot Bar
A broken-down old movie star
Hustling and Easterner
Bringing out the beast in her
A high dive on a swimming pool
Filled with needles and with fools
The memories are short but the tales are long
When you're in the Reeperbahn

Oh, they called her Rosie when she was a girl
For her bright red cheeks and her strawberry curls
When she would laugh the river would run
She said she'd be a comedian
Oh what a pity, oh what a shame
When she said, 'come calling', nobody came
Now her bright red cheeks are painted on
And she's laughing her head off in the Reeperbahn

Now little Hans was always strange
Wearing womens underthings
His father beat him but he wouldn't change
He ran off with a man one day
Now his lingerie is all the rage
In the black on every page
His father proudly calls his name
Down there in the Reeperbahn

Now if you've lost your inheritance
And all you've left is common sense
And you're not too picky about the crowd you keep
Or the mattress where you sleep
Behind every window, behind every door
The apple has gone but there's always the core
And the seeds will sprout up right through the floor
Down there in the Reeperbahn

Down there in the Reeperbahn

Down there in the Reeperbahn





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Tom Waits Reeperbahn Comments
  1. J.... ....

    Tom Waits + Whiskey + Heartbreak. Ok sexual and romantic frustration isn't that bad when Waits is thrown in the equation

  2. S.... N....

    "Reeperbahn"

    Around the curve of The Parrot Bar
    A broken-down old movie star
    Hustling and Easterner
    Bringing out the beast in her
    A high dive on a swimming pool
    Filled with needles and with fools
    The memories are short but the tales are long
    When you're in the Reeperbahn

    Oh, they called her Rosie when she was a girl
    For her bright red cheeks and her strawberry curls
    When she would laugh the river would run
    She said she'd be a comedian
    Oh what a pity, oh what a shame
    When she said, 'come calling', nobody came
    Now her bright red cheeks are painted on
    And she's laughing her head off in the Reeperbahn

    Now little Hans was always strange
    Wearing womens underthings
    His father beat him but he wouldn't change
    He ran off with a man one day
    Now his lingerie is all the rage
    In the black on every page
    His father proudly calls his name
    Down there in the Reeperbahn

    Now if you've lost your inheritance
    And all you've left is common sense
    And you're not too picky about the crowd you keep
    Or the mattress where you sleep
    Behind every window, behind every door
    The apple has gone but there's always the core
    And the seeds will sprout up right through the floor
    Down there in the Reeperbahn

    Down there in the Reeperbahn

    Down there in the Reeperbahn

    S.... N....

    Seleucus Nicator good hunting, stalker

  3. B.... H....

    Metal bands ain't got nothin on Tom Waits!

  4. M.... M....

    Damn, this is Yiddisha Musik, Superb!

  5. P.... P....

    I have been living close to the Reeperbahn for some years now and I think it's a pretty interesting place. St. Pauli is one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in Germany, has got more music history than anyone could take in (not talking about The Beatles here), some clubs that are run by  the craziest music enthusiasts I have met anywhere that would rather (and sometimes do) make a whole crowd go home rather than playing one crappy song, and an anti-sexist football club in the midst of one of Europe's biggest red light districts. I agree that the Reeperbahn itself is an unpleasant tourist rip-off and we tend to avoid it but it somehow adds to the charming weirdness of the whole place. And in the back streets there are some nice places I think.

    P.... P....

    @Peter Petersen This is in reply to ZZombyWooff.

  6. G.... U....

    This is Greatness.

  7. S.... ....

    You sure it wasn't Waits twice? A bootleg was made from a disc stolen from his car in 1992, it had the demos on it. The Reeperbahn Demo had him doing a very nasally voice and it sounded much more sad, and was almost crying at the end of the song.

  8. W.... ....

    I know, incomparable songwriter and so overlooked. I mean i'm a fan of Dylan, Young, Cohen, Simon and Mitchell but Waits is easily on all of their levels - nobody can create a mood like a Waits with just his lyrics alone, let alone his voice on top of that.

  9. R.... ....

    ah he's talking about my neighborhood :D love it <3

  10. N.... ....

    pts very different to be there in the night and to be there at the day. there is a street where womans are not allowed since 10pm becouse the men want to visit a strip club ore to have some .. "fun" and they dont have to be scared that their wife could see him. becouse there are on the street no womans allowed. if there is a woman after 10pm the woman will be hit from the other womans

  11. N.... ....

    i was on the reeperbahn :D i´m from germany ^^ it´s cool there :-)

  12. L.... W....

    My friend sent me here and now I can't leave! Just beautiful, this.

  13. E.... S....

    I've had this stuck in my head for the last two days.

  14. D.... B....

    I can only listen to Tom Waits every once in a while. If I listen to long I become engulfed in the man's music. It consumes you. Such an amazing individual.

  15. 6.... ....

    prefer this version over the demo but its tom waits love it regardless

  16. g.... ....

    @SirBroadsword why do you think it's garbage?

  17. S.... ....

    @EricCartmanstotch Strange, I hear exactly the same things about Amsterdam. :D

  18. k.... ....

    I was there the other day, think this song must have fitted the old Reeperbahn in Hamburg 50 years ago...

  19. C.... ....

    This is some of the best Waits ive heard to date. Especially lyrically! "Now little Hans was always strange
    Wearing womens underthings
    His father beat him but he wouldn't change"

    C.... ....

    Reeperbahn is in Hamburg. but its totally different now. Nomore little hans. Instead lots of asian glamour prostitutes and everything blingblintg.

  20. E.... ....

    @elvarwinston yes its is the city hamburg in north germany im from holland whe where there for three days for a football game in the europa leage great place full of bars and prostitues evrywhere 2 streets with windows several stirp clubs and at night the prostitues walk on the streets an the sqaures thats legal in hamburg in holland inpossibale anaway if your in north germany go visit de reeperbahn

  21. s.... ....

    So big its bad.

  22. P.... P....

    @elvarwinston
    It is.

  23. G.... T....

    how come he never acts in movies, i bet, he could be a great actor too.

    G.... T....

    He does a lot...

    G.... T....

    He has done ,Rumble fish with Matt Dillon and Micky Rourke . Dracula with Gary oldman to name two , both Francis Ford Coppola films

  24. E.... B....

    @Mindinvasion haha awesome is the reeperbahn like a prostitute street like the red light district in Amsterdam?

  25. P.... P....

    Thats quite funny, I'm listing to tom waits since at least 5 or 6 years and never heared this song before, the funny thing is that I live more or less next to the reeperbahn.

  26. m.... ....

    @ZZombyWooff no joke, inspiring words to me, i think have fun in life, you only live once, dont fuck it up with boring shit, live life to the fullest and edgy shit

  27. d.... ....

    i bought the cd when it came out
    and this version is different from the album one

  28. N.... M....

    Tom Waits and Lewis Carrol would have made great mates!

  29. s.... ....

    @eclipse561 You should feel good. Your school buddies can't think for themselves. It's the blind leading the blind. Carry on.

  30. a.... ....

    That gives you the obligation to look smugly superior and clearly cooler than they are.

  31. 6.... ....

    que hermosa cancion, gracias dios porque la belleza existe!

  32. R.... L....

    deffinately. i love the demos more than the actual album. except for komme nie zu spadt

  33. P.... B....

    I do have the demo and it is very good. Very different to this but very good.

  34. S.... P....

    Ich kannte den Song auch nicht. Irgendwann in den 90ern war Tom Waits ja wohl längere Zeit in Hamburg wegen der Black Rider Aufführung im Thalia Theater. Schön!

  35. a.... ....

    I knew he wouldd like the reeperbahn :)

  36. B.... ....

    lingoo my love <3

  37. M.... R....

    wonderfull song. Tnx:)

  38. B.... ....

    AMAZING!!!