Tom Waits
Lyric guide

Invitation To The Blues

Read Invitation To The Blues lyrics by Tom Waits on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.

Tom Waits visibility2 visits Video on page
person Curated by Ethan Walker LyroVerse team
Reference snapshot

The page facts to cite before the commentary

Use this page for the lyric text, linked artist context, and any LyroVerse editor's note attached to the song. Listener comments remain user-generated and should not be treated as the primary source.

Page type: lyric reference Artist: Tom Waits Canonical path: /tom-waits/invitation-to-the-blues Related lyric paths: 6 Video embedded: yes
Lyrics

Invitation To The Blues

The lyric stays readable and compact here; the note and related paths sit nearby so you do not lose the song while looking for context.

Well she's up against the register with an apron and a spatula

Yesterday's deliveries, tickets for the bachelors

She's a moving violation from her conk down to her shoes

Well, it's just an invitation to the blues

And you feel just like Cagney, she looks like Rita Hayworth

At the counter of the Schwab's drugstore

You wonder if she might be single, she's a loner and likes to mingle

Got to be patient, try and pick up a clue

She said: How you gonna like 'em, over medium or scrambled?

You say: Anyway's the only way , be careful not to gamble

On a guy with a suitcase and a ticket getting out of here

It's a tired bus station and an old pair of shoes

This ain't nothing but an invitation to the blues

But you can't take your eyes off her, get another cup of java

It's just the way she pours it for you, joking with the customers

Mercy mercy, Mr. Percy, there ain't nothing back in Jersey

But a broken-down jalopy of a man I left behind

And the dream that I was chasing, and a battle with booze

And an open invitation to the blues

But she used to have a sugar daddy and a candy-apple Caddy

And a bank account and everything, accustomed to the finer things

He probably left her for a socialite, and he didn't 'cept at night

And then he's drunk and never even told her that her cared

So they took the registration, and the car-keys and her shoes

And left her with an invitation to the blues

'Cause there's a Continental Trailways leaving local bus tonight, good evening

You can have my seat, I'm sticking round here for a while

Get me a room at the Squire, the filling station's hiring

And I can eat here every night, what the hell have I got to lose?

Got a crazy sensation, go or stay? Now I gotta choose

And I'll accept your invitation to the blues

Quick answers

What this page can answer fast

Who performs "Invitation To The Blues"?

Tom Waits performs "Invitation To The Blues", and this lyric page sits inside the Tom Waits catalog on LyroVerse.

Are there related songs to explore after "Invitation To The Blues"?

Yes. The related section below points to Drunk On The Moon and Starving In The Belly Of A Whale with a short reason for opening each page next.

Where can I find more songs by Tom Waits?

Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Tom Waits's lyric pages.

Song Room

Interpretations, questions, and corrections for this song

Interpretations, questions, memories, and correction notes live together here. The room stays noindex while the best insights are reviewed.

Open Song Room
0 followers Selected insights only surface after moderation
Listener comments

What people are saying

0 comments
Add a short interpretation or memory

A strong comment here is specific: the phrase you keep hearing, the mood you come back for, or the reason this song stays in rotation.

Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.

No listener comments on Invitation To The Blues yet.