FISH AND BIRD

(by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan)

They bought a round for the sailor
  And they heard his tale
    Of a world that was so far away
      And a song that we'd never heard
      A song of a little bird
That fell in love with a whale

He said, You cannot live in the ocean
  And she said to him, 
    You never can live in the sky
      But the ocean is filled with tears
      And the sea turns into a mirror
      There's a whale in the moon when it's clear
And a bird on the tide

	Please don't cry
	  Let me 
	Dry your eyes

So tell me that you will wait for me
  Hold me in your arms
    I promise we never will part
      And I'll never sail back to the time
      But I'll always pretend that you're mine
      Though I know that we both must part
You can live in my heart

	Please don't cry
	  Let me
	Dry your eyes

And tell me that you will wait for me
  Hold me in your arms
    I promise we never will part
      And I'll never sail back to the time
      But I'll always pretend that you're mine
      Though I know that we both must part
You can live in my heart

recording: Tom Waits (2002) [YouTube]

recording: John Kirkpatrick (2007) [YouTube]

recording: Noam Pikelny with Aoife O'Donovan (2011) [YouTube]

discussion: Song by Song podcast (2021) [Song by Song]