Tom Waits

The Pontiac


Well let's see, we had the eh, we had the Fairlane.
Then the u-joints went out on that and the bushings and then your mother wanted to trade it in on the Tornado, so we got the Tornado.
God, I hated the color of that son of a bitch.
And the dog destroyed the upholstery on the Ford.
Boy, that was long before you were born.
We called it the Yellowbird, two-door, three on the tree.
Tight little mother.
Threw a rod, sold it to Jacobs for a hundred dollar.

Now the Special eh, four-holer, you've never seen body panels lining up like that.
Overhead cam, dual exhaust.
You know I had, let's see I had, four Buicks, loved them all.

Now your Uncle Emmet, well he drives a Thunderbird, it used to belong to your Aunt Evelyn.
Now, she ruined it, drove it to Indiana with no gear oil.
That was the end of that!
Sold that Cadillac to your mom.
Your mom loved that Caddy.
Independent rear suspension,
Landau top, good tires.
Gas hog.
I swear it had the power to repair itself.

I love the old, Dan Steele used to give 'em to me at a discount.
Showroom models and that.
And then there was the Pontiac and...
God, I loved that Pontiac.
Well, it was kind of an ox-blood.
It just kinda handled so beautifully.
Yeah, I miss that car. Well, it was a long time ago, a long time ago.