Lyrics for Alice as interpreted by merchantpierce

Alice Lyrics
It's dreamy weather we're on
You waved your crooked wand
Along an icy pond with a frozen moon
A murder of silhouette crows I saw
And the tears on my face
And the skates on the pond
They spell Alice

I disappear in your name
But you must wait for me
Somewhere across the sea
There's a wreck of a ship
Your hair is like meadow grass on the tide
And the raindrops on my window
And the ice in my drink
Baby all I can think of is Alice

Arithmetic arithmetock
Turn the hands back on the clock
How does the ocean rock the boat?
How did the razor find my throat?
The only strings that hold me here
Are tangled up around the pier

And so a secret kiss
Brings madness with the bliss
And I will think of this
When I'm dead in my grave
Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
And I must be insane
To go skating on your name
And by tracing it twice
I fell through the ice
Of Alice

And so a secret kiss
Brings madness with the bliss
And I will think of this
When I'm dead in my grave
Set me adrift and I'm lost over there
And I must be insane
To go skating on your name
And by tracing it twice
I fell through the ice
Of Alice
There's only Alice

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  • 13 Comments
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NJ emo kid
06-22-2002

Rated -5 
well seeing as how im a homosexual i think that this song is great becuase i think that alice is some guys brown-eye and i would like to poke it

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6th_sadistic_sniper
09-28-2004

Rated 0 
...riiight. :|

Anyway, this is a really amazing song of lost love. Great lyrics.

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MardyAss
10-17-2004

Rated 0 
oh the mood I get in listening to this song,,,,!

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lixtetrax
03-17-2005

Rated 0 
I've always thought of this song as Lewis Carroll thinking about Alice Liddel. It's part of a musical Tom Waits wrote about Alice in Wonderland, I think, and it makes some sense. The "arithmetic" part could be a reference to Dogdson's career as a mathematician. Later on the CD, Alice replies in "I'm Still Here." A lot of the images are the same. The frozen pond and the broken watch, for example.

I remember reading somewhere that Alice Liddell gave a speech on Lewis Carroll and in it she mentioned that he would go ice skating with her and one time he fell and broke his watch. Makes sense when you look at the pair of songs, and the "arithmetok" thing. There seems to be a fascination with time, maybe because of the age difference. And "Wait for me" sounds like something a lover would say. As in "Wait until you're old enough."

I don't know if this makes sense or not. But the song really feels a lot like Charles' Dogdson's obsession with Alice. It's a wonderful song.

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GreenAndy
03-24-2006

Rated 0 
The album of ALice is was actually written (the musci was) for a German play about Charles Dogdson aka Lewis Caroll, and his pedapheliac lust for Alice Liddell. This song in perticular is startsthe theatricle play with Dodgsen recalling and longing for Liddell.

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xdvr
04-24-2006

Rated 0 
http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/Menus/alice-frameset.htm

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!jay!
04-19-2007

Rated 0 
oh i don't think that's what the play was about--you're focusing on the wrong element of the relationship. charles may have loved alice dearly, but he never lusted after her

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!jay!
04-19-2007

Rated 0 
well, at least, i'd hate to think he did. it would be like finding out that someone you've always considered flawless is only human...euch. none of that. anyway, i'm ranting. i'll stop now haha

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PortableSlappy
08-24-2007

Rated 0 
I really have nothing relevant to add except in my own opinion this is Waits' best song. The atmosphere is haunting and majestic. Also Tom's lyrics are entrancing.

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cricketsandcrows
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
i absolutely love the texture of tom's voice on this song.

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clint
08-25-2008

Rated 0 
"And by tracing it twice / I fell through the ice / of Alice..."

I have to stop whatever I'm doing whenever this song comes on. Waits' imagery is haunting yet magical here. It took a while for me to really get into Waits, but I'm a true fan now. This song I think displays a high point in his song-writing abilities.

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FishThatSwims
11-05-2008

Rated 0 
So, I was on the computer doing something mindless. And James Bond was sort of on the side of my mind, and itunes was on shuffle and this song comes up, and I think:
'wow. Tom Waits would/should do an excellent title song for 007'

And yeah, this is one of my Waits favorites.

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ThomBjork225
06-27-2009

Rated 0 
Its dreamy song were on.
So beautiful.
One of his best songs imo.
Its so good it sounds like it could be an old classic from the 40's. Comparable to Louis Armstrong.

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