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Operator, number, please:
It's been so many years
Will she remember my old voice
While I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this Martha?
This is old Tom Frost,
And I am calling long distance,
Don't worry 'bout the cost.
'Cause it's been forty years or more,
Now Martha please recall,
Meet me out for coffee,
Where we'll talk about it all.
And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
And I feel so much older now,
And you're much older too,
How's your husband?
And how's the kids?
You know that I got married too?
Lucky that you found someone
To make you feel secure,
'Cause we were all so young and foolish,
Now we are mature.
And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
And I was always so impulsive,
I guess that I still am,
And all that really mattered then
Was that I was a man.
I guess that our being together
Was never meant to be.
And Martha, Martha,
I love you can't you see?
And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
And I remember quiet evenings
Trembling close to you.
It's been so many years
Will she remember my old voice
While I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this Martha?
This is old Tom Frost,
And I am calling long distance,
Don't worry 'bout the cost.
'Cause it's been forty years or more,
Now Martha please recall,
Meet me out for coffee,
Where we'll talk about it all.
And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
And I feel so much older now,
And you're much older too,
How's your husband?
And how's the kids?
You know that I got married too?
Lucky that you found someone
To make you feel secure,
'Cause we were all so young and foolish,
Now we are mature.
And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
And I was always so impulsive,
I guess that I still am,
And all that really mattered then
Was that I was a man.
I guess that our being together
Was never meant to be.
And Martha, Martha,
I love you can't you see?
And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
And I remember quiet evenings
Trembling close to you.
Lyrics submitted by archmastermind
Track duration: 04:31
"Martha" as written by Tom Waits
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The other kind of weird thing is Tom Frost is a character from the "Naked Lunch" from William S Burroughs....Why Waits picked that name is very interesting
The last line is in response to Tom putting his feelings to her. I imagine Tom spilling his guts out, a silence as he waits for her to say something, anything, then she says this line and more silence.....it puts shivers down my spine!
I think, Martha saying this adds more layers and questions to the song - she remembers her time with Tom dearly and has obviously thought about their time a lot too. But she does not tell him she loves him. He broke her heart ("All that really mattered then was that I was a man") and the more he has lived the more this has haunted him to the point that he called. Perhaps it's guilt and not love and Martha recognises this.
The reason I think this (apart from the above!) is that an ex of mine had to move away for a few months while we were going out. She used to write me letters and always signed them with the last line from this song. From that point onwards I realised this was Martha talking.
Takes me back, I'm only 14 so every1 thinks cuz of that I couldn't have really loved him, but I did, and still do. This song says it all.
I think the protagonist is meant to appear feckless. He is unable to honestly commit "you know that I got married too?" Wow, your wife would be thrilled to know you are calling an old, idealized flame. He knows nothing about the old girlfriend really.
It seems to me he is in love with his youth, not any real person.
Excellent art almost always enables multiple interpretations.
Imagine being able to reminisce of such a powerful love, after half a lifetime. You've both forked out and formed your own worlds, yet your still so overwhelmed by that love to call the woman up!
Yet, the final phrase is what brings me to tears. To me, it suggests that the singer held much faith in this girl. So much that he, unlike many men, was not ashamed to break down and tremble in her presence.
Gorgeous.