Old 55 - chords, tab and comments


I heard this song first with Ian Matthews, from his -74 album "Some Days You Eat the Bear", then discovered Tom Waits. It appeared to be the lead song of Waits' debut album "Closing Time" from the year before. A friend of mine imported LP's directly from USA, and suddenly my huge pile of paper sheet of lyrics grew higher ... that guy told me things I should have known by myself.
These days, Tom Waits won't accept this song as a major composition on his CV. He has moved on ... to be honest. But back then, we *all* played his songs from his first two albums on Asylum. Mainly in G major, of course. As the years have gone by, I've brought it down half an octave, to E major. And still watches the sun go down lickety spittely, remembering all the early mornings I had to leave at sunrise.
E                                      Emaj7
well the time went so quickly  I went lickety spittely
A         B7        E  ...B7
out to my old fiftyfive
      E           Emaj7   G#m
as I pulled away slowly  feeling so holy
      A                   B7
god knows I was feeling alive

         E      B11   A9 ... B7
and the sun is coming up
     E           B11  A9 ... B7 
I'm riding with lady luck
  E        B11       A9
freeways  cars and trucks
B7                  E     B7               E
stars beginning to fade  and I lead the parade
B7                   Cm                  ... F#
just wishing I had stayed a little longer
                B7                       ... [back to coda]
lord knows the feeling's getting stronger
E major
E
E major seventh
Emaj7
A major
A
A ninth
A9
F Sharp major
F#
B seventh
B7
B eleventh
B11
G sharp minor
G#m
C minor
Cm
Tom Waits