Tom's Diner

Album: Solitude Standing (1987)
Charted: 2 5
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  • Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
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    I am sitting in the morning
    At the diner on the corner
    I am waiting at the counter
    For the man to pour the coffee

    And he fills it only halfway
    And before I even argue
    He is looking out the window
    At somebody coming in

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    "It is always nice to see you"
    Says the man behind the counter
    To the woman who has come in
    She is shaking her umbrella

    And I look the other way
    As they are kissing their hellos
    And I'm pretending not to see them
    And instead I pour the milk

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    I open up the paper
    There's a story of an actor
    Who had died while he was drinking
    It was no one I had heard of

    And I'm turning to the horoscope
    And looking for the funnies
    When I'm feeling someone watching me
    And so I raise my head

    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
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    There's a woman on the outside
    Looking inside, does she see me?
    No she does not really see me
    'Cause she sees her own reflection

    And I'm trying not to notice
    That she's hitching up her skirt
    And while she's straightening her stockings
    Her hair has gotten wet

    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
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    Oh, this rain it will continue through the morning
    As I'm listening to the bells of the cathedral

    I am thinking of your voice

    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
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    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, duhdoodoo
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    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, duhdoodoo
    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
    Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo-do Writer/s: Suzanne Vega
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Roba Music Verlag GMBH, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 13

  • Delphine from IrelandYou can't omit to mention it was also sampled in Fall Out Boy's Centuries!
  • Betj from Lima, OhThis song was in Untamed Heart with Marissa Tomei and Christain Slater. I loved it the first time I heard it.
  • Bmn from Hisuan, ArgentinaIs it just me who thinks this reminds a little of Luther Vandross' "Never Too Much"?
  • Fred from Laurel, MdDNA not only added a beat (and some rather pleasant, 'dreamy' strings, prob'ly synth), they removed some words. Not many, but it changed (ruined) the whole character of the song for me--they chopped the ending, destroying the point of the song! The excised part starts with "I am thinking of your voice..." The 'midnight picnic' they removed the reference to, was one of those pleasant memories that makes hectic life in the city (hinted at in the rest of the song) bearable for the speaker, IMHO.

  • Murali from Hyderabad, IndiaTom Diner is called the mother of MP3. Coz MP3 compression is based on this song.
  • Salamander from Panama Canal Zone, United StatesSuzanne Vega has confirmed that the dead actor she refers to in the song was William Holden, who died in 1981, when "Tom's Diner" was written. This song should be categorized as "More songs inspired by newspaper or magazine articles".
  • Ralph from Newton, MaMax, if by nickname you mean what they called it on Seinfeld, it was called "Monk's." Not to razz on anyone else by I hate this song.
  • Emily from Abingdon, Va"A capella" means without instruments, just voices.
  • Johnny from Los Angeles, CaI really like this song, unlike my friends. I love Seinfeld. what does acapella mean?
  • Ron from Qc, OtherWhat about the very notable fact that this song was the first ever encoded to MP3? http://www.suzannevega.com/about/funfactsMusic.htm
  • Sum Sum from New Delhi, Indiagood song.. liked the dancing in the video...
    "when she s straightening her stockings, her hair has got wet"....da..da..da.da
  • Max from New York, NyTom's diner is an actual location in New York's Upper Westside that was actually a popular shooting location for the show Seinfeld. They had a nickname 4 it and I don't remember what they called it. My source is actually Suzanne Vega herself.
  • Alan from Singapore, SingaporeA rap singer named Nikki D sampled this song for her hit Daddy's Little Girl
see more comments

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