Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You

Tom Waits · The Early Years: Volume 2 [1993]

Well I hope that I don't fall in love with you

'Cause falling in love just makes me blue,

Well the music plays and you display

your heart for me to see,

I had a beer and now I hear

you calling out for me

And I hope that I don't fall in love with you.



Well the room is crowded, there's people everywhere

And I wonder, should I offer you a chair?

Well if you sit down with this old clown,

take that frown and break it,

Before the evening's gone away,

I think that we could make it,

And I hope that I don't fall in love with you.



Now the night does funny things inside a man

These old tomcat feelings you don't understand

I turn around and look at you, you light a cigarette

Wish I had the guts to bum one, but we've never met

And I hope that I don't fall in love with you



I can see that you are lonesome just like me,

and it being late, you'd like some some company,

Well I've had two, I look at you,

and you look back at me,

The guy you're with has up and split,

the chair next to you's free,

And I hope that you don't fall in love with me.

And I hope that you don't fall in love with me.



Now it's closing time, the music's fading out

Last call for drinks, I'll have another stout.

Turn around to look at you,

you're nowhere to be found,

I search the place for your lost face,

guess I'll have another round

And I think that I just fell in love with you.

Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You

Tom Waits delivers a hauntingly atmospheric performance on this track from The Early Years: Volume 2, a collection that revisits his early catalog with renewed intensity. The song exemplifies Waits' signature style, blending jazz-inflected rhythms with gritty, spoken-word vocals to create a narrative of weary romance and urban decay. Recorded in the late 1990s, the track serves as a poignant reflection on the complexities of love and the fear of vulnerability, characteristic of Waits' work during this period. Its inclusion in this retrospective album highlights the enduring relevance of his songwriting, which often explores the darker, more introspective facets of the human condition through a unique, noir-tinged lens.