Lyrics
Hank Williams
The old maid's waitin' for leap year to come
The crooner's just waitin' to sing
The old cow's standin' by the Bull Durham sign
Just awaitin' for the grass to turn green
The bar-fly's waitin' for an easy mark
An' the hitch-hiker's waitin' for a ride
The life-termer's waitin' for a prison break
The beachcomber's waitin' for the tide
Farmer's daughter waitin' for the salesman
To take her into town
The city slicker's waitin' for the country boy
To lay all his money down
You know everything comes to a standstill
Nothin' seems to make a turn
Worm must be waitin' for the early bird
And I guess the early bird's waitin' for the worm
Nobody wants to do nothin'
Just waitin' to get a finger in the pie
Waitin' for a call from a big quiz show
Or hopin' and awaitin' for some rich uncle to die
Katy, she's waitin' at the garden gate
The moonshiner's waitin' at the still
An' the gambler's still waitin' for that ace in the hole
And I guess Jack's still waitin' for Jill
Everybody's waitin' for somethin'
Nothin' seems to turn out right
Cos the night shift's waitin' for mornin'
And the burglar just waitin' for night
The congregation's waitin' for the preacher
Preacher just waitin' for the groom
And the groom's just waitin' for the June bride
And the bride's just waitin' for June
Sunflowers waitin' for the sunshine
Violets just waitin' for dew
Bees just waitin' for honey
And honey, I'm just waitin' for you
The Fall
Pensioner's waiting for leap-year to come
And the young singer's waiting to sing
And there's a gardener outside a big estate
Waiting for the grass to turn green
The drunk is waiting for an easy mark
The hitchhiker is waiting for a ride
And the prisoner is waiting for a prison break
And the surfer is waiting for the tide
Just waiting
You know everything comes to a standstill
Nothing seems to make a turn
Cos the worm's still waiting for the early bird
And the early bird's waiting for the worm
And nobody wants to do nothing
Just waiting for a finger in the pie
And waiting for a call from a TV show
Or waiting for an uncle to die
One, two, three
Everybody's waiting for something
And nothing ever turns out right
Because the night-shift is waiting for the morning
And the burglar is waiting for the night
Congregation is waiting for the vicar
And the vicar is waiting for the groom
The groom is waiting for his new bride
But the bride is waiting for June
And everybody is just waiting
And nobody wants to settle down
They got their heads in a holo-video
The cretin is waiting for U2 to come on MTV again
But the producer is waiting for the blonde bird
And the blonde girl's waiting for him
Nobody wants to do nothing
Just waiting for their chips and their pie
Waiting for a call from a big quiz show
Or waiting for some rich relation to die
You know everything comes to a standstill
Nothing ever makes a turn
And the worm is waiting for the grass to turn green
While the early bird is waiting for the worm
I don't think I can really stand it no more
I don't think I could go through it again 1
I'm just waiting
I'm just waiting
I'm just waiting
I'm just waiting
And bees are waiting for honey
And I'm putting it on the back-burner for now
Cos everybody's racing and fawning and skiving
And honey I'm waiting for you
Just waiting
Just waiting
Just waiting
Just waiting
Commentary
< Post in progress >
Hank Williams’ original version of this song has the title “Just Waitin’”, and so that’s how I’ve spelled his version of the lyrics. The Fall’s version has the title “Just Waiting”, and so that I’ve spelled their version of the lyrics.
Lyrical Anglicisation and Other Adjustments
Footnotes
- On Code: Selfish, M.E.S. stumbles over this line. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- Smith, Mark E. (2008). Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith. London: Penguin.
- The Track Record: “Just Waiting”
- Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide. London: Strata Books.
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