What’s He Building? Songtext
von Tom Waits

What′s he building in there?
What the hell is he building in there?
He has subscriptions to those magazines
He never waves when he goes by
He's hiding something from the rest of us
He′s all to himself
I think I know why
He took down the tire swing from the Peppertree
He has no children of his own, you see
He has no dog
And he has no friends
And his lawn is dying
And what about all those packages he sends?

What's he building in there?
With that hook light on the stairs What's he building in there?
I′ll tell you one thing
He′s not building a playhouse for the children
What's he building in there?


Now what′s that sound from under the door?
He's pounding nails into a hardwood floor
And I swear to god I heard someone moaning low
And I keep seeing the blue light of a
T.V. show
He has a router and a table saw
And you won′t believe what Mr. Sticha saw
There's poison underneath the sink of course
But there′s also enough formaldehyde to choke a horse

What's he building in there?
What the hell is he building in there?
I heard he has an ex-wife
In some place called Mayors Income, Tennessee
And he used to have a consulting business in Indonesia
But what is he building in there?
What the hell is building in there?

He has no friends
But he gets a lot of mail
I'll bet he spent a little time in jail
I heard he was up on the roof last night
Signaling with a flashlight
And what′s that tune he′s always whistling
What's he building in there?
What′s he building in there?

We have a right to know...