Bob Schneider’s “Chinatown” is a creepy atmospheric slice of noir pop, and this might be my favorite version, performed live in a room somewhere.

From the album, Songs Sung and Played on Guitar at the Same Time.

There’s a mad wind blowin down the ninety nine
And the ghosts of New York City they all doin’ just fine
When that little Smith and Wesson went and lit up the night
All she showed when she heard were her cold pearly whites

None of them kisses dropped down in the hole
While the midnight sun played the starring role
Was gonna turn around that black Cadillac
Filled with little white rails, just the cold hard facts

So when you done dancing
And the rain slows down
We’ll all meet up at Eddie’s over in Chinatown

Think you got the answers but you got it all wrong
The day’s too short and the nights are way too long
Wake up to find your whole world falling apart
In a fifty dollar dress over a broken heart

Dig in the dirt while you’re dancin’ with the dogs
Rollin’ around lost in a fog
Bangin’ on tomorrow like a big black drum
Kick your head back, spit at the sun

So when you done dancing
And the rain slows down
We’ll all meet up at Eddie’s over in Chinatown
We’ll all meet up at Eddie’s over in Chinatown

There’s fifty on the table, there’s trouble down the line
There’s 200,000 dollars nobody’s ever gonna find
You know you’ll never see her come a-walking through the door
The bars about to close and the sky’s about to pour

You take your last slug as you stumble out into the street
Pull out your gun and you whisper trick or treat
And as you pull the trigger beyond a shadow of a doubt
You hear her sayin’ your name and the light’s goin’ out

So when you done dancing
And the rain slows down
We’ll all meet up at Eddie’s over in Chinatown
We’ll all meet up at Eddie’s over in Chinatown
We’ll all meet up at Eddie’s over in Chinatown