Noel'S Lament

In my life, I was Noel Gruber who worked at Taco Bell
In Uranium City, Saskatchewan
But, in my dreams, I played a different role
I was Monique Gibeau in post-war France

A hooker with a heart of black charcoal
I write poems to burn by firelight
Drink champagne and guzzle gin
Good girls call me "the town bicycle"
Don't knock it 'til you've tried my life of sin

Oh, Claude, my pimp, knows never mess with me
Last jerk did that, faded quick to black
I have no idea where to find him, officers
But if you do, please mention
That I'd like to have returned the pretty knife
That I stuck ten times in his back

For I sing songs until the break of dawn
I embrace a new man every night
My life's one never-ending carnival
A world of boozy-floozy flashing light
I want to be that messed-up girl

He said, "I think I am in love with you" (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
I've heard that lie a million times before (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Oh, tonight I give in to the fantasy (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Take love when you can, when you're a whore

For I sing songs until the break of dawn
I embrace a new man every night
My life's one never-ending carnival
A world of boozy-floozy flashing light
I want to be that messed-up girl

So now I sell my love for opium (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
In some rat-infested Chinese dive (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
At night, I burn myself with cigarettes (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Just to somehow prove I'm still alive

Eight months later, I catch typhoid flu (ah-ah, ah-ah)
Kicked out, I see the ugly light of day (ah-ah, ah-ah)
Dying in an alley, a priest kneels down to me (ah-ah, ah-ah)
"My child, do you have any final words to the Lord you'd like to say?"
"Oui, tell him that, like him, I choose to burn out rather than fade away"

For I sing songs until the break of dawn
I embrace a new man every night
My life's one never-ending carnival
A world of boozy-floozy flashing light
For I sing songs until the break of dawn
I embrace a new man every night
My life's one never-ending carnival
A world of boozy-floozy flashing light
I want to be that messed-up girl
I wanna be that messed-up

(Girl) broken heart, a flask of gin, tattooed with a safety pin
Teeth all stained with nicotine, running nylons, shattered dreams
Super crusty, holy terror, wild eyes and black mascara
Broken heart, a flask of gin, tattooed with a safety pin
Teeth all stained with nicotine, running nylons, shattered dreams
Super crusty, holy terror, wild eyes and black mascara

If I could have just one dream (if he could have just one dream)
I'd be that messed-up girl
Hey!