It starts with bad directions and a sleight of hand
when you end up singing with the Cable street band.
In the tenement sweatshop
artists chew the bit
and I queue up ready to punch my ticket.

Loretta at the honky tonk casts her spell
and I stamp my boot heel to the stories she tells.
No cure for The Blues,
it's a terminal sickness,
it'll kill you if you ever stop
punching your ticket.

I'd rather not explain myself, I drink to forget.
Let me die in my footsteps, a poem under my breath.
Your troubles can give you strength
or stab you to the hilt
- you'll regret it if you never
punch your ticket.

In the candlelight, I try and relax.
If I'm caught I'll only give my name and rank,
when the pigs with tin shields
raid the barroom vigil
where, in the witching hour,
I punch my ticket.

Well,

You bring the medicine,
I've got the gold.
Darlin', sugar and spice
can be bought and sold.
You've got to
play the game
or place a winning bet
everybody's got an itch,
everybody's got to
punch their ticket.

When Marvin died,
the band drew a big crowd
but it was mere hours,
after the tears and the flowers
that, with faces soaked
in pilfered guilt, we were
back at The Gritseller's
to punch our tickets.

Papa Cedric has an endless
supply of poison
and a little black book
for his phonebooth appointments,
his out-patients keep
neat subscriptions,
for a price he can
punch any kind of ticket.

You bring the medicine,
I've got the gold.
Darlin', sugar and spice
can be bought and sold.
you've got to
play the game
or place a winning bet
everybody's got an itch,
everybody's got to
punch their ticket.

A grammar school natural
with a slick city career,
Fat Rat Albert hits the town
in ladies' underwear.
He knows the corner
for his particular kink
his wife thinks it's the fishing trips
that punch his ticket.

The doctor told the mystic,
"You've got a feeble heart."
The mystic asked,
"How'd you know?"
Doctor said, "I read your chart."
The mystic prays, fearing
punishment for his sins,
receives atonement
by punching that ticket.

You bring the medicine,
I've got the gold.
Darlin', sugar and spice
can be bought and sold.
You've got to
play the game
or place a winning bet
everybody's got an itch,
everybody's got to
punch their ticket.