[Verse 1]

Late night, my shoes are worn

In a diner, it's two in the morn'

And I wonder, "What will I do tonight?"

Cup of coffee and a cigarette more

Clock above me reads "2:04"

And the night owls all got a story to tell

The girl with the short hair's parents won't speak to her no more

They call her an unholy dyke, and they call her a whore

Oh, well

[Verse 2]

Order a bagel, butter and all

Think to myself as I stare at the wall

Killin' time, counting change in my hand

Dark man sits on my right

Shades keeping his eyes outta light

Drinks his coffee just as black as his skin

And the man with the pack and the black hat sits in the back

His white eyes glow like a fire burns bright in the act

[Verse 3]

Woah, and the fat man comes in with little hair

His wife is unfaithful, but he doesn't care

As long as he can hold her tight at night

Yeah, and the waitress, Julie, is a poet now

She writes her stories on a paper towel

To publish them someday, she says she might

And the man in the back tips his hat as he stands and he grins

The first word he says all night is "Let the show begin."

[Verse 4]

Julie wants to have some fun

So she takes a butter knife and cuts her fingers off, one by one

To find a problem when she tries to start on her next hand

Yeah, and the fat man strips down the whore

She cries to herself and defecates on the floor

I don't think I want the second half of my bagel no more

The fat man started to say how he wants to kill his wife

As the dyke cuts off his tongue with a jagged knife

(She keeps in her pocket)

[Bridge]

And the two are making passionate love

And the dark, blind man thinks he's seen enough

So he takes Julie's pen from her right hand

And he stabs his eyes, as according to plan

'Cause the man in the back simply laughs, and he smiles

And the blood spills out on linoleum tile

And the fat man starts to eat the flesh of the whore

Yeah, the mood's a little different than a minute before

[Harmonica Solo]

[Outro]

I reach down for the last cigarette in the pack

Walk over and sit with the man in the back

And ask him "Why?" He tips his hat, and he smiles