Billy's Band The One That Got Away Lyrics

Well, this gigolo is jumpin' salty(1), ain't no trade out on the streets
Half past the unlucky(2), and the hawk's a front-row seat
Dressed in full orchestration, stage-door Johnny's(3) got to pay
And send him home and talkin' about the one that got away

Could have been on Easy Street(4), could have been a wheel(5)
With irons in the fire and all them business deals
But the last of the big time(6) losers shouted before he drove away
'I'll be right back, as soon as I crack the one that got away'

The ambulance drivers they don't give a shit, they just wanna get off work
And the short stop(7) and the victim already gone berserk
And the shroud tailor measures him for a deep six holiday(8)
The stiff is froze, the case is closed on the one that got away

Now Jim Crow's(9) directin' traffic with them cemetery blues
With them peculiar looking trousers, them old Italian shoes
And a wooden kimona(10) was all ready to drop in San Francisco Bay
But he's mumblin' something all about the one that got away

Costello was the champion at the St. Moritz Hotel(11) And the best this side of Fairfax, reliable sources tell
But his reputation is at large, and he's at Ben Frank's(12) every day
Waiting for the one that got away

He's got a snake skin sports shirt, and he looks like Vincent Price(13)
With a little piece of chicken, and he's carvin' off a slice
Someone tipped her off(14), and she'll be doin' a Houdini(15) now any day
She shook his hustle, and a Greyhound bus'll take the one that got away

Andre's at the piano behind the Ivar(16) in the Sewers
With a buck a shot for pop tunes(17), and a fin for guided tours
He could've been in 'Casablanca', he stood in line out there all day
Now he's spillin' whiskey and learnin' songs about the one that got away

Well, I've lost my equilibrium and my car keys and my pride
The tattoo parlor's warm, and so I hustle(18) there inside
And the grindin' of the buzz-saw, 'What you want that thing to say?'
I say, 'Just don't misspell her name, buddy, she's the one that got away'