The French Inhaler Lyrics

[Verse 1]
How're you going to make your way in the world, woman
When you weren't cut out for working?
When your fingers are slender and frail?
How're you going to get around
In this sleazy bedroom town
If you don't put yourself up for sale?

[Verse 2]
Where will you go with your scarves and your miracles?
Who's gonna know who you are?
Drugs and wine and flattering light
You must try it again 'til you get it right
Maybe you'll end up with someone different every night (Night)

[Refrain]
All these people with no home to go home to
They'd all like to spend the night with you
Maybe I would too

[Verse 3]
But tell me
How're you going to make your way in the world, woman
When you weren't cut out for working?
And you just can't concentrate
And you always show up late
[Bridge]
You said you were an actress
Yes, I believe you are
I-I-I thought you'd be a star
So I drank up all the money
Yes, I drank up all the money
With these phonies in this Hollywood bar
These friends of mine in this Hollywood bar

[Verse 4]
Loneliness and frustration
We both came down with an acute case
And when the lights came up at two
I caught a glimpse of you
And your face looked like something
Death brought with him in his suitcase

[Outro]
Your pretty face, it looked so wasted
Another pretty face devastated
The French Inhaler
He stamped and mailed her
"So long, Norman"
She said, "So long, Norman"

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Genius Annotation

While the song can be read as a pimp convincing a woman to become a prostitute and the destruction it brings to both their lives, it is actually about he ex-girlfriend whom he saw with another musician after they broke up.

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