[Intro: organ, horns, go-go beat] [Verse 1] Green silk at the baccarat table, Her hair pinned up from the heat, She's losing to a banker in French, And she never leaves her seat. [Pre-Chorus] Elle perd exprès, (Elle perd exprès) She's losing on purpose, baby, (Elle perd exprès) [Chorus] Sparrow, Sparrow, Small and quick, Flying low through Cholon, Nobody ever notices a sparrow Until it's too late. (Too late, too late) [Verse 2] Two soldiers in a sampan Under a tarp down by the stair, Waiting on a cigarette in the window, And the cigarette's not there. [Pre-Chorus] Elle attend, (Elle attend) She's telling them stay put, baby, (Elle attend) [Chorus] Sparrow, Sparrow, Small and quick, Flying low through Cholon, Nobody ever notices a sparrow Until it's too late. (Too late, too late) [Verse 3] Under the lamp on the old French bridge, A little pistol at an old man's neck, She calls down to the boys in the water: "When you two are finished, we have a car." [Bridge: slower] Three blue birds on Tu Do Street, A needle running off a car battery, One on his arm where the world can see, One up high where nobody sees, One on the inside of her wrist, And she never watched the needle. She watched one of those boys. [Final Chorus] Sparrow, Sparrow, Small and quick, Flying low through Cholon, Nobody ever notices a sparrow Until it's too late. (Too late, too late) [Outro: horns, fade] [End]
