I saw my compatriots walking that nightfall Soccer games blaring from every café It's amazing how life can go somehow unnoticed Somehow so loud it rattles your brain My eye is digesting the infinite parcels Beauty and ugliness, matter and light Oh saint, oh sinner, oh ancient beginner Oh trembling river of life Forgive me, sir I know not the magic words Is it the fever first And then the fire? The neighbor above me is slamming his windows Insults bounce off me like peppercorn rain I'll answer him later, return the favor When I have perfected Parisian disdain The city is bristling, biting its fingers Bellies are full of the same butterflies Count down the seconds in twenty-five languages Oh the millions of eyes Forgive me, sir I know not the magic words Is it the fever first And then the fire? Forgive me, sir I know not the magic words Is it the fever first And then the fire? Forgive me, sir I know not the magic words Is it the fever first And then the fire? I know not the magic words Is it the fever first And then the fire? And then the fire