The villains of vaudeville, young lovers' quarrels
Pearls before parliaments, lepers in laurels
Roses that sprout from the throats of dead kings
Things in the songs with the sinister themes

Stockings and starlings, the laughter of dockworkers
Poets who flock through the cities like stockbrokers
Little Red Ridinghood living in sin
These are the songs with the sinister themes

Nasturtiums that bloom like voluptuous women
Joy in the orphan, the dolphin when swimming
Fireworks and phoenixes, spas and hot springs
Sinister themes in the songs that I sing

Strumpets and kettledrums, musty old cellars
Coffee and stallions, cream and umbrellas
The angels caught up in their own puppet strings
Sinister themes in the songs that I sing

The orchid of meat in the cuckoo's nest growing
Kisses in syllables, sex when it's snowing
Forests where nightmares and nightingales sing
These are the songs with the sinister themes

My first is in eMbers
My second in wOman
My third in eMotion
My fourth is in hUman
My fifth is in sufferS and also in longS
My whole is in MOMUS and these are my songs