Smoke in the curtains, gin on the breath
Love in the doorway, dressed up like death
He said, “Baby, life’s too short to behave”
I said, “Darling, that depends who you save”
We had red wine kisses, blue dawn skin
We let the bad luck saunter in
No clean hands and no pretence
Just cheap perfume and consequence
Refrain
Old school sin
Wore silk and a crooked grin
Sin and vice and all things nice
Pour me another, I won’t ask twice
Old school sin
Burned slow and sweet beneath the skin
No wellness plan, no alibi
Just one more match and one more lie
He had a hat low over one eye
Trouble in his pocket, jazz in his stride
I knew better, Lord knows I did
But virtue’s no fun when the band gets lit
The room was gold, the hour was black
One more wrong road, no taking it back
And every saint has had to learn
Some angels like to watch things burn
Refrain
Old school sin
Wore silk and a crooked grin
Sin and vice and all things nice
Pour me another, I won’t ask twice
Old school sin
Burned slow and sweet beneath the skin
No therapist, no compromise
Just dangerous men and dangerous eyes
Bridge
Now everybody’s good on paper
Measured out and vapor-thin
But I remember richer sinners
With better shoes and better gin
They fell from grace in evening wear
Not staring at some little screen
They broke their hearts in public, honey
Kept their ruin lush and mean
Final Refrain
Old school sin
Come lean your velvet shoulder in
Sin and vice and all things nice
A little smoke, a little ice
Old school sin
You don’t apologise, you just begin
The night goes down, the needle drops
And mercy comes when the music stops
