These words are transcribed without permission the way they appear in the "Louder Than Bombs" album. Additions to the printed lyrics are in darker text while omissions are striken out.

I left the North
I travelled South
I found a tiny house ¹
And I can't help the way I feel
Oh yes you can kick me ²
and you can punch me ³
and you can break my face
but you won't change the way I feel
'Cause I love you
And is it really so strange?
Is it really so strange?
Is it really so, really so strange?
I say NO, you say YES
(but and you will change your mind!)
I left the South
I travelled North
I got confused - I killed a horse
I can't help the way I feel
Oh yes you can kick punch me ⁴
and you can butt me
and you can break my spine
but you won't change the way I feel
'Cause I love you
And is it really so strange? ⁵
Is it really so strange?
Is it really so, really so strange?
I say NO, you say YES
(but you will change your mind!)
I left the North again
I travelled South again
And I got confused - I killed a nun
I CAN'T HELP THE WAY I FEEL
I CAN'T HELP THE WAY I FEEL
I CAN'T HELP THE WAY I FEEL
(I lost my bag in Newport Pagnell) ⁶
Why is the last mile the hardest mile
My throat was dry, with the sun in my eyes
And I realised, I realised
That I could never
I could never, never never go back home again ⁷

 

² Often on the 1986 The Queen Is Dead tour and occasionally at the beginning of the 1999 Oye Esteban tour, in this line and the following one, Morrissey switched 'kick' and 'punch' with a selection of verbs from 'cut', 'kick', 'butt' and 'punch'. For example, on live album "Rank" from the The Queen Is Dead tour: "Oh yes you can cut me and you can punch me". On the 2000 American leg of the Oye Esteban Tour he sang "Oh yes you can kick me, and you can punch me, and you can break my teeth". He also carried the latter change to the subsequent Latin American leg, but he only did it about half the time there. On the 2009 Swords Tour he stuck to the original form.

³ In an early studio version of the song which has leaked on bootlegs Morrissey sang "and you can beat me".

⁴ In an early studio version of the song which has leaked on bootlegs Morrissey sang "you can kick me". On the 1986 The Queen Is Dead tour, in this line and the following ones, Morrissey often switched 'kick' and 'punch' with a selection of verbs from 'cut', 'kick', 'butt' and 'punch'. For example, on live album "Rank", this was sung the way it was transcribed on the lyrics sheet ("...kick me") and not as recorded ("...punch me"). On the 1999 Oye Esteban Tour the line kept morphing, from "Oh yes you can slice me, and you can butt me, and you can dislocate my shoulder" to "Oh yes you can chin me, and you can shin me, and you can dislocate my shoulder *blade* to "Oh yes you can chin me, and you can shin me, and you can break my spine to "Oh yes you can chin me, and you can shin me, and you can break my teeth to "Oh yes you can chin me, and you can shin me, and you can even skin me to "Oh yes you can chin me, and you can shin me, and later you can skin me. On the 2009 Swords Tour he alternated between the original form and variations such as "Oh yes you can chin me, and you can butt me", "Oh yes you can kick me, and you can butt me" or "Oh yes you can kick me, and you can skin me".

⁵ On the Oye Esteban Tour Morrissey often followed this line with the answer "yes, it is" or a shout of "Yes!".

⁶ On the Oye Esteban Tour Morrissey always humourously changed this line to "I lost my wig in Newport Pagnell". On the 2009 Swords Tour he introduced the new change to "I was bagged in Newport Pagnell", which at some point into the first leg morphed into "I was gagged in Newport Pagnell".

⁷ On the Oye Esteban Tour Morrissey changed this line a few times to "I can never, never go back home alone".

Note: most of the one word corrections above ("and", "but", "that", etc) don't apply to the early version of the song which has leaked on bootlegs.