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

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the sacred wunderkind
you took me behind a dis-used railway line
and said "I know a place where we can go ¹
where we are not known"
and then you gave me something that I won't forget too soon
but I can't believe that you'd ever care
and this is why you'll never care
but these things take time
and I know that I'm
the most inept
that ever stepped

I'm spellbound, but a woman divides
and the hills are alive with celibate cries
but you know where you came from, you know where
you're going and you know where you belong
you said I was ill, and you were not wrong ²
but I can't believe that you'd ever care
and so, you never cared ³
but these things take time
and I know that I'm
the most inept
that ever stepped

Oh the alcoholic afternoons ⁴
when we sat in your room
they meant more to me
than any, than any living thing on earth
they had more worth
than any living thing on earth
on earth
on earth

vivid and in your prime
you will leave me behind
you will leave me behind

 

² In live performances of this song, Morrissey occasionally sang "You said I was ill and you were wrong".

³ In the Jensen session found on "Hatful Of Hollow", Morrissey sang "and this is why you will never care", as he did in early live versions of the song as well as in an early rehearsal which has leaked on the internet.

⁴ In very early performances of this song as well as in an early rehearsal which has leaked on the internet Morrissey sang "Oh all the alcoholic afternoons".

Note:
In early demos of the song, Morrissey sang lines ending in "I'm saved I'm saved, you took my hand" at the end of the first verse. He also sang the slightly alternate "you said I was useless, and you were not wrong".