C D I was born with the charm of innocence A Bb On my back like a cross C D Thorns upon my forehead A Bb Round my neck I wore it C Sometimes a rabbit's claw E Sometimes an albatross A C#m It began at a school that turned boys into gentlemen G Bm Then turned them on to debauchery A C#m I was forced to my knees in front of these gentlemen G Bm If I refused they would torture me A C#m On Sundays I'd stalk the Botanical Garden G Bm And under my uniform something would harden F E Whenever I passed a girl of my own age A C#m Or did it begin with au pair girls from Germany G Bm Paid by the hour to look after us? A C#m Did it begin with that first opportunity G Bm To corner a stranger with nakedness? A C#m Maybe the clinical way they undressed me G Bm Stayed with me and deeply distressed me F E I think, at heart, I'm something of a prude C D I was born with the charm of innocence A Bb On my back like a cross C D Thorns upon my forehead A Bb Round my neck I wore it C Sometimes a rabbit's claw E Sometimes an albatross A C#m Then at eighteen I decided I wanted G Bm To be a commercial photographer A C#m I rented a studio down by the docks G Bm Which I shared with a friendly pornographer A C#m I photographed models in fluorescent light G Bm Whose veins were so blue and whose breasts were so white F E I assumed, like the moon, women were blue cheese A C#m When I left home I already had five years G Bm Of self abuse under my belt A C#m I found certain women who'd let me try anything G Bm Just to find out how it felt A C#m In some garish hotel room with vile decoration G Bm The wallpaper witnessed my first pollination F E The paisley patterns witnessed an abortion C D I was born with the charm of innocence A Bb On my back like a cross C D Thorns upon my forehead A Bb Round my neck I wore it C Sometimes a rabbit's claw E Sometimes an albatross A C#m In the army they taught me to share the abuse G Bm That I'd kept up 'til then to myself A There's nothing like killing C#m G Bm For coaxing a shy boy of twenty-one out of his shell A C#m In the dark continent with a peace-keeping force G Bm I fell in with a bunch of Algerian whores F E And promised them I'd try and keep in touch B Ebm We met up again in the eighteenth arrondisement A C#m I remember them well B Ebm Their lank stringy hair and their big bulbous noses A C#m Their unmistakable smell B Ebm I'd approach all the ugliest, seediest jerks A C#m And ask them to keep a young model in work G F# Some men, thank Christ, don't discriminate at all C D I was born with the charm of innocence A Bb On my back like a cross C D Thorns upon my forehead A Bb Round my neck I wore it C Sometimes a rabbit's claw E Sometimes an albatross A C#m I will pass my old age by a pale two-bar fire G Bm Patiently waiting to die A C#m Twitching the lace as the schoolgirls go past G Bm Tracing a page of Bataille A C#m And if you catch sight of my secondhand coat G Bm Leaving behind it a faint whiff of goat F E Remember both of us are naked underneath B Ebm I thought it would end with the first obscene phone call A C#m The second professional kill B Ebm But somehow detached from my actual behavior A C#m This innocence burdens me still B Ebm Up in the attic I pick up the brush A C#m Paint in the crow's feet, paint out the blush G F# The face this portrait is of is still capable of G F# The face this portrait is supposed to be of is still capable of G G/F# G/E G/F# F# The face this portrait is of is still capable of (Paint out the blush of shame) G G/F# G/E G/F# F# The face this portrait is supposed to be of is still capable of (Paint out the blush of shame) G G/F# G/E G/F# F# The face this portrait is of is still capable of (Paint out the blush of shame) G G/F# G/E G/F# F# The face this portrait is supposed to be of is still capable of (Paint out the blush of shame) G G/F# G/E G/F# F# The face this portrait is of is still capable of (Paint out the blush of shame) G G/F# G/E G/F# F# The face this portrait is supposed to be of is still capable of (Paint out the blush of shame) End on G.