I'm back on dry land once again
Opportunity awaits me like a rat in the drain
We're all hunting honey with money to burn
Just a short time to show you the tricks that we've learned

If the boys all behave themselves here
Well, there's pretty young ladies and beer in the rear
You won't need a gutter to sleep in tonight
Oh, the prices I charge here will see you alright

So, she lays down beside me again
My sweet painted lady, the one with no name
Many have used her and many still do
There's a place in the world for a woman like you

Oh, sweet painted lady
Seems it's always been the same
Getting paid for being laid
Guess that's the name of the game

Oh, sweet painted lady
Seems it's always been the same
Getting paid for being laid
Guess that's the name of the game, oh

Forget us we'll have gone very soon
Just forget we ever slept in your rooms
And we'll leave the smell of the sea in your beds
Where love's just a job and nothing is said

So she lays down beside me again
My sweet painted lady, the one with no name
Many have used her and many still do
There's a place in the world for a woman like you

Oh, sweet painted lady
Seems it's always been the same
Getting paid for being laid
Guess that's the name of the game

Oh, sweet painted lady
Seems it's always been the same
Getting paid for being laid
Guess that's the name of the game, oh


Lyrics submitted by pumkinhed

Sweet Painted Lady Lyrics as written by Elton John Bernie Taupin

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Sweet Painted Lady song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    What an ignorant comment. The song is clearly ironic and is, I think, one of immense pathos. It is not a 'tribute' to prostitution but makes it seem just as seedy as it really is. For example, the lady is not 'getting laid' but 'being laid', love is 'just a job'. And look at the descriptions of the sailors who use her ("many have used her...") - "you won't need a gutter to sleep in".

    Token-Briton December 16, 2005   Link

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