Charles Bukowski - The Most Beauitful Woman In Town lyrics

Cass was the youngest and most
Beautiful of 5 sisters
Cass was the most beautiful girl in town
1/2 Indian with a supple and strange body
A snake-like and fiery body with eyes
To go with it cass was fluid moving fire
She was like a spirit stuck into a form that
Would not hold her
Her hair was black and long and silken
And whirled about as did her body
Her spirit was either very high or very low
There was no in between for Cass some
Said she was crazy the dull ones said that
The dull ones would never understand Cass to
The men she was simply a sex machine and they
Didn't care whether she was crazy or not
And Cass danced and flirted, kissed the men
But except for an instance or two, When it
Came time to make it with Cass
Cass had somehow slipped away
Eluded the men her sisters accused her of


Misusing her beauty
Of not using her mind enough, But Cass
Had mind and spirit she painted, she danced
She sang, she made things of clay, And when
People were hurt either in the
Spirit or the flesh
Cass felt a deep grieving for them
Her mind was simply different her
Mind was simply not practical
Her sisters were jealous
Of her because she attracted their men
And they were angry because
They felt she didn't
Make the best use of them
She had a habit of being kind
To the uglier ones the so-called
Handsome men revolted her- "No
Guts" she said, "no zap
They are riding on
Their perfect little earlobes and well-
Shaped nostrilsall surface and no
Insides" She had a temper that
Came close to insanity
She had a temper that some call insanity
Her father had died of alcohol and her
Mother had run off leaving the girls alone
The girls went to a relative who
Placed them in a convent the convent had
Been an unhappy place
More for Cass than the sisters
The girls were jealous of Cass and
Cass fought most of them
She had razor marks all along
Her left arm from defending
Herself in two fights
There was also a permanent scar along
The left cheek but the scar
Rather than lessening her beauty only
Seemed to highlight it
I met her at the West End
Bar several nights after her
Release from the convent
Being youngest, she was the last of
The sisters to be released
She simply came in and sat next to me
I was probably the
Ugliest man in town and this might have
Had something to do with it
"Drink?" I asked "Sure, why not?"
I don't suppose there was anything unusual
In our conversation that night, It was
Simply in the feeling Cass gave
She had chosen me and it
Was as simple as that no
Pressure she liked her drinks and had
A great number of them
She didn't seem quite of
Age but they served he anyhow
Perhaps she had forged id, I don't know
Anyhow, each
Time she came back from the restroom
And sat down next to me
I did feel some pride she
Was not only the most beautiful
Woman in town but
Also one of the most beautiful I had
Ever seen i placed my arm about her
Waist and kissed her once
"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked
"Yes, of course, but there's something else
There's more than your looks"
"People are always accusing me
Of being pretty do you really think I'm
Pretty?" "Pretty isn't the word
It hardly does you fair"
Cass reached into her handbag
I thought she was reaching
For her handkerchief she
Came out with a long hatpin
Before I could stop her she had
Run this long hatpin through
Her nose, sideways, just above the nostrils
I felt disgust and horror she looked at me
And laughed, "Now do you think me
Pretty? What do you think now
Man?" I pulled the hatpin out and held my
Handkerchief over the bleeding
Several people, including the
Bartender, had seen the act
The bartender came down:
"Look" he said to Cass
"you act up again and you're out
We don't need your dramatics here"
"Oh, fuck you, man!" she said
"Better keep her straight" the
Bartender said to me
"She'll be all right" I said
"It's my nose
I can do what I want with my nose"
"No" I said, "it hurts me"
"You mean it hurts you when I
Stick a pin in my nose?"
"Yes, it does, I mean it"
"All right, I won't do it again cheer up"
She kissed me
Rather grinning through the kiss and
Holding the handkerchief to her nose
We left for my place at closing time
I had some beer and we sat there talking it
Was then that I got the perception of her
As a person full of kindness and caring she
Gave herself away without knowing it
At the same time she would
Leap back into areas of
Wildness and incoherence schitzi
A beautiful and spiritual schitzi
Perhaps some man
Something, would ruin her forever
I hoped that it wouldn't be me
We went to bed and
After I turned out the lights Cass asked me
"When do you want it? Now
Or in the morning?"
"In the morning" I said and turned my back
In the morning I got up and
Made a couple of coffees
Brought her one in bed she
Laughed "You're the first man who has
Turned it down at night"
"It's ok" I said
"we needn't do it at all"
"No, wait, I want to now
Let me freshen up a bit"
Cass went into the bathroom
She came out shortly
Looking quite wonderful, Her long
Black hair glistening, her eyes
And lips glistening, Her glistening
She displayed her
Body calmly, as a good thing
She got under the sheet
"Come on, lover man" i got in
She kissed with abandon but without haste
I let my hands run over her body
Through her hair i mounted
It was hot, and tight
I began to stroke slowly, wanting to
Make it last
Her eyes looked directly into mine
"What's your name?" I asked
"What the hell difference does
It make?" she asked
I laughed and went on ahead
Afterwards she dressed and I drove her
Back to the bar but
She was difficult to forget
I wasn't working and I slept until 2 pm
Then got up and read the paper
I was in the bathtub when she came in
With a large leaf- an elephant ear
"I knew you'd be in the bathtub" she said
"so I brought you something
To cover that thing with, nature boy"
She threw the elephant leaf down
On me in the bathtub
"How did you know I'd be in the tub?"
"I knew"
Almost every day Cass arrived when
I was in the tub
The times were different but she
Seldom missed
And there was the elephant leaf
And then we'd make love one or two nights
She phoned and I had to bail her
Out of jail for drunkenness and fighting
"These sons of bitches" she said
"just because they buy you a few
Drinks they think they can
Get into your pants"
"Once you accept a drink you
Create your own trouble"
"I thought they were interested in me
Not just my body"
"I'm interested in you and your body
I doubt, though, that most men can see
Beyond your body"
I left town for 6 months, bummed around
Came back i had never forgotten Cass, but
We'd had some type of argument and
I felt like moving anyhow
And when I got back i
Figured she'd be gone
But I had been sitting in the West
End Bar about 30 minutes when
She walked in and sat down next to me
"Well, bastard, I see you've come back"
I ordered her a drink then I looked at her
She had on a high- necked dress i had
Never seen her in one of those
And under each eye, driven in
Were 2 pins with glass heads
All you could see were the heads of the pins
But the pins were driven down into her face
"God damn you, still trying
To destroy your beauty, Eh?"
"No, it's the fad, you fool"
"You're crazy"
"I've missed you" she said
"Is there anybody else?"
"No there isn't anybody else just you
But I'm hustling it costs ten bucks
But you get it free"
"Pull those pins out"
"No, it's the fad"
"It's making me very unhappy"
"Are you sure?" "Hell yes, I'm sure"
Cass slowly pulled the pins out and
Put them back in her purse
"Why do you haggle your beauty?" I asked
"Why don't you just live with it?"
"Because people think it's all I have
Beauty is nothing, beauty won't stay you
Don't know how lucky you are to be ugly
Because if people like you you know it's for
Something else"
"Ok" I said, "I'm lucky"
"I don't mean you're ugly
People just think you're ugly
You have a fascinating face"
"Thanks" we had another drink
"What are you doing?" she asked "Nothing
I can't get on to anything no interest"
"Me neither
If you were a woman you could hustle"
"I don't think I could ever make
Contact with that many strangers, It's
Wearing" "You're right, it's wearing
Everything is wearing" we left together
People still stared at Cass on the streets
She was a beautiful
Woman, perhaps more beautiful than ever
We made it to my place and
I opened a bottle of wine and we talked
With Cass and I, it always came easy
She talked a while and I would
Listen and then i would talk
Our conversation simply went
Along without strain we seemed
To discover secrets together
When we discovered a good one
Cass would laugh that laugh-
Only the way she could
It was like joy out of fire
Through the talking we kissed and
Moved closer together
We became quite heated and decided
To go to bed it was then that
Cass took off her high -necked
Dress and I saw
It- the ugly jagged scar across her throat
It was large and thick
"God damn you, woman" I said from
The bed, "god damn you, What have you
Done?
"I tried it with a broken bottle one night
Don't you like me any more? Am I still
Beautiful?"
I pulled her down on the bed and kissed her
She pushed away and laughed, "Some
Men pay me ten and I undress and
They don't want to do it i keep the ten
It's very funny"
"Yes" I said, "I can't stop laughing
Cass, bitch, I love youstop
Destroying yourself you're the most alive
Woman I've ever met" we kissed again
Cass was crying without sound
I could feel the tears the long black
Hair lay beside me like a flag of death
We enjoined and made slow and somber and
Wonderful love
In the morning Cass was up making breakfast
She seemed quite calm and happy
She was singing
I stayed in bed and enjoyed her happiness
Finally she came over and shook me
"Up, bastard! Throw some cold water on your
Face and pecker and come enjoy the feast!"
I drove her to the beach that day
It was a weekday and not
Yet summer so things were
Splendidly deserted
Beach bums in rags slept on
The lawns above the sand others sat on
Stone benches sharing a lone bottle
The gulls whirled about
Mindless yet distracted old
Ladies in their 70's and 80's sat on the
Benches and discussed selling
Real estate left
Behind by husbands long ago killed by
The pace and stupidity of survival
For it all there was peace in the air
And we walked about
And stretched on the lawns and didn't say
Much it simply felt good being together
I bought a couple of sandwiches
Some chips and
Drinks and we sat on the sand eating
Then I held Cass and we
Slept together about an hour
It was somehow better than lovemaking
There was flowing together without tension
When we awakened we drove back to my
Place and I cooked a dinner
After dinner I suggested
To Cass that we shack together
She waited a long time, looking at me
Then she slowly
Said, "No" I drove her back to the bar
Bought her a drink and walked out i
Found a job as a parker in a factory the next
Day and the rest of the week went to working
I was too tired to get about much but that
Friday night I did get to the West End bar
I sat and waited for Cass hours went by
After I was fairly drunk the bartender
Said to me
"I'm sorry about your girlfriend"
"What is it?" I asked
"I'm sorry, didn't you know?" "No"
"Suicide she was buried yesterday"
"Buried?" I asked
It seemed as though she would
Walk through the doorway at any moment
How could she be gone?
"Her sisters buried her"
"A suicide? Mind telling me how?"
"She cut her throat" "I see
Give me another drink"
I drank until closing time
Cass was the most beautiful of 5 sisters
The most beautiful in town
I managed to drive to my
Place and I kept thinking, I should have
Insisted she stay with me instead of
Accepting that "no" Everything about her
Had indicated that she had cared
I simply had been too offhand about it, lazy
Too unconcerned
I deserved my death and hers i was a dog
No, why blame the dogs? I got up
And found a bottle of wine
And drank from it heavily
Cass the most beautiful girl in town
Was dead at 20
Outside somebody honked their automobile horn
They were very loud and persistent
I sat the bottle down and
Screamed out: "GOD DAMN YOU
You son of a bitch
, SHUT UP!" The night kept coming and
There was nothing I could do