(Shane MacGowan / Jem Finer)
Thanks and praises


I bet on the Bottle of Smoke
I went to Hell
And to the races

To bet on the Bottle of Smoke

The day being clear

The sky being bright
He came up on the left
Like a streak of light

Like a drunken $#&@
On a Saturday night
Up came the Bottle of Smoke


Twenty $#&@ing five to one
My gambling days are done

I bet on a horse called the Bottle of Smoke
And my horse won


Stewards inquiries
Swift and fiery
I had the Bottle of Smoke

Inquisitions and suppositions
I had the Bottle of Smoke
$#&@ the stewards

A trip to Lourdes
Might give the old $#&@ers
The power of sight

Screaming springers and stoppers
And call out coppers
But the money still gleams in my hand like a light


Bookies cursing
Cars reversing

I had the Bottle of Smoke
Glasses steaming
Vessels bursting

I had the Bottle of Smoke
Slip a fifty to the wife
And for each brat a crisp new five

To give me a break on a Saturday night
When I had the Bottle of Smoke


Priests and maidens
Drunk as pagans
They had the Bottle of Smoke

Sins forgiven and celebrations
They had the Bottle of Smoke


$#&@ the Yanks
And drink their wives
The moon is clear

The sky is bright
I'm happy as the horses %#@!e
Up came the Bottle of Smoke