Well drivin' back from Nashville I was caught with a bag of cocainenI was under the influence but i was under terrible strainnThey beat me and left me alone to scoop up my guts and the bits of my brainnJust then a-came a drizzle and gave my insides a terrible rinsenI stuck em back in in a hurry and they've been damp ever sincenThis is the hard luck palace, I'm the hard luck princennYou know i took a couple a pills to give my head some reliefnMy phantom bird, it died the night before while I's asleepnSo you can imagine my state, I mean I was feeling immeasurable griefnThen an apparition appeared at the foot of my bed and made me wincenHe beckoned me to follow, and he asked my confidencenTake the keys to the hard luck palace, dont wait up for your hard luck princennI woke up with a fever, opened the door and looked aroundnI thought the sun was inchin' closer but 'twas a streetlight shinin' downnOh, how the bed does move itself when your head can only poundnWhen I went to see the doctor to replace my soggy splintsnHe said what atrophy you've rendered due to teenaged dalliancenAnd they took to the palace and said good night, hard luck princennThen i started up a company, I hired seven men with gritnMy line was oil and guillotines and appraisin' monkey shitnAnd we widened the volcanoes when the virgins wouldnt fitnWhen you swore you never bled we provided counter evidencenWe specialised in medicine with a measured indifferencenAfter all, I'm a professionalnHere's my card; the hard luck princennIt's a man possessed with evil who lives with private pain andnThen see's fit to step outside and take it out on other mennBut long as there is men, there is his darkness which descendsnThe ghosts sleep in the room with the peculiar ornamentsnWe held a seance years ago and they been squattin' ever sincenMake no mistake, this is the hard luck palace, I'm the hard luck prince