[Verse 1: Baritone (Ferry)]
Patent shoes and midnight coats
Laughter in the gilded gloom
Cigarette haze, velvet throats
Drifting through her perfumed room

[Pre-Chorus: Dramatic (Bowie)]
(I caught her glance beneath the glass)
(Futures dancing in champagne)
A shadow smile, a fleeting pass
Electric moments, sweet and vain

[Chorus: Baritone (Ferry), with Dramatic (Bowie) response]
She can't have us both (never, darling)
There's only so much midnight to go around
She can't have us both (oh, it's charming)
Some must tumble, some must drown

[Post-Chorus: Both]
La la la—fancy fate spins around
Oh oh oh, velvet lost and found

[Verse 2: Dramatic (Bowie)]
She spills her pearls out on the stair
Laughs as our bravado slips
Mirror kisses, starlit glare
Under lipstick-fingered grips

[Pre-Chorus: Both, trading lines]
Baritone: I'll wager hearts, I'll stake my claim
Dramatic: I fashion riddles, play the game
Baritone: She loves the act, the smoke, the flame
Dramatic: But won't remember our names

[Chorus: Both]
She can't have us both (glitter, darling)
There's only so much midnight to go around
She can't have us both (just disarming)
Some must tumble, some must drown

[Post-Chorus: Both]
La la la—fancy fate spins around
Oh oh oh, velvet lost and found

[Bridge: Both, alternating phrases]
Baritone: Mismatched cuffs and shattered schemes
Dramatic: Love notes in ashtrays, magazine dreams
Baritone: Silver-tongued secrets, varnished lies
Dramatic: Drama redrawn in her eyes

[Chorus: Both]
She can't have us both (so atomic)
There's only so much midnight to go around
She can't have us both (mercurial, comic)
Some must tumble, some must drown

[Post-Chorus: Both]
La la la—fancy fate spins around
Oh oh oh, velvet lost and found
La la la—pride and shadows abound
Oh oh oh, twirling underground

[Outro: Both, trading lines]
Baritone: So we linger on the landing, hats in hand
Dramatic: One last bow on shifting sand
Baritone: Laughter flickers, curtains sway
Dramatic: Tomorrow finds us cast away

Baritone: Champagne wishes, perfumes ghosts
Dramatic: Each of us hosts to what haunts us most
Both: She can't have us both—so we toast

[Post-Chorus: Both]
La la la—play the rogue, spin the crown
Oh oh oh, floating up and down
La la la—fancy fate lets us down
Oh oh oh, velvet lost and found