Standard (EADGBE)

 He was leaning at the corner of the main street

Wearing his finest silky suit

 His ice-cold eyes were glancing all over the crowd

 And what he thought, my god, was not allowed.

Later he walked cockly on the pavement

In the trouser pockets – very cool – his hands

He gave five pounds to the gambler, made fifty in a crack

Didn’t see the sticky-finger in his back

Refrain

 The called him Jack the Knife and he was the toughest guy in town

 And if they saw him coming, they wished they were not around

On his beat Jacky visits the next bar-room

The waiter paid, his eyes were full of gloom

Out of the bar Jack recounts his first easy prey

And looked forward to another perfect day

Refrain

It was nearly one hour after midnight

When he met some sailors spoiling for a fight

They made waves in his district and made Jack see red

But no-one heard the final words he said

Refrain

Next morning they found him in the park

His ice-cold eyes were broken in the dark

His silky suit had got manky, his knife stuck in his chest –

Oh, Jack the Knife went to his final rest.

Refrain