[Chorus: The Famous Flames, James Brown]
Three hearts in a tangle (Yeah)
And one heart will have to break (Yeah)
Three hearts in a tangle (Whoa)
What will be the loser's fate?

[Verse 1: James Brown]
One heart I'm tied to
And the other heart's gon' love him true
Either way I go I'll bring sorrow, yeah
And one heart will be broken in two
If I had chose either one of these hearts
Then the other heart I'll surely break now
And if I should leave, then I will suffer, yeah
And whose heart will pay for my mistake?
Oh

[Chorus: The Famous Flames, James Brown]
Three hearts in a tangle (Yeah)
And one heart will have to break (Oh)
Three hearts in a tangle (And tell me)
What will be the loser's fate? (Oh)

[Verse 2: James Brown]
Now, as I sit by my window
I'm watching the people go dancing by
And oh, I'm trying to reach a decision, yeah
And I'm afraid I won't do what's right
Oh, I keep on singing
[Chorus: The Famous Flames, James Brown]
Three hearts in a tangle
(One heart will, I want you to tell me about the other heart)
One heart will have to break
(And they can finally ditch him, yeah)
Three hearts in a triangle
(I believe, no no no no no, tell me)
What will be the loser's fate?
(Oh, I want you to sing a little bit louder)
Three hearts in a tangle
(Tell me about the other heart, and if)
One heart will have to break
(And if, yeah, oh, one more that I wanna know)
Three hearts in a tangle
(I can't believe what you say now)
What will be the loser's fate?
(Help me, yeah, yeah, ho, tell me)
Three hearts in a tangle (Yeah, and them three, yeah)
One heart will have to break