[Verse 1: Rufus Wainwright]
High on a rocky ledge lives a mädel, Edelweiss
Shy as a shadow, lovely as lace, and cold as ice
High on a rocky ledge, I pledge my love to her
Every time I climb up to paradise

[Verse 2: David Byrne]
How many times have I been up to see her?
Goodness knows
Huffing and puffing, dressed in the warmest climbing coats
How many chances would be taken in my
Hopeless pursuit of the Schnee-Mädel-Edelweiss?

[Chorus: Rufus Wainwright, David Byrne, Both]
Then spoke a spirit, "If you would win your lady love
There's only one way, fall to your death from high above
You will begin to grow in the snow beside the one
You have waited for to be mated with"

[Verse 3: Rufus Wainwright, David Byrne, Both]
Now, I'm an adel, vice to my mädel, Edelweiss
Dying to be with her, wasn't any sacrifice
We're so deliriously happy on our ledge
Where I pledge my love to my lady fair
So you who are climbing, breathless to see me and my love
Snow flowes growing fonder on Lover's Ledge above
If you've the yen to pluck, then pluck us both
For we who have lived as one wish to die as one