[Verse 1]
Last night or the night before that
I won't say which night
A seaman friend of mine
I'll not say which seaman
Walked up to a big old building
I won't say which building
Would not have walked up the stairs
Not to say which stairs
If there had not been two girls
Leaving out the names of those two girls

[Verse 2]
I recall a door, a big long room
I'll not tell which room
I remember a deep blue rug
But I can't say which rug
A girl took down a book of poems
Not to say which book of poems
And as she read, I laid my head
And I can't tell which head
Down in her lap
I can mention which lap

[Interlude]
My seaman buddy and his girl moved off
After a couple of pages, and there I was
All night long, laying and listening
And forgetting the poems
And as well as I could recall
Or my seaman buddy could recollect
The girl had told us that she was a niece of Walt Whitman
But not which niece
And it takes a night and a girl
And a book of this kind
A long, long time to find its way back
[Verse 1]
Last night or the night before that
I won't say which night
A seaman friend of mine
I'll not say which seaman
Walked up to a big old building
I won't say which building
Would not have walked up the stairs
Not to say which stairs
If there had not been two girls
Leaving out the names of those two girls

[Verse 2]
I recall a door, a big long room
I'll not tell which room
I remember a deep blue rug
But I can't say which rug
A girl took down a book of poems
Not to say which book of poems
And as she read, I laid my head
And I can't tell which head
Down in her lap
I can mention which lap