[Verse 1]
He met her in a French café (Yvette)
She slipped in sideways like a cat (Yvette)
Sidelong glances, what a wary little stray (Yvette)
She sticks in his mind like that

[Chorus 1]
Saying, "Avez-vous un allumette?"
With her lips wrapped around a cigarette
Yvette in English saying, "Please have this
Little bit of instant bliss."

[Verse 2]
He's fumbling with her foreign tongue (Yvette)
Reaching for words and drawing blanks (Yvette)
A loudmouth is stricken deaf and dumb (Yvette)
In a bistro on the left bank

[Chorus 2]
"If I were a painter," Picasso said
"I'd paint this girl from toe to head"
Yvette in English saying, "Please have this
Little bit of instant bliss."

[Verse 3]
Burgundy nocturne tips and spills (Yvette)
They trot along nicely in the spreading stain (Yvette)
New chills, new thrills for the old uphill battle (Yvette)
How did he wind up here again?
[Chorus 3]
Walking and talking, touched and scared
Uninsulated wires left bare
And Yvette in English going, "Please have this
Little bit of instant bliss."

[Verse 4]
What blew her like a leaf his way? (Yvette)
(Up in the air and down to Earth) (Yvette)
First she flusters, then she frays (Yvette)
So quick to question her own worth

[Chorus 4]
Her cigarette burns her fingertips
As it falls like fireworks she curses it
Then sweetly in English she says, "Please have this
Little bit of instant bliss."

[Verse 5]
He sees her turn and walk away (Yvette)
Skittering like a cat on stone (Yvette)
Her high heels clicking, what a wary little stray (Yvette)
She leaves him by the Seine alone

[Chorus 5]
With the black water and the amber lights
And the bony bridge between left and right
Yvette in English saying, "Please have this
Little bit of instant bliss."