I took my troubles down to madame ruth
you know that gypsy with that gold tatoo*
she's got a pad down on thirty-fourth and vine
sellin' little bottles of love potion number nine
I told her that i was a flop with chics
i've been this way since 1986*
she looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
she said "what you need is love potion number nine"
She bent down, turned around and gave me a wink
she said "i'm gonna mix it up right here in the sink"
it smelled like turpentine, it looked like indian ink
i held my nose, i closed my eyes, i took a drink
I didn't know if it was day or night
i started kissin' everything in sight
but when i kissed a cop down on thirty-fourth and vine
he broke my little bottle of love potion number nine
[instrumental]
She bent down, turned around and gave me a wink
she said "i'm gonna mix it up right here in the sink"
it smelled like turpentine, it looked like indian ink
i held my nose, i closed my eyes, i took a drink
I didn't know if it was day or night
i started kissin' everything in sight
but when i kissed a cop down on thirty-fourth and vine
he broke my little bottle of love potion number nine
*this could be "gold-capped tooth" as in the other versions, but the way
martinez sings it, it really sounds more like "gold tatoo". secondly, he
has modernized the song so that it really is "since 1986".