Knew a man once, very long ago:
They say that he was born in Buffalo,
But I don't believe it -
Buffalo was never sufficiently gilded and pearled.
And this man turned out to be
The playboy of the western world.
Oh, he was elegant past all dreaming;
He made seeming seem like the real McCoy.
All the sheiks of Araby, all the shahs of Persia
Couldn't hold a candle to this boy.
When he walked through a room
It looked as handsome as Napoleon's tomb,
And the Ford he rode
Could have been Mercedes-Benz à la mode.
When he took me out I didn't doubt
That we were going to the Astor or the Sherry-Netherland.
Spring seemed to linger
In the little bunch of flowers he pressed into my hand -
Little bunch of flowers, didn't cost a dime.
Picked them in the park in their prime.
He went around with his heart unfurled:
The one and only playboy of the western world.
You could fall in love with everyone you'd meet
When you walked with him down the street.
Playboys die young; this one did too.
All worn out making dreams come true.
And the world was grim again, without him again,
Without him -
For he was elegant past all dreaming;
He made seeming seem like the real McCoy.
All the sheiks of Araby, all the shahs of Persia
Couldn't hold a candle to this boy.
When they took him out, oh, I didn't doubt
That he was going to Miami or some other wonderland.
Spring seemed to linger
In the little bunch of flowers I pressed into his hand -
Little bunch of flowers, didn't cost a dime.
Picked them in the park in their prime.
He went around with his heart unfurled:
The one and only playboy of the western world.
He was the playboy of the western world,
The playboy of the western world.