She was seeing two at exactly the same time
She never mentioned you when she was round at mine
But when you were round at hers you always made a scene
Cos you only had ears for descriptions of the stranger she was seeing
And what she saw in me was only what attracts
The many girls I see behind their lovers' backs
But what she saw in you, I could never work it out
There was just one thing she found it turned you on to talk about
The inexplicable charisma of the rival
You said 'Describe for me the hairstyle of the devil
Is he passionate? (Don't answer!)
Is he detached (Don't answer that!)
Does he please you in the sack (Shut up, don't answer back!)
Just tell him I'm dying to meet him'
She called me up, she said she's had enough
Of all the paranoia you mixed up with your love
We spent the night together, she woke me up at dawn
And called an all-night taxi
And when you came I was gone
You found my comb behind her chest of drawers
She said she'd slept alone but the bed was full of hairs
And when you matched them up , beyond a shadow of a doubt
The hairs belonged to Beelzebub
And you began to puzzle out
The inexplicable charisma of the rival
You said 'Describe for me the hairstyle of the devil
Does he make you laugh? (Don't answer!)
Does he earn a lot? (Don't answer that!)
Does he dress you up in black? (Shut up, don't answer back!)
Just tell him I'm dying to meet him
The inexplicable charisma of the rival
With the luck and the hairstyle of the devil
And so you gaze at the people all about
In every stranger's face you try to make me out
And when you meet me finally your horns will lock with mine
For the beast rules with rivalry
As the clock rules with time
Pleased to meet you, hope you've guessed my name
The Hairstyle of the Devil was written by Nick Currie.
Momus released The Hairstyle of the Devil on Sun Jan 01 1989.
In the sleeve notes to his 2016 compilation album Pubic Intellectual, Momus discussed the inspiration and reception of the track:
I had a three month affair with my record plugger. She was also seeing Martin Heath, who was having great success with his label Rhythm King Records…our conversation oft...