Walk Us Uptown lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
[Elvis Costello]
Will you walk us uptown?
And wherever you go, you know we will follow
Will you walk us uptown? And we'll stand in the light
of your new killing ground, and we won't make a sound
...Except to sing our sorrow
Will you walk us uptown while our tears run in torrents
to suffer in silence or pray for some solace
Will you wash away our sins in the cross-fire and cross-currents?
As you uncross your fingers, and take out some insurance
No matter what the price
It's your own paradise
Will you walk us uptown?
Will you walk us uptown?
Some hearts are sinking and some hearts are a-flutter
Some scoop gold from the dirt in the gutter
Or swallow the earth, pouring into your mouth
As they bury us upright saying, "Everything's alright"
Will you walk us uptown like some said that you could
We will feast on your flesh and drink down your blood
Will you haul down that flag and dishonour that vow?
Cause we must not change its color now
Will you walk us uptown?
No matter what the price
Each crushed on the corner of their own paradise
Will you walk us uptown?
Will you walk us uptown? That's always assuming
that you're partly divine and partly human
You're the king of our hearts, you're the clown with the drum
Will you walk us uptown if we promise not to run?
Will you walk us uptown? Will you gather us near
as cowards flee and traitors sneer?
Keep a red flag flying, keep a blue flag as well
and a white flag in case it all goes to hell (hell!)
Sugar Won't Work lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
Lightning Up!
And shake the ground
Is that a horn that's blowing?
Or a bell that's tolling?
Walls are falling
Ships pulled out from their mooring
Is that a river or just a road the storm has stolen?
And this will predict the times these signs will bring
Me and my stupid heart
We were never apart
But now sugar won't work
Lightning Up!
And fly the coop
Far from this tin-pan alley oop
Did you think I was your dupe?
I hear such lies and howlers
Words to pull out your molars
And this will predict the times these signs will bring
Me and my stupid heart
We were never apart
But now sugar won't work
Lightning Up!
Sugar the pill
A wall of ocean ten miles high
Metal darts torn from the sky
Like wanton boys make noise pull wings from flies
And this will predict the times these signs will bring
Me and my stupid heart
We were never apart
But now sugar won't work
And shake the ground
Is that a horn that's blowing?
Or a bell that's tolling?
Walls are falling
Ships pulled out from their mooring
Is that a river or just a road the storm has stolen?
And this will predict the times these signs will bring
Me and my stupid heart
We were never apart
But now sugar won't work
Lightning Up!
And fly the coop
Far from this tin-pan alley oop
Did you think I was your dupe?
I hear such lies and howlers
Words to pull out your molars
And this will predict the times these signs will bring
Me and my stupid heart
We were never apart
But now sugar won't work
Lightning Up!
Sugar the pill
A wall of ocean ten miles high
Metal darts torn from the sky
Like wanton boys make noise pull wings from flies
And this will predict the times these signs will bring
Me and my stupid heart
We were never apart
But now sugar won't work
Refuse To Be Saved lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
Now that you set everybody free
What you going to do about me?
Don't want to be treated like some poor grateful clown
I'd rather go back in the sweet underground
Where I can tell the time by the colour of my skin
And I know my neighbour 'cos he's the one, yes he's the one
Who always turns me in
A woman works the tunnel in the middle of the night
Picking up every lost object in sight
Handbags, toupees, lost legs and fingernails
The black market eats up all your failures
Her transistor offers no salvation or regrets
No pool, no pets, no cigarettes
Just non-stop Disco Tex and the Sex-o-lettes
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
The Liberation Forces make movies of their own
Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned
Drowning out a broadcast that wasn't authorised
Incidentally the revolution will be televised
With one head for business and another for good looks
Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher's hooks
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
They're hunting us down here with Liberty's light
A handshaking double talking procession of the mighty
Pursued by a T.V. crew and coming after them
A limousine of singing stars and their brotherhood anthem
The former dictator was impeccably behaved
They're mopping up all the stubborn ones who just refuse to be saved
I refuse to be saved
What you going to do about me?
Don't want to be treated like some poor grateful clown
I'd rather go back in the sweet underground
Where I can tell the time by the colour of my skin
And I know my neighbour 'cos he's the one, yes he's the one
Who always turns me in
A woman works the tunnel in the middle of the night
Picking up every lost object in sight
Handbags, toupees, lost legs and fingernails
The black market eats up all your failures
Her transistor offers no salvation or regrets
No pool, no pets, no cigarettes
Just non-stop Disco Tex and the Sex-o-lettes
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
The Liberation Forces make movies of their own
Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned
Drowning out a broadcast that wasn't authorised
Incidentally the revolution will be televised
With one head for business and another for good looks
Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher's hooks
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
There's no name, there's no name
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
For the pain we'll cause you again and again
They're hunting us down here with Liberty's light
A handshaking double talking procession of the mighty
Pursued by a T.V. crew and coming after them
A limousine of singing stars and their brotherhood anthem
The former dictator was impeccably behaved
They're mopping up all the stubborn ones who just refuse to be saved
I refuse to be saved
Wake Me Up lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
I've got this phosphorescent portrait of gentle Jesus meek and mild
I've got this harlot that I'm stuck with carrying another man's child
The solitary star announcing vacancy burnt out as we arrived
They'd throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived
And they were surprised to see us
So they greeted us with palms
They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
I've got this imaginary radio, and I'm punching up the dial
I've got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won't blow up in my eye
And everything that I thought fanciful or mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
And I'm practising my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
And if I hold my hand outstretched
A little bird comes to me
And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in Bedlam
Stepping on the fingers that were stretching through the bars
Wailing echoes down the corridors
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
They've got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a Mustang
They drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle
They dangled flags and other rags along a coloured thread of twine
They dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine
Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces
Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces
My thoughts returned to vengeance but I put up no resistance
Though I seemed a long way from my home
It really was no distance
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
And the player piano picks out "Life Goes On"
The Ringtone rang out "Jerusalem"
Into the pit of sadness
Where the wretched plunge
We've buried all the Innocents
We must bury revenge
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
In the name of the Father and the Son
In the name of Gasoline and a Gun
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
I've got this harlot that I'm stuck with carrying another man's child
The solitary star announcing vacancy burnt out as we arrived
They'd throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived
And they were surprised to see us
So they greeted us with palms
They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
I've got this imaginary radio, and I'm punching up the dial
I've got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won't blow up in my eye
And everything that I thought fanciful or mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
And I'm practising my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
And if I hold my hand outstretched
A little bird comes to me
And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in Bedlam
Stepping on the fingers that were stretching through the bars
Wailing echoes down the corridors
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
They've got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a Mustang
They drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle
They dangled flags and other rags along a coloured thread of twine
They dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine
Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces
Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces
My thoughts returned to vengeance but I put up no resistance
Though I seemed a long way from my home
It really was no distance
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
And the player piano picks out "Life Goes On"
The Ringtone rang out "Jerusalem"
Into the pit of sadness
Where the wretched plunge
We've buried all the Innocents
We must bury revenge
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
In the name of the Father and the Son
In the name of Gasoline and a Gun
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
Tripwire lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
Just because you don’t speak the language
Doesn’t mean that you can’t understand
Just because you don’t speak the language
Doesn’t mean that you can’t understand
The twist in the script of the insult
Scrawled on the back of your hand
Torn from the pages of scripture
Sprayed on the wall in the frays of a flag
Kisses forbidden on lips
And all of your fine clothes worn into rags
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
Don’t open the door ‘cos they’re coming
Don’t open the door ‘cos they’re here
Above there’s an ominous humming
Below there’s a murmur of prayer
Torn from the pages of scandal
Sprayed on a wall in the frays of the flag
Kisses forbidden on lips
and all of your fine clothes blown into rags
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a cross in the line there’s a circus
There’s a voice that you might overhear
There’s a lens making the picture perfect
They say you have nothing to fear
Torn from the pages of pamphlets
Thrown in the air like confetti in church
Far, far away there’s a target
and the sound of an army just starting to march
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
Just because I don’t read the language
Doesn’t mean that I'm blind to the threat
Though I thought there was more to forgiveness
Than all we conveniently forget
Torn from the pages of history
Repeated again and again and again
You’re either for or against us
and that is how the hatred begins
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
Doesn’t mean that you can’t understand
Just because you don’t speak the language
Doesn’t mean that you can’t understand
The twist in the script of the insult
Scrawled on the back of your hand
Torn from the pages of scripture
Sprayed on the wall in the frays of a flag
Kisses forbidden on lips
And all of your fine clothes worn into rags
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
Don’t open the door ‘cos they’re coming
Don’t open the door ‘cos they’re here
Above there’s an ominous humming
Below there’s a murmur of prayer
Torn from the pages of scandal
Sprayed on a wall in the frays of the flag
Kisses forbidden on lips
and all of your fine clothes blown into rags
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a cross in the line there’s a circus
There’s a voice that you might overhear
There’s a lens making the picture perfect
They say you have nothing to fear
Torn from the pages of pamphlets
Thrown in the air like confetti in church
Far, far away there’s a target
and the sound of an army just starting to march
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
Just because I don’t read the language
Doesn’t mean that I'm blind to the threat
Though I thought there was more to forgiveness
Than all we conveniently forget
Torn from the pages of history
Repeated again and again and again
You’re either for or against us
and that is how the hatred begins
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
There’s a tripwire
Tripwire, tripwire, tripwire
Stick Out Your Tongue lyrics - Elvis Costello lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
They talked to the sister, the father and the mother
With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other
And the camera noses in to the tears on her face
The tears on her face
The tears on her face
You can put them back together with your paper and paste
Stick out your tongue
Drink down the venom
She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer
Stretched out upon her poor jealous husband's pillow
In time you can turn these obsessions into careers
While the parents of those kidnapped children start the bidding for their tears
What would you say?
What would you do?
Children and animals two by two
Give me the needle
Give me the rope
We're going to melt them down for pills and soap
Four and twenty crowbars, jemmy your desire
Out of the frying pan into the fire
The king is in the counting house
Some folk have all the might
And majesty will run on Bombay Gin and German spite
They come from lovely people
(They come from lovely people)
With a hard line in hypocrisy
There are tears of mediocrity
For the fag ends of the aristocracy
What would you say?
What would you do?
Children and animals two by two
Give me the needle
Give me the rope
We're going to melt them down for pills and soap
Stick out your tongue
Stick out your tongue
Drink down the venom
The sugar-coated pill is getting bitterer still
You think your country needs you but you know it never will
So pack up your troubles in a stolen handbag
Don't dilly dally boys rally 'round the flag
Give us our daily bread in individual slices
And something in the daily rag to cancel any crisis
What would you say?
What would you do?
(Did you find out how to lie?)
Children and animals two by two
(Did you find out how to cheat?)
Give me the needle
(The elite bleat, they're obsolete)
We're going to melt them down
Stick out your tongue
(We're going to melt them down for pills and soap)
Now if you'd only genuflect
Stick out your tongue
Now if you'd only genuflect
Stick out your tongue
Come The Meantimes lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
What are you going to say to me?
Will you be betraying me?
Come The Meantimes
Will you be deceiving me?
And beyond believing in me?
Come The Meantimes
He came back, (right back)
And nobody blinked
He came back, (right back)
At least I think that he did
He came back, (right back)
And he ran and he hid
And he muttered and moaned
And said "Let's go get stoned"
Will you be denying me?
Will you still come crying to me
Come The Meantimes
Are you still obeying me?
Will you still be praying to me?
Come The Meantimes
Will you sit in judgment then?
Be the first one to condemn
Come The Meantimes
Now you've got nobody else to blame
And trouble remembering my name
Will you still be cursing me
Come my anniversary
Come The Meantimes
He came back, (right back)
And they followed and failed
He came back, (right back)
He got hammered and nailed
He came back, (right back)
And he wandered alone
They said let's gather some stones
And make them atone
Now I'm in a hall of mirrors
With my secret thoughts and terrors
Come The Meantimes
And I'm drinking to your health
Find I'm only talking to myself
Come The Meantimes
He came back, (right back)
And nobody blinked
He came back, (right back)
At least I think that he did
He came back, (right back)
Then he ran and he hid
And he muttered and moaned
And said "Let's go get stoned"
Blossoms fragrant opening
Poppies full of opium
Come The Meantimes
Phony prophets offer hope
That's a different kind of dope
Come The Meantimes
Right now!
Right now!
Right now!
Gather some stones and make them atone
Come The Meantimes
(Let's go get stoned)
Come The Meantimes
Will you be betraying me?
Come The Meantimes
Will you be deceiving me?
And beyond believing in me?
Come The Meantimes
He came back, (right back)
And nobody blinked
He came back, (right back)
At least I think that he did
He came back, (right back)
And he ran and he hid
And he muttered and moaned
And said "Let's go get stoned"
Will you be denying me?
Will you still come crying to me
Come The Meantimes
Are you still obeying me?
Will you still be praying to me?
Come The Meantimes
Will you sit in judgment then?
Be the first one to condemn
Come The Meantimes
Now you've got nobody else to blame
And trouble remembering my name
Will you still be cursing me
Come my anniversary
Come The Meantimes
He came back, (right back)
And they followed and failed
He came back, (right back)
He got hammered and nailed
He came back, (right back)
And he wandered alone
They said let's gather some stones
And make them atone
Now I'm in a hall of mirrors
With my secret thoughts and terrors
Come The Meantimes
And I'm drinking to your health
Find I'm only talking to myself
Come The Meantimes
He came back, (right back)
And nobody blinked
He came back, (right back)
At least I think that he did
He came back, (right back)
Then he ran and he hid
And he muttered and moaned
And said "Let's go get stoned"
Blossoms fragrant opening
Poppies full of opium
Come The Meantimes
Phony prophets offer hope
That's a different kind of dope
Come The Meantimes
Right now!
Right now!
Right now!
Gather some stones and make them atone
Come The Meantimes
(Let's go get stoned)
Come The Meantimes
(She Might Be A) Grenade lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
She's pulling out the pin
That lets her hair fall down
She's pulling out the pin
She shakes her head
And it goes tumbling
Her smile was out of place
So she swept it off her face
Let me find the words and say them
Like some softly whispered "Amen"
But she starts to pull away
And the lights begin to dim
Is she thinking of me?
Or is she thinking of him?
She's pulling out the pin…
She's slipping off the hook
Unbuttoning her dress
She's slipping off the hook
There's just enough to make some man a mess
She tears away the veil
With her fingernails
She came out high and kicking
While the band played "Hey, Good Looking"
Do you hear something ticking?
Did somebody tell her she could really be redeemed?
And could she actually be as desperate as she seems?
She's tearing at the seams
She's going to extremes
Nobody told her it was a sin
So she's pulling out the pin
She's taping up her hands just like a boxer will
And they started laughing
But if looks could kill
She'd take them down right now
She's covering her mouth
With some unholy vow
There's nothing more to say
This is her wedding day
Full of shattered glass and mayhem
Not some softly whispered "Amen"
While the shock announcement dawns
And the smoke begins to thin
Where the world without ends
And the next one begins
She's pulling out the pin
She's pulling out the pin
She's pulling out the pin
She's pulling out the pin
That lets her hair fall down
She's pulling out the pin
She shakes her head
And it goes tumbling
Her smile was out of place
So she swept it off her face
Let me find the words and say them
Like some softly whispered "Amen"
But she starts to pull away
And the lights begin to dim
Is she thinking of me?
Or is she thinking of him?
She's pulling out the pin…
She's slipping off the hook
Unbuttoning her dress
She's slipping off the hook
There's just enough to make some man a mess
She tears away the veil
With her fingernails
She came out high and kicking
While the band played "Hey, Good Looking"
Do you hear something ticking?
Did somebody tell her she could really be redeemed?
And could she actually be as desperate as she seems?
She's tearing at the seams
She's going to extremes
Nobody told her it was a sin
So she's pulling out the pin
She's taping up her hands just like a boxer will
And they started laughing
But if looks could kill
She'd take them down right now
She's covering her mouth
With some unholy vow
There's nothing more to say
This is her wedding day
Full of shattered glass and mayhem
Not some softly whispered "Amen"
While the shock announcement dawns
And the smoke begins to thin
Where the world without ends
And the next one begins
She's pulling out the pin
She's pulling out the pin
She's pulling out the pin
She's pulling out the pin
Cinco Minutos Con Vos lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots & La Marisoul)
I stood at the kerb trying not to disturb
The dark carnival crew and a glittering voice
Far off there said, "Rejoice"
"As the casualties are but few"
Going to tell you now
Before I forget myself
I could let you loose
But the key won't undo the lock
And the face of the clock
Seemed to merrily mock
These five minutes with you
Mi padre sabía
Y me lo susurro
Vete a Montevideo y espérame ahí
Por dónde empezar?
Escuchando siempre están
Por cinco minutos o mas
Si te atreves
La sirenas lamentan
La plaga que encuentran
Las balas caen
Y te harán desaparecer
El faro oscurece hay poca esperanza
Cinco minutos con vos
[English Version:]
My father would know
So he whispered it low
"Go to Montevideo and wait for me there"
How can I begin?
They're always listening in
For five minutes or more if you dare
Now the sirens wail
There is a fever in the winding sheets
And the bullets hail
And they pull you right off the streets
Our chances are slim but the searchlights will dim in five minutes for you
The propeller was droning, I woke up alone
They opened the door and they threw me through
And down I went down, like the twist of a screw
Down into the silver, above me the blue
And you stood there waiting but you never knew
Five Minutes With You
They can scatter the earth and find nothing of worth
Wipe out those years of triangular tears
The colours will fly
And the wild wind will cry I'm strapped to that mast
Knowing they wouldn't last for
Five Minutes With You
The dark carnival crew and a glittering voice
Far off there said, "Rejoice"
"As the casualties are but few"
Going to tell you now
Before I forget myself
I could let you loose
But the key won't undo the lock
And the face of the clock
Seemed to merrily mock
These five minutes with you
Mi padre sabía
Y me lo susurro
Vete a Montevideo y espérame ahí
Por dónde empezar?
Escuchando siempre están
Por cinco minutos o mas
Si te atreves
La sirenas lamentan
La plaga que encuentran
Las balas caen
Y te harán desaparecer
El faro oscurece hay poca esperanza
Cinco minutos con vos
[English Version:]
My father would know
So he whispered it low
"Go to Montevideo and wait for me there"
How can I begin?
They're always listening in
For five minutes or more if you dare
Now the sirens wail
There is a fever in the winding sheets
And the bullets hail
And they pull you right off the streets
Our chances are slim but the searchlights will dim in five minutes for you
The propeller was droning, I woke up alone
They opened the door and they threw me through
And down I went down, like the twist of a screw
Down into the silver, above me the blue
And you stood there waiting but you never knew
Five Minutes With You
They can scatter the earth and find nothing of worth
Wipe out those years of triangular tears
The colours will fly
And the wild wind will cry I'm strapped to that mast
Knowing they wouldn't last for
Five Minutes With You
Viceroy's Row lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
Now there's a crank in every crowd
Sprinkling gunpowder
Seems that everything is about to blow
They lit the burning paper
With a waxen taper
Sitting up here on Viceroy's Row
And they're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
Watching the pipeline as it overflowed
Sitting pretty here on Viceroy's Row
He made a fortune out of barbed wire
In the last days of the Empire
Built a cast-iron curtain
Just to keep control
He was a tycoon, then a cheapskate
Went out looking for a keepsake
To tuck into his suitcase on Viceroy's Row
And they're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
Watching the pipeline as it overflowed
Sitting pretty here on Viceroy's Row
He had a satchel full of cash
And dishes full of ashes
He went from boom to bust
In the blinking of a lash
Heard the rat-a-tat of the late patrol
Shooting out the lights up on Viceroy's Row
And they're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
They're coming for him slowly
Now the war is over
Sitting up here on Viceroy's Row
The woman in a blindfold
She doesn't want her hand held
Walking through a minefield
Saying "How does this feel?"
Stepping on the quicksand
Going down slow
Hiding up here on Viceroy's Row
Nothing satisfies
The ruins of his blue eyes
Like blood stains on a diamond mine
And deep within you felt
Not one measure of his guilt
Staring in the dark up on Viceroy's Row
Yet her penitent lover
Took a ribbon of rubber
Tied her to the bed made of silken thread
But without an ounce of mercy
They denounced him with a curse
Hammering on the door upon Viceroy's Row
Now his little concubine in her cemetery drag
Her face all smeared with charcoal
Is leaving all her cares, so
Take 500 acres and see what you can sow
We came to overthrow those on Viceroy's Row
They're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
Watching the pipeline as it overflowed
Sitting up here on Viceroy's Row
Wise Up Ghost lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
Last lions roar before they're tamed
I stood out in the glorious reign
Knowing full well I can't go home again
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost
Yield some sighs up
Wise Up Ghost
Go on your merry way now if you must
Fool's Gold turns rivets into rust
'Til you don't know who to trust
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Old woman living in a cardboard shoe
Lost so many souls, she don't know what to do
So, say your prayers 'cos down the stairs it's 1932
Wise Up Ghost
She revolves around a sparkling pole
Stares into the mirrored wall
Sees another woman walking through a market stall
(She's pulling out the pin)
Wise Up Ghost
(She's pulling out the pin)
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Lost girl found on the radio
Down around Larado
Go direct to hell you murdering so-and-so
Wise Up Ghost
Trapped within a House of Feathers
Sitting in a Shirt of Wire
Howling at a Wall of Flowers
Saying "Wise Up Ghost"
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
I walked along an iron pier
Where Rose's kisses turned to tears
Saltwater rushing over the pebbles under there
Wise Up Ghost
Last sigh of passion
Slipped into the room like an assassin
Glad tidings we bring
For you and your King
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Last lions roar before they're tamed
I stood out in the glorious reign
Knowing full well I can't go home again
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost
Yield some sighs up
Wise Up Ghost
I stood out in the glorious reign
Knowing full well I can't go home again
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost
Yield some sighs up
Wise Up Ghost
Go on your merry way now if you must
Fool's Gold turns rivets into rust
'Til you don't know who to trust
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Old woman living in a cardboard shoe
Lost so many souls, she don't know what to do
So, say your prayers 'cos down the stairs it's 1932
Wise Up Ghost
She revolves around a sparkling pole
Stares into the mirrored wall
Sees another woman walking through a market stall
(She's pulling out the pin)
Wise Up Ghost
(She's pulling out the pin)
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Lost girl found on the radio
Down around Larado
Go direct to hell you murdering so-and-so
Wise Up Ghost
Trapped within a House of Feathers
Sitting in a Shirt of Wire
Howling at a Wall of Flowers
Saying "Wise Up Ghost"
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
I walked along an iron pier
Where Rose's kisses turned to tears
Saltwater rushing over the pebbles under there
Wise Up Ghost
Last sigh of passion
Slipped into the room like an assassin
Glad tidings we bring
For you and your King
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Yield some sighs up (Wise Up Ghost)
Wise Up Ghost (Wise Up Ghost)
Last lions roar before they're tamed
I stood out in the glorious reign
Knowing full well I can't go home again
Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up
When are you going to rise up?
Wise Up Ghost
Yield some sighs up
Wise Up Ghost
If I Could Believe lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
If I could believe two and two is five
Two wrongs make a right
Well then, man alive
Lost in my insolence and sneers
That might sound like prayers
If I could believe
If I could believe
You were from heaven sent
Then just losing you
Would be my punishment
But in the hour of disgrace
I might see his face
If I could believe
If I could believe
Then I know I might
Sleep all through the night
But how many times must I wake in fright
Nagging doubts still tugging on my sleeve
If I could believe two and two is five
Two wrongs make a right
Well then, man alive
Lost in my insolence and sneers
That might sound like prayers
If I could believe
If I could believe
Two wrongs make a right
Well then, man alive
Lost in my insolence and sneers
That might sound like prayers
If I could believe
If I could believe
You were from heaven sent
Then just losing you
Would be my punishment
But in the hour of disgrace
I might see his face
If I could believe
If I could believe
Then I know I might
Sleep all through the night
But how many times must I wake in fright
Nagging doubts still tugging on my sleeve
If I could believe two and two is five
Two wrongs make a right
Well then, man alive
Lost in my insolence and sneers
That might sound like prayers
If I could believe
If I could believe
My New Haunt lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
My New Haunt
Gives me everything I want
My New Haunt
Gives me everything I want
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
If she turns out to be crazy in time
Bring me black strap molasses
Light me a burning witch
Bring me my bristle brushes
Bring me my tar and pitch
Bring me my feather pillow
And I'll unpick the stitch
We've lived too well
Too long
So long
So strong
My New Haunt
Brings me everything I want
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
If she turns out to be faithless in time
My New Haunt
Sometimes disappears
Then comes back in the night
And whispers in my ears
Saying "Don't you know you little fool
You've nothing to fear
I'll tell you everything you want to know
Everything you want to hear"
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
Raise up that flaming torch
Watch as the ships approach
An invitation on her lips
The homeless, tempest-tossed, she grips
Make her beautiful
Make her dutiful and rich
Sing me a love song
So long
So strong
My New Haunt
Has just been repossessed
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
if I have to guess my next address
I'm out on the horizon
Just as the sun was rising
First rays bestow a kiss
So you would never guess
I'm sailing off a precipice
Dragons and gold down in the hold
Burning leaves and spices choking back the stench of piss
My New Haunt
Requires a coat of paint
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
If the walls are peeling and the ceiling is revealing the stars out there reeling
My New Haunt
Sometimes disappears
Comes back in the night
And whispers in my ears
Saying "Don't you know you little fool
You've nothing to fear
I'll tell you everything you want to know
Everything you want to hear"
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
At the end of the working day
He's tired of kneeling, and praying
"As I lay down to die"
I can't remember why
Up on the silent screen
A cowboy ropes a trick
And in the second feature
Some lovely creature saved by a yankee dick
Make her beautiful
Make her dutiful and rich
Sing me a love song
So long
So strong
My New Haunt
The shiver of a chill
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
Start making babies
Beat out those bayonets
Stop making bullets
Reverse the planets
Pick all my pockets
Cut off those bracelets
Have you no remorse?
Peel off your corsets
Of course
Gives me everything I want
My New Haunt
Gives me everything I want
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
If she turns out to be crazy in time
Bring me black strap molasses
Light me a burning witch
Bring me my bristle brushes
Bring me my tar and pitch
Bring me my feather pillow
And I'll unpick the stitch
We've lived too well
Too long
So long
So strong
My New Haunt
Brings me everything I want
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
If she turns out to be faithless in time
My New Haunt
Sometimes disappears
Then comes back in the night
And whispers in my ears
Saying "Don't you know you little fool
You've nothing to fear
I'll tell you everything you want to know
Everything you want to hear"
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
Raise up that flaming torch
Watch as the ships approach
An invitation on her lips
The homeless, tempest-tossed, she grips
Make her beautiful
Make her dutiful and rich
Sing me a love song
So long
So strong
My New Haunt
Has just been repossessed
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
if I have to guess my next address
I'm out on the horizon
Just as the sun was rising
First rays bestow a kiss
So you would never guess
I'm sailing off a precipice
Dragons and gold down in the hold
Burning leaves and spices choking back the stench of piss
My New Haunt
Requires a coat of paint
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
If the walls are peeling and the ceiling is revealing the stars out there reeling
My New Haunt
Sometimes disappears
Comes back in the night
And whispers in my ears
Saying "Don't you know you little fool
You've nothing to fear
I'll tell you everything you want to know
Everything you want to hear"
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
At the end of the working day
He's tired of kneeling, and praying
"As I lay down to die"
I can't remember why
Up on the silent screen
A cowboy ropes a trick
And in the second feature
Some lovely creature saved by a yankee dick
Make her beautiful
Make her dutiful and rich
Sing me a love song
So long
So strong
My New Haunt
The shiver of a chill
And I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind
Start making babies
Beat out those bayonets
Stop making bullets
Reverse the planets
Pick all my pockets
Cut off those bracelets
Have you no remorse?
Peel off your corsets
Of course
Can You Hear Me? lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
Signal fading
Listen to what I'm saying
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Testing, testing
Can you hear me?
This better be worth all of the breath I'm wasting
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Well, you know your time has come
And you're sorry for what you've done
All you gangsters
You should have never have been playing with a gun
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin
For each harlot and each puritan
Pull off their wings, stick 'em on a pin
Can you hear me?
And just let the money roll in
Can you hear me?
Signal fading
Listen to what I'm saying
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Testing, testing
Can you hear me?
This better be worth all of the breath I'm wasting
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
There's a line that you must toe
And it's time for you to go
All you gangsters
It's darker than you know
Can you hear me?
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
The hands of the helpless are raised
Your dead little secrets are praised
The people stand dumbstruck and dazed
Can you hear me?
By the inches that you have erased
Hear him treacling in your ear
Do those drug dealer still polish women made of wax
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Gangsters and world leaders
Require the same protection from attack
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Libraries filled up with failed ideas
There's nothing more for me there
I trust in tender ink and gentle airs
Tape starts running
He's going to tell you something
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Strings start strumming
Another humdrum conundrum...
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Barricaded in the talk radio station
Hostage taken
Can you hear me
The red "On-Air" light shines on
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
All you gangsters
So pay the ransom
Before the run-out groove
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Get my wife down here
A helicopter on the roof
No police marksman
Maintaining radio silence from now on
Signal fading
Listen to what I'm saying
Mystery voices drowned out by too much choice
Testing, testing
Maintaining radio silence
Listen to what I'm saying
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Testing, testing
Can you hear me?
This better be worth all of the breath I'm wasting
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Well, you know your time has come
And you're sorry for what you've done
All you gangsters
You should have never have been playing with a gun
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin
For each harlot and each puritan
Pull off their wings, stick 'em on a pin
Can you hear me?
And just let the money roll in
Can you hear me?
Signal fading
Listen to what I'm saying
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Testing, testing
Can you hear me?
This better be worth all of the breath I'm wasting
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
There's a line that you must toe
And it's time for you to go
All you gangsters
It's darker than you know
Can you hear me?
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
The hands of the helpless are raised
Your dead little secrets are praised
The people stand dumbstruck and dazed
Can you hear me?
By the inches that you have erased
Hear him treacling in your ear
Do those drug dealer still polish women made of wax
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Gangsters and world leaders
Require the same protection from attack
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Libraries filled up with failed ideas
There's nothing more for me there
I trust in tender ink and gentle airs
Tape starts running
He's going to tell you something
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Strings start strumming
Another humdrum conundrum...
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Barricaded in the talk radio station
Hostage taken
Can you hear me
The red "On-Air" light shines on
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
All you gangsters
So pay the ransom
Before the run-out groove
Hear him coming through loud and clear
Hear him treacling in your ear
Get my wife down here
A helicopter on the roof
No police marksman
Maintaining radio silence from now on
Signal fading
Listen to what I'm saying
Mystery voices drowned out by too much choice
Testing, testing
Maintaining radio silence
The Puppet Has Cut His Strings lyrics - Elvis Costello (with The Roots)
They pulled the stars down one by one
Hauled up the moon to shine upon
A velvet curtain rising
Now her puppet has cut his strings
The footlights glare
The trumpets blare
Why is your face drawn on so glum, old chum
Paintbrush dragging on a drum
The rimshot on the punchline that you fumbled
The crowd went home and left you
For dead
My old woodenhead
Took the thimble and the thread
Choked back tears like a cymbal
The breath is slow and shallow too
The sky is bright Venetian blue
The cardboard sun is all ablaze
The air is painted Clifford Brown
Caressing "Yesterdays"
The steady gaze of your glass eye
Head in a basket smiling still
Free of will, free of wisdom
Can't feel my fingers anymore
Can't raise my hand and ask for more
Dance my doll across the floor
Or fire a flag from a pistol
("Bang")
They pulled the stars down one by one
Hauled up the moon to wish upon
The puppet finally cut his strings
And free at last from earthly things
He's dancing on the ceiling
With a showgirl in a feather dress
Time is meaningless
We carried you on buckled limbs
Through mournful airs and martyrs hymns
Then one blue and one more yellow pill
One keeps you quiet
One keeps you still
You sang "The Way You Looked Tonight"
Your voice is ringing true and clear
Then you wore them down like candlelight
And in the darkness
You'd best beware
And in the darkness
You'd best beware
You'd best beware
You'd best beware
I used to love him
When I used to care
Canopy
Satin trim
Slowly closing
The puppet has cut his strings
Hauled up the moon to shine upon
A velvet curtain rising
Now her puppet has cut his strings
The footlights glare
The trumpets blare
Why is your face drawn on so glum, old chum
Paintbrush dragging on a drum
The rimshot on the punchline that you fumbled
The crowd went home and left you
For dead
My old woodenhead
Took the thimble and the thread
Choked back tears like a cymbal
The breath is slow and shallow too
The sky is bright Venetian blue
The cardboard sun is all ablaze
The air is painted Clifford Brown
Caressing "Yesterdays"
The steady gaze of your glass eye
Head in a basket smiling still
Free of will, free of wisdom
Can't feel my fingers anymore
Can't raise my hand and ask for more
Dance my doll across the floor
Or fire a flag from a pistol
("Bang")
They pulled the stars down one by one
Hauled up the moon to wish upon
The puppet finally cut his strings
And free at last from earthly things
He's dancing on the ceiling
With a showgirl in a feather dress
Time is meaningless
We carried you on buckled limbs
Through mournful airs and martyrs hymns
Then one blue and one more yellow pill
One keeps you quiet
One keeps you still
You sang "The Way You Looked Tonight"
Your voice is ringing true and clear
Then you wore them down like candlelight
And in the darkness
You'd best beware
And in the darkness
You'd best beware
You'd best beware
You'd best beware
I used to love him
When I used to care
Canopy
Satin trim
Slowly closing
The puppet has cut his strings
National Ransom lyrics - Elvis Costello
Running pell-mell and harum-scarum
Running as hot as they do or dare
Stick out your tongue
And drink down all the venom
From Cut-Throat Cuthbert
And Millicent St. Cyr
From the real old Macau
To the new False Americas
In the liberated territories
Unusual suspects shake down, shake down, shake down various dubious characters
Mother's in the kitchen picking bones for breakfast
Boiling them down by the bushel and the score
Pull out your thumb and count what's left of your fist
There's a wolf at the window with ravening maw
Did you find how to lie?
Did you find out just how to cheat?
The elite bleat, their obsolete
But are your prospects?
Exact, perfect object
Now, if you'd only genuflect
They're running wild
Just like some childish tantrum
Meanwhile we're working every day
Paying off the National Ransom
Woe betide all this hocus-pocus
They're running us ragged at their first attempt
Around the time the killing stopped on Wall St.
You couldn't hold me, baby with anything but contempt
Letters peal slowly from our speech
The claxton attempts to preach
Stretching for stars still out of reach
Drowning
Flailing
Outside someone's wailing
They're running wild
Just like some childish tantrum
Meanwhile we're working every day
Paying off the National Ransom
Running as hot as they do or dare
Stick out your tongue
And drink down all the venom
From Cut-Throat Cuthbert
And Millicent St. Cyr
From the real old Macau
To the new False Americas
In the liberated territories
Unusual suspects shake down, shake down, shake down various dubious characters
Mother's in the kitchen picking bones for breakfast
Boiling them down by the bushel and the score
Pull out your thumb and count what's left of your fist
There's a wolf at the window with ravening maw
Did you find how to lie?
Did you find out just how to cheat?
The elite bleat, their obsolete
But are your prospects?
Exact, perfect object
Now, if you'd only genuflect
They're running wild
Just like some childish tantrum
Meanwhile we're working every day
Paying off the National Ransom
Woe betide all this hocus-pocus
They're running us ragged at their first attempt
Around the time the killing stopped on Wall St.
You couldn't hold me, baby with anything but contempt
Letters peal slowly from our speech
The claxton attempts to preach
Stretching for stars still out of reach
Drowning
Flailing
Outside someone's wailing
They're running wild
Just like some childish tantrum
Meanwhile we're working every day
Paying off the National Ransom
Jimmie Standing In The Rain lyrics - Elvis Costello
Third-Class ticket in his pocket
Punching out the shadows underneath the sockets
Tweed coat turned up against the fog
Slow coaches rolling o'er the moor
Between the very memory
And approaches of war
Stale bread curling on a luncheon counter
Loose change lonely, not the right amount
Forgotten Man of an indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
The sky is falling
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Nobody wants to buy a counterfeited prairie lullaby in a colliery town
A hip flask and fumbled skein with some stagedoor Josephine is all he'll get now
Eyes going in and out of focus
Mild and bitter from tuberculosis
Forgotten Man
Indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
The sky is falling
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Her soft breath was gentle on his neck
If he could choose the time to die
Then he would come and go like this
Underneath a painted sky
She woke up and called him "Charlie" by mistake
And then in shame began to cry
Tarnished silver band peals off a phrase
And then warms their hands around the brazier
Forgotten Man
Indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
It's finally dawning
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Brilliantine glistening
Your soft plaintive whistling
And your wan wandering smile
Died down at The Hippodrome
Now you're walking off to jeers, the lonely sound of jingling spurs, the "toodle-oos" and "Oh, my dears" down at "The Argyle"
Vile vaudevillians applaud sobriety
There's no place for a half-cut cowboy in polite society
Forgotten Man
Indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
It's finally dawning
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Stations Of The Cross lyrics - Elvis Costello
The tempest blows up from a squall
Past the Cape of Bad Conscience
Into the Gulf of the Cauldron
Roars over the coastline to batter and flatten
Exposing the roots like the dyed hair of slattern
Scrapper and mauler in a rope ring this small
Outside the wind is punching
There's no one left to hear it
No one hears the bell ring
Except the one who comes to fear it
And they continue to brawl
He's buying his way into heaven I suppose
He weeps at the blows
But down in a location that we cannot disclose
He turns the dial slowly
Through the Stations of the Cross
Crowd done up dandy
In diamonds and finery
Baying and howling
All bloodlusty calling
Fists like pistons
Faces like meat spoiling
Haul, boys, haul, bully-boys haul
Later that evening
Molly and her gunman
Go down the stairs to a dive like a dungeon
Meanwhile in the backroom there's a girl like a sponge
Saying, "Bring him in long as a constable's truncheon"
The gunman wants Molly to kingdom come
Then blows them all to the hereafter
Who's scuttling away now and hidden from our view?
Who tightened the tourniquet, turning her blue?
They're hurling themselves into heaven I suppose
Before the gates are closed
But down in a location that we cannot disclose
They'll turn the dial slowly through the Stations of the Cross
The gale of hale laughter
Scales up the ivory
The black keys of her fine whine descend into the minor
Die away breathless
Diminishing behind her
Haul boys haul, bully-boys haul
The water came up to the eaves
You'd think someone had opened a valve
It's too soon to stay now and too late to leave
So spare your remorse all the way up to Calvary
They're hurling themselves into heaven I suppose
Before the gates are closed
But down in a location that we cannot disclose
I'm turning the dial slowly through the Stations of the Cross
Past the Cape of Bad Conscience
Into the Gulf of the Cauldron
Roars over the coastline to batter and flatten
Exposing the roots like the dyed hair of slattern
Scrapper and mauler in a rope ring this small
Outside the wind is punching
There's no one left to hear it
No one hears the bell ring
Except the one who comes to fear it
And they continue to brawl
He's buying his way into heaven I suppose
He weeps at the blows
But down in a location that we cannot disclose
He turns the dial slowly
Through the Stations of the Cross
Crowd done up dandy
In diamonds and finery
Baying and howling
All bloodlusty calling
Fists like pistons
Faces like meat spoiling
Haul, boys, haul, bully-boys haul
Later that evening
Molly and her gunman
Go down the stairs to a dive like a dungeon
Meanwhile in the backroom there's a girl like a sponge
Saying, "Bring him in long as a constable's truncheon"
The gunman wants Molly to kingdom come
Then blows them all to the hereafter
Who's scuttling away now and hidden from our view?
Who tightened the tourniquet, turning her blue?
They're hurling themselves into heaven I suppose
Before the gates are closed
But down in a location that we cannot disclose
They'll turn the dial slowly through the Stations of the Cross
The gale of hale laughter
Scales up the ivory
The black keys of her fine whine descend into the minor
Die away breathless
Diminishing behind her
Haul boys haul, bully-boys haul
The water came up to the eaves
You'd think someone had opened a valve
It's too soon to stay now and too late to leave
So spare your remorse all the way up to Calvary
They're hurling themselves into heaven I suppose
Before the gates are closed
But down in a location that we cannot disclose
I'm turning the dial slowly through the Stations of the Cross
A Slow Drag With Josephine lyrics - Elvis Costello
The snitch, the snoop, the tattletale
Lead a threadbare up stairs
Adieu, my little ballyhoo
You broke my heart in two
And now I haunt the bars and scent those trite affairs
She went home to gather her comb
And caught him unawares
And there was her man enjoying the lay of the land
He took a walk in the dark with a dish from the stand
Girls and their creations
Tight in the brightest grenadine
But I'd take all that I've seen
For a Slow Drag with Josephine
Josephine, Josephine
But I'd trade all that I've seen for a Slow Drag with Josephine
Gavotte, garrotes, Cotillions and slow Arabesques
Drum-rolls and Farandoles were all made in jest
But when you make that move
I can't resist
When will you declare your armistice?
Josephine, Josephine
But I'd trade all that I've seen for a Slow Drag with Josephine
In another time and place a different fate was cast
He tried to skeddle-daddle-do
She might have slapped him
Just for saying "Grant one more chance before you pass"
"Then curse the nurse that named me the first or bury me at last"
And in three-quarter time
The true and the false
Dancing the "Hesitation Waltz"
Then comes the "Flirtation"
And temptation
Hip, hip hooray
Listen to what I say
Then you can take it away...
Five Small Words lyrics - Elvis Costello
Maybe you'll recognize in time
Maybe one day you will discover
All the pain that lies behind
You and your unfortunate love
Somebody might be more
Unsuitable and strange
With eyes that offer everything
And are capable of danger
My mind turns over lies you told
Things said to your other lover
Sweet as they had been to me
You lay there telling them to each other
Now I stand outside the door
My head is filled phrases
Inside someone's calling out
Their voices rise with praises
Five Small Words
"I don't want you anymore"
Five Small Words
"I don't need you anymore"
Five Small Words
Coward that you are, you would faithlessly implore
"Baby please don't leave me"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Why did you deceive me?"
It didn't take some shiny dagger
The tattooed fingers grip and hone
I walked under some dark ladder
Heard your final loving moan
All your indiscretions are
So merciful and brief
Genteel poison sprinkled on your Spanish handkerchief
Five Small Words
"Don't you love me anymore?"
Five Small Words
But then who is keeping score?
Coward that you are, you would so faithlessly implore
"Baby please don't leave me"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Why did you deceive me?"
Maybe in time you'll want me more
Accidentally like this '45
This '44
Maybe one day you will discover
All the pain that lies behind
You and your unfortunate love
Somebody might be more
Unsuitable and strange
With eyes that offer everything
And are capable of danger
My mind turns over lies you told
Things said to your other lover
Sweet as they had been to me
You lay there telling them to each other
Now I stand outside the door
My head is filled phrases
Inside someone's calling out
Their voices rise with praises
Five Small Words
"I don't want you anymore"
Five Small Words
"I don't need you anymore"
Five Small Words
Coward that you are, you would faithlessly implore
"Baby please don't leave me"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Why did you deceive me?"
It didn't take some shiny dagger
The tattooed fingers grip and hone
I walked under some dark ladder
Heard your final loving moan
All your indiscretions are
So merciful and brief
Genteel poison sprinkled on your Spanish handkerchief
Five Small Words
"Don't you love me anymore?"
Five Small Words
But then who is keeping score?
Coward that you are, you would so faithlessly implore
"Baby please don't leave me"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Why did you deceive me?"
Maybe in time you'll want me more
Accidentally like this '45
This '44
Church Underground lyrics - Elvis Costello
She stood spotlit in a plain print dress
Came howling out of the wilderness
There beat a cunning and murderous heart
Beneath that calm exterior
"You know my name
You don't know my mind
Don't doubt my eyes
They betray the past
And I've already forgotten
Much more than you will ever know"
And every word that I have spoken is true
Except for those that were broken in two
I'm trying to make peace after a long night of pretend
I need a pawnbroker or moneylender
Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
Turn up the volume, just to turn it down
The trivial secrets buried with profound
It's enough to put a Church Underground
Deflowered young and then ever since
She's tried to wash off his fingerprints
So every charlatan and prince
Was made to feel inferior
She worked for tips in a 10-cent dance
Said moving pictures might pay perchance
10,000 one-way tickets to the sparkling coast
From the blank interior
Everybody's either talking in code
Or getting ready to explode
Then she was singing with five-piece band
But seems that no-one wants this sound
Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
Turn up the volume, just to turn it down
The trivial secrets buried with profound
It's enough to put a Church Underground
The shaft of fanlight streaked with rain
Poured through the glass, punched through the pain
A holy picture hidden in the midden of that poisoned stitch
Her lonely voice was just a ruin in these riches
Must have been dreaming this all along
Could she be redeeming herself in song?
"I'm no-one's martyred, plaster saint
Below the grease, beneath the paint"
I'm rolling like barrel
Swinging like a gallows
I'm rising up fast like all hell and all hallows
Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
I'll be damned or purgatory bound
Before those jokers ever understand
It's enough to put a Church Underground
Came howling out of the wilderness
There beat a cunning and murderous heart
Beneath that calm exterior
"You know my name
You don't know my mind
Don't doubt my eyes
They betray the past
And I've already forgotten
Much more than you will ever know"
And every word that I have spoken is true
Except for those that were broken in two
I'm trying to make peace after a long night of pretend
I need a pawnbroker or moneylender
Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
Turn up the volume, just to turn it down
The trivial secrets buried with profound
It's enough to put a Church Underground
Deflowered young and then ever since
She's tried to wash off his fingerprints
So every charlatan and prince
Was made to feel inferior
She worked for tips in a 10-cent dance
Said moving pictures might pay perchance
10,000 one-way tickets to the sparkling coast
From the blank interior
Everybody's either talking in code
Or getting ready to explode
Then she was singing with five-piece band
But seems that no-one wants this sound
Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
Turn up the volume, just to turn it down
The trivial secrets buried with profound
It's enough to put a Church Underground
The shaft of fanlight streaked with rain
Poured through the glass, punched through the pain
A holy picture hidden in the midden of that poisoned stitch
Her lonely voice was just a ruin in these riches
Must have been dreaming this all along
Could she be redeeming herself in song?
"I'm no-one's martyred, plaster saint
Below the grease, beneath the paint"
I'm rolling like barrel
Swinging like a gallows
I'm rising up fast like all hell and all hallows
Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
I'll be damned or purgatory bound
Before those jokers ever understand
It's enough to put a Church Underground
You Hung The Moon lyrics - Elvis Costello
The homecoming fanfare is echoing still
Now tapping on tables
And sensing a chill
Poor families expecting loved one's return
Only summon some charlatan spectre
Oh, when will they learn?
You hung the moon
From a gallows in the sky
Choked out the light
From his blue lunar eye
The shore is a parchment
The sea has no tide
Since he was taken from my side
The lines of the fallen are viewed through a glass
But you cannot touch them at all
Or hear their footfall just as they go past
The drunken ground is where they are bound
You hung the moon
From a gallows in the sky
Put out the light in his blue lunar eye
The shore is a parchment
The sea has no tide
Since he was taken from my side
So slap out his terrors
And sneer at his tears
We deal with deserters like this
From the breech to the barrel, the bead we will level
Break earth with a shovel, quick march on the double
Lower him shallow like tallow down in the abyss
You hung the moon
From a gallows in the sky
Choked out the light in his blue lunar eye
The shore is a parchment
The sea has no tide
Since he was taken from my side
Now tapping on tables
And sensing a chill
Poor families expecting loved one's return
Only summon some charlatan spectre
Oh, when will they learn?
You hung the moon
From a gallows in the sky
Choked out the light
From his blue lunar eye
The shore is a parchment
The sea has no tide
Since he was taken from my side
The lines of the fallen are viewed through a glass
But you cannot touch them at all
Or hear their footfall just as they go past
The drunken ground is where they are bound
You hung the moon
From a gallows in the sky
Put out the light in his blue lunar eye
The shore is a parchment
The sea has no tide
Since he was taken from my side
So slap out his terrors
And sneer at his tears
We deal with deserters like this
From the breech to the barrel, the bead we will level
Break earth with a shovel, quick march on the double
Lower him shallow like tallow down in the abyss
You hung the moon
From a gallows in the sky
Choked out the light in his blue lunar eye
The shore is a parchment
The sea has no tide
Since he was taken from my side
Bullets For The New-Born King lyrics - Elvis Costello
No one looks in this place for motive or any hope
But for the dead shot of an amber glass
The blue light of a votive
The rain obscured the window
As the pain was dulled by the grains
Absolved in spoons and flames
In fear in time dissolving
It's not for the faint of pulse
Or anybody false
Those amateurs who only shed their skin
So where are those traitors now, we once called patriots?
Just like those saints who seem to revel in their sins
O my eyes were filled with tears that were stinging
After our assassin's work was done
But hands and bells are only there for the wringing
As we were bringing bullets for the new-born king
The trumpet sounds lamenting
Trampling down the blooms of the deceased
The double agent girl and the fallen priest were heading for the border
Somewhere at the high command there stayed the palest hand
That saw the order countermand
Erased a tape recorder and then they hung him from a window cord
Swallow down that voodoo vial to still your breath a while
Before we spill this tale that has been spun
And so I shall now confide all that I once denied
Oh I'm so sorry for the things I've done
O my eyes were filled with tears that were stinging
After our assassin's work was done
But hands and bells are only there for the wringing
As we were bringing bullet for the new-born king
But for the dead shot of an amber glass
The blue light of a votive
The rain obscured the window
As the pain was dulled by the grains
Absolved in spoons and flames
In fear in time dissolving
It's not for the faint of pulse
Or anybody false
Those amateurs who only shed their skin
So where are those traitors now, we once called patriots?
Just like those saints who seem to revel in their sins
O my eyes were filled with tears that were stinging
After our assassin's work was done
But hands and bells are only there for the wringing
As we were bringing bullets for the new-born king
The trumpet sounds lamenting
Trampling down the blooms of the deceased
The double agent girl and the fallen priest were heading for the border
Somewhere at the high command there stayed the palest hand
That saw the order countermand
Erased a tape recorder and then they hung him from a window cord
Swallow down that voodoo vial to still your breath a while
Before we spill this tale that has been spun
And so I shall now confide all that I once denied
Oh I'm so sorry for the things I've done
O my eyes were filled with tears that were stinging
After our assassin's work was done
But hands and bells are only there for the wringing
As we were bringing bullet for the new-born king
I Lost You lyrics - Elvis Costello
I Lost You
I Lost You
You slipped from your costume
Like an actress in this tragedy
You're just an apparition in a haunting mystery
I fear that you've passed over me...
And there's nothing I can do because
I Lost You
Just like a rich man who is careless of his change
I took you for granted
And then you went to strangers
From deep within my heart I feel a distant fading pulse
A poor woman looking for last coin in her purse
I Lost You
I Lost You
You slipped from your costume
Like an actress in this tragedy
You're just an apparition in a haunting mystery
I fear that you've passed over me...
And there's nothing I can do because
I Lost You
Just like a counterfeit you pass from palm to palm
I chased the one I surely loved to someone else's arms
I mislaid my senses, now that's easy to say
A fool who took his pleasure but then threw his love away
I Lost You
I Lost You
You slipped from your costume
Like an actress in this tragedy
You're just an apparition in a haunting mystery
I fear that you've passed over me...
And there's nothing I can do because
I Lost You
I Lost You
You slipped from your costume
Like an actress in this tragedy
You're just an apparition in a haunting mystery
I fear that you've passed over me...
And there's nothing I can do because
I Lost You
Just like a rich man who is careless of his change
I took you for granted
And then you went to strangers
From deep within my heart I feel a distant fading pulse
A poor woman looking for last coin in her purse
I Lost You
I Lost You
You slipped from your costume
Like an actress in this tragedy
You're just an apparition in a haunting mystery
I fear that you've passed over me...
And there's nothing I can do because
I Lost You
Just like a counterfeit you pass from palm to palm
I chased the one I surely loved to someone else's arms
I mislaid my senses, now that's easy to say
A fool who took his pleasure but then threw his love away
I Lost You
I Lost You
You slipped from your costume
Like an actress in this tragedy
You're just an apparition in a haunting mystery
I fear that you've passed over me...
And there's nothing I can do because
I Lost You
Dr. Watson, I Presume lyrics - Elvis Costello
I sat in a motel room with the doctor
Just before we were supposed to sing
He said regarding this guardian wing
This black and clipped misshapen thing
Hobbling on from claw to ring
Hung upside down and cawing
Pecking at carrion of the fallen
Battalion
Thawing
On frozen mooring
Blackbird in a crust no more
They fell down 4 and 20
Bloodstained the land of want and plenty
Now raven standing at his shoulder
Stared with eyes of molten solder
Dripping on a lacquer box
Introducing keys to locks
Seven talents there where hidden
Mysterious and some forbidden
Take the honey from the comb
Ravel thread around the loom
Dig the dirt up from the tomb
Dr. Watson, I presume
One will follow
Two unknown sorrow
Three for laughter
Four ever after
Five-foot flood when the waters hit
Six feet deep, the eternal pit
Seven prayers and seven pleas
To eight imagined deities
Cat o' nine tails
Cat of nine lives
Brides turned into old wives tales
Your complexion colours then it pales
And into the sunset it sails
Soon these secrets will be scattered
Heaven knows what lies inside
It took a moment to discover
A lifetime to decide
Take the honey from the comb
Ravel thread around the loom
Dig the dirt up from the tomb
Dr. Watson, I presume
Just before we were supposed to sing
He said regarding this guardian wing
This black and clipped misshapen thing
Hobbling on from claw to ring
Hung upside down and cawing
Pecking at carrion of the fallen
Battalion
Thawing
On frozen mooring
Blackbird in a crust no more
They fell down 4 and 20
Bloodstained the land of want and plenty
Now raven standing at his shoulder
Stared with eyes of molten solder
Dripping on a lacquer box
Introducing keys to locks
Seven talents there where hidden
Mysterious and some forbidden
Take the honey from the comb
Ravel thread around the loom
Dig the dirt up from the tomb
Dr. Watson, I presume
One will follow
Two unknown sorrow
Three for laughter
Four ever after
Five-foot flood when the waters hit
Six feet deep, the eternal pit
Seven prayers and seven pleas
To eight imagined deities
Cat o' nine tails
Cat of nine lives
Brides turned into old wives tales
Your complexion colours then it pales
And into the sunset it sails
Soon these secrets will be scattered
Heaven knows what lies inside
It took a moment to discover
A lifetime to decide
Take the honey from the comb
Ravel thread around the loom
Dig the dirt up from the tomb
Dr. Watson, I presume
One Bell Ringing lyrics - Elvis Costello
Raining slapping on the window pane
An hour or more of teeming
Storm punching like a hurricane
That tore him out of dreaming
Air screaming through the slightest gap
Rattling between the frame and the sill
Drapes hanging from the final act
When I had you still
One lonely bird is singing
Lower the hood hung of his lament
Dash him down on cold cement
One Bell Ringing
Flies buzzing round strip search light
They've got him down on his knees
He thinks of honey dripping from a spoon
Girls whispering in Portuguese
Between muzzle and the black site
Electrical contact
Deny your name and then carry the blame
Somewhat after the fact
One lonely bird is singing
Lower the hood hung on that last lament
Dash him down on cold cement
One Bell Ringing
An hour or more of teeming
Storm punching like a hurricane
That tore him out of dreaming
Air screaming through the slightest gap
Rattling between the frame and the sill
Drapes hanging from the final act
When I had you still
One lonely bird is singing
Lower the hood hung of his lament
Dash him down on cold cement
One Bell Ringing
Flies buzzing round strip search light
They've got him down on his knees
He thinks of honey dripping from a spoon
Girls whispering in Portuguese
Between muzzle and the black site
Electrical contact
Deny your name and then carry the blame
Somewhat after the fact
One lonely bird is singing
Lower the hood hung on that last lament
Dash him down on cold cement
One Bell Ringing
The Spell That You Cast lyrics - Elvis Costello
The spell that you cast
Seems to be wearing off fast
(The spell that you cast)
Come back baby, cos I don't know if I can last
(The spell that you cast)
And I wonder whether
You got some other kind of lover
That you like to please
Better than me
I don't think I can take it
How am I going break it?
The Spell That You Cast
The spell that you've woven
Seems to be coming undone
(The spell that you cast)
Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going
(The spell that you cast)
'Cos you know quite well
I'm not a jealous kind of feller
But they look in your eyes
And they're all hypnotized
I'm going to miss you madly
'Cos I love you sadly
The Spell That You Cast
Jimmy come quickly 'cos I feel quite sickly
(The Spell That You Cast)
You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley
(The Spell That You Cast)
I don't think I can take it
How am I going break it?
The Spell That You Cast
Seems to be wearing off fast
(The spell that you cast)
Come back baby, cos I don't know if I can last
(The spell that you cast)
And I wonder whether
You got some other kind of lover
That you like to please
Better than me
I don't think I can take it
How am I going break it?
The Spell That You Cast
The spell that you've woven
Seems to be coming undone
(The spell that you cast)
Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going
(The spell that you cast)
'Cos you know quite well
I'm not a jealous kind of feller
But they look in your eyes
And they're all hypnotized
I'm going to miss you madly
'Cos I love you sadly
The Spell That You Cast
Jimmy come quickly 'cos I feel quite sickly
(The Spell That You Cast)
You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley
(The Spell That You Cast)
I don't think I can take it
How am I going break it?
The Spell That You Cast
That's Not The Part Of Him lyrics - Elvis Costello
I have a friend
She's just a friend
I tried to comfort and defend
I gave her what you might call advice
But nothing like that comes without a price
The rumour was a cruel surprise
And she dissolved before my eyes
I offered my hand and hers and mine entwined
I thought about back then when I wished that she had been mine
There's no use in shedding any tears
He's no good to you the way he is
He's beyond forgiving and believing
Half of his heart is torn like paper
It's sweet as the syrup from the maple
But that's not the part of him you're leaving
In time they're bound to wonder why
It's just a thrill you can't deny
I offered my shoulder right away
Now people will talk about what I can't say
And yet the whispers still persist
They're getting harder to resist
How am I supposed to stop loving you now I've begun?
And I'm sorry for what I might do more than what I have done
There's no use in shedding any tears
He's no good to you the way he is
He's beyond forgiving and believing
Half of his heart is filled with pain
That's sweet as a lick of sugarcane
But that's not the part of him you're leaving
Love is a many splintered thing
That only cuts roses and ribbons that cling
But that's not the part of him you're leaving
She's just a friend
I tried to comfort and defend
I gave her what you might call advice
But nothing like that comes without a price
The rumour was a cruel surprise
And she dissolved before my eyes
I offered my hand and hers and mine entwined
I thought about back then when I wished that she had been mine
There's no use in shedding any tears
He's no good to you the way he is
He's beyond forgiving and believing
Half of his heart is torn like paper
It's sweet as the syrup from the maple
But that's not the part of him you're leaving
In time they're bound to wonder why
It's just a thrill you can't deny
I offered my shoulder right away
Now people will talk about what I can't say
And yet the whispers still persist
They're getting harder to resist
How am I supposed to stop loving you now I've begun?
And I'm sorry for what I might do more than what I have done
There's no use in shedding any tears
He's no good to you the way he is
He's beyond forgiving and believing
Half of his heart is filled with pain
That's sweet as a lick of sugarcane
But that's not the part of him you're leaving
Love is a many splintered thing
That only cuts roses and ribbons that cling
But that's not the part of him you're leaving
My Lovely Jezebel lyrics - Elvis Costello
She attracts dark rumours
Travels in blue and other humours
Each time she walks in the room
Brings in much more than you'd assume
Ooo, I looked in her eyes and out through that window I fell
She's My Lovely Jezebel
She neglects you and then ransacks you so very well
She suspects your sweet confection
When you talk in contradictions
Then she walks without detection
Overrules all your objections
Ooo, I looked in her eyes and through that window I fell
She's My Lovely Jezebel
Man is miserable ape and sad pile of sticks
He comes out swinging, gets in a few licks
The longest of drumrolls for the shortest of tricks
So she attracts bad intentions
She distracts all my attention
With her ways and her wild inventions
The facts of life they forgot to mention
Ooo, I looked in her eyes and down through that window I fell
She's My Lovely Jezebel
She neglects you and then ransacks you so very well
Travels in blue and other humours
Each time she walks in the room
Brings in much more than you'd assume
Ooo, I looked in her eyes and out through that window I fell
She's My Lovely Jezebel
She neglects you and then ransacks you so very well
She suspects your sweet confection
When you talk in contradictions
Then she walks without detection
Overrules all your objections
Ooo, I looked in her eyes and through that window I fell
She's My Lovely Jezebel
Man is miserable ape and sad pile of sticks
He comes out swinging, gets in a few licks
The longest of drumrolls for the shortest of tricks
So she attracts bad intentions
She distracts all my attention
With her ways and her wild inventions
The facts of life they forgot to mention
Ooo, I looked in her eyes and down through that window I fell
She's My Lovely Jezebel
She neglects you and then ransacks you so very well
All These Strangers lyrics - Elvis Costello
"Mistreat me darling and I might just disappear"
Upon freighter running dark out of Algiers
Put tiny grains in children's tears
While taking 25% of all the flashbulbs and mementoes
From the mechanized divisions rolling over your frontiers
I saw my baby talking with another man to day
Speaking softly in a confidential way
I saw a shadow pull his glove off
As a bluebird flew over
Life's is no pleasure
When you doubt the one you love
Who Are All These Strangers?
I never will go back again
Go back into the past
For the flood is rising fast
You can break your window and look down
Into a muddy glass
It's mirror or lens to burn...
There was a deal done in Benghazi and Belgrade...
Upon a scimitar or other crooked blade
Ransacks and loots, vacated suits
And pistol points but never shoots, army sitting in a locomotive yard without their boots
Upstairs your man is painting the rain out in the street
Imagines woman that he's destined still to meet
He's trying sidetrack one to count on
Caught somewhere between countess or a courtesan
And it's only love to feign and then it's gone
Who Are All These Strangers?
He's a privateer as dusk gets near
A brigand after dark, his victim lined with chalk
A corsair, filled with horsehair to the core
Dashed on your eyes of Adamantine, you despised his stripling whine
That little smudger and the mouthpiece that he's with
Using his clause just like a practised fingersmith
I dreamed I took his digit prints
And then sewed then on a villain's hands
Watched him ransom and demand
Until called the flatfoots in
I never will go back again
Go back into the past
For the flood is rising fast
You can break your window and look down
Into a muddy glass
It's a mirror or lens to burn...
Who Are All These Strangers?
All These Strangers
I sat down on a narrow bed
I thought about the things she said
All These Strangers
How I wished the night would never end
So tried to stop the days ahead
I'd carve her name down in the wood
Some small remembrance if I could
Upon freighter running dark out of Algiers
Put tiny grains in children's tears
While taking 25% of all the flashbulbs and mementoes
From the mechanized divisions rolling over your frontiers
I saw my baby talking with another man to day
Speaking softly in a confidential way
I saw a shadow pull his glove off
As a bluebird flew over
Life's is no pleasure
When you doubt the one you love
Who Are All These Strangers?
I never will go back again
Go back into the past
For the flood is rising fast
You can break your window and look down
Into a muddy glass
It's mirror or lens to burn...
There was a deal done in Benghazi and Belgrade...
Upon a scimitar or other crooked blade
Ransacks and loots, vacated suits
And pistol points but never shoots, army sitting in a locomotive yard without their boots
Upstairs your man is painting the rain out in the street
Imagines woman that he's destined still to meet
He's trying sidetrack one to count on
Caught somewhere between countess or a courtesan
And it's only love to feign and then it's gone
Who Are All These Strangers?
He's a privateer as dusk gets near
A brigand after dark, his victim lined with chalk
A corsair, filled with horsehair to the core
Dashed on your eyes of Adamantine, you despised his stripling whine
That little smudger and the mouthpiece that he's with
Using his clause just like a practised fingersmith
I dreamed I took his digit prints
And then sewed then on a villain's hands
Watched him ransom and demand
Until called the flatfoots in
I never will go back again
Go back into the past
For the flood is rising fast
You can break your window and look down
Into a muddy glass
It's a mirror or lens to burn...
Who Are All These Strangers?
All These Strangers
I sat down on a narrow bed
I thought about the things she said
All These Strangers
How I wished the night would never end
So tried to stop the days ahead
I'd carve her name down in the wood
Some small remembrance if I could
A Voice In The Dark lyrics - Elvis Costello
You can read right through a book of matches
But that won't make you smart
You can laugh in the face of watches
But time will only break your heart
Kings reign beneath umbrellas
Hide pennies down in cellars
And money pours down and yet
No everyone gets soaking wet
When bores and bullies conspire
To stamp out your spark
Listen for...
A Voice In The Dark
Not a moment too soon as we blue the moon
And a wolf begins to howl in tune
I announced for all mankind
A boon
Stand aside you big baboon
Now I'm the a prize invention
You're the image of yourself
Forget your cares
And disapproving stares
I'm not here to try to jump your borders
Just ask your nieces and daughters
I'm flat as sole, I'm happy as a clam
But they don't know the kind of man I am
Little fish swimming in a jealous shoal
Now my net is overflowing
And I suddenly seem to be all seeing and all knowing
I've got something right there
They you need to hear
But have no fear
Lend a hand
Lend an ear
If your rent-money is in arrears
We'll be striking up a symphony bandstand
Long of hair and loose of tooth
There'll be pirouettes and startling handstands
And who but acrobats know how to tell the truth
When is said that then redundant
They gallivant in peg-leg pants
I'll be your servant
You'll be my pal
I'll be ever faithful you know I shall
There's no fool like an old fool
Who blames it all upon his youth
When times are tough and you find you're down
Without a star to wish upon
Just listen for...
A Voice In The Dark
I was striking through a box of matches
Hoping that one would spark
I heard somebody calling to me
A voice in the dark
A sound both wild and gentle
Daring and confidential
I thought there was music playing
But it was all and only talk
When liars and bullies conspire to stamp out spark
Fill up that empty space in your heart
Listen up, when the herald says, "Hark"
Believe in just a voice in the dark...
But that won't make you smart
You can laugh in the face of watches
But time will only break your heart
Kings reign beneath umbrellas
Hide pennies down in cellars
And money pours down and yet
No everyone gets soaking wet
When bores and bullies conspire
To stamp out your spark
Listen for...
A Voice In The Dark
Not a moment too soon as we blue the moon
And a wolf begins to howl in tune
I announced for all mankind
A boon
Stand aside you big baboon
Now I'm the a prize invention
You're the image of yourself
Forget your cares
And disapproving stares
I'm not here to try to jump your borders
Just ask your nieces and daughters
I'm flat as sole, I'm happy as a clam
But they don't know the kind of man I am
Little fish swimming in a jealous shoal
Now my net is overflowing
And I suddenly seem to be all seeing and all knowing
I've got something right there
They you need to hear
But have no fear
Lend a hand
Lend an ear
If your rent-money is in arrears
We'll be striking up a symphony bandstand
Long of hair and loose of tooth
There'll be pirouettes and startling handstands
And who but acrobats know how to tell the truth
When is said that then redundant
They gallivant in peg-leg pants
I'll be your servant
You'll be my pal
I'll be ever faithful you know I shall
There's no fool like an old fool
Who blames it all upon his youth
When times are tough and you find you're down
Without a star to wish upon
Just listen for...
A Voice In The Dark
I was striking through a box of matches
Hoping that one would spark
I heard somebody calling to me
A voice in the dark
A sound both wild and gentle
Daring and confidential
I thought there was music playing
But it was all and only talk
When liars and bullies conspire to stamp out spark
Fill up that empty space in your heart
Listen up, when the herald says, "Hark"
Believe in just a voice in the dark...
I Hope lyrics - Elvis Costello
Sometime, somewhere
We're gonna meet again, I know
And I won't love you anymore
I hope
Somewhere, somehow
You're gonna need me
Like I'm needing you right now
I hope
Keep on dancing and let the music play
Tonight's the night I'm gonna dance the night away
Tomorrow, tomorrow
You'll be gone
So long, goodbye
I know that I'm gonna cry
But I'll forget you by and by
I hope, I hope
We're gonna meet again, I know
And I won't love you anymore
I hope
Somewhere, somehow
You're gonna need me
Like I'm needing you right now
I hope
Keep on dancing and let the music play
Tonight's the night I'm gonna dance the night away
Tomorrow, tomorrow
You'll be gone
So long, goodbye
I know that I'm gonna cry
But I'll forget you by and by
I hope, I hope
Down Among The Wine And Spirits lyrics - Elvis Costello
Down among the wines and spirits
Where a man gets what he merits...
Once it was written in letters 'bout nine feet tall
Now he sees how far he's fallen
Since he set his mind on her completely
But then I guess that you couldn't have seen him lately
Walking around with a pain that just never ceases
He starts to speak and then he goes to pieces...
Down among the wines and spirits
Where a man gets what he merits...
Lives with the echoing words of their final quarrel
The vacant chamber
The empty barrel
But as he picks himself up from a sawdust floor
Clicks his fingers to that swinging door
Suddenly he's calling out, "More, more, more..."
"I'm twice the foolish man I was before..."
Down among the wines and spirits
Bubbles escaping from him at the rim a glass of grape
She sails through his memory just like a ship of shapely
And then as it started sink he drowns his sorrows
That fill his nights and empty tomorrows
But as he picks himself up from a sawdust floor
Clicks his fingers to that swinging door
Suddenly he's calling out, "More, more, more..."
Speaks of invisible things he hardly credits
Down among
Down among the wines and spirits
Where a man gets what he merits...
Once it was written in letters 'bout nine feet tall
Now he sees how far he's fallen
Since he set his mind on her completely
But then I guess that you couldn't have seen him lately
Walking around with a pain that just never ceases
He starts to speak and then he goes to pieces...
Down among the wines and spirits
Where a man gets what he merits...
Lives with the echoing words of their final quarrel
The vacant chamber
The empty barrel
But as he picks himself up from a sawdust floor
Clicks his fingers to that swinging door
Suddenly he's calling out, "More, more, more..."
"I'm twice the foolish man I was before..."
Down among the wines and spirits
Bubbles escaping from him at the rim a glass of grape
She sails through his memory just like a ship of shapely
And then as it started sink he drowns his sorrows
That fill his nights and empty tomorrows
But as he picks himself up from a sawdust floor
Clicks his fingers to that swinging door
Suddenly he's calling out, "More, more, more..."
Speaks of invisible things he hardly credits
Down among
Down among the wines and spirits
Complicated Shadows lyrics - Elvis Costello
Well you know your time has come and you're sorry for what you've done
You should've never have been playing with a gun
In those Complicated Shadows
Well there's a line that you must toe
and it'll soon be time to go
but it's darker than you know in those Complicated Shadows
All you gangsters and rude clowns
Who were shooting up the town
When you should have found someone to put the blame on
Though the fury's hot and hard
I still see that cold graveyard
There's a solitary stone that's got your name on
You don't have to take it from me
But I know what I spake
You think you're like iron and steel
But iron and steel will bend and break
In those Complicated Shadows
Go!
Sometimes justice you will find
Is just dumb not colour-blind
And your poor shattered mind can't take it all in
All those phantoms and those shades
Should Jump up on Judgement Day
And say to the Almighty "I'm still stinking of sin"
But the jury was dismissed
Took his neck and they give it a twist
So you see you won't be missed in those Complicated Shadows
You can say just what you like in a voice like a John Ford film
Take the law into your hands
You will soon get tired of killing
In those Complicated Shadows
Complicated Shadows
Complicated Shadows
Complicated Shadows
Go!
You should've never have been playing with a gun
In those Complicated Shadows
Well there's a line that you must toe
and it'll soon be time to go
but it's darker than you know in those Complicated Shadows
All you gangsters and rude clowns
Who were shooting up the town
When you should have found someone to put the blame on
Though the fury's hot and hard
I still see that cold graveyard
There's a solitary stone that's got your name on
You don't have to take it from me
But I know what I spake
You think you're like iron and steel
But iron and steel will bend and break
In those Complicated Shadows
Go!
Sometimes justice you will find
Is just dumb not colour-blind
And your poor shattered mind can't take it all in
All those phantoms and those shades
Should Jump up on Judgement Day
And say to the Almighty "I'm still stinking of sin"
But the jury was dismissed
Took his neck and they give it a twist
So you see you won't be missed in those Complicated Shadows
You can say just what you like in a voice like a John Ford film
Take the law into your hands
You will soon get tired of killing
In those Complicated Shadows
Complicated Shadows
Complicated Shadows
Complicated Shadows
Go!
I Felt The Chill lyrics - Elvis Costello
Well, there's a difference in the way that you kissed me
And there's a sadness in your eyes that you can't hide
Why do you tremble when I hold you?
I wonder if you feel the same
I felt the chill before the winter came
But it's easy to say that I won't give in again
I was just tempted for a moment and then some
But it's so easy when you love to lose to control
Now look here if you will
At the faithful man you stole
I felt the chill before the winter came
I suffered the guilt and then accepted the blame
I wanted you before you ever spoke my name
But I knew that we would go wrong
Just as they do in all in those old tragic songs
Did that melody haunt your mind?
Just like a linger of perfume
Now you're in someone else's arms,
Locked up in another room
Is there's a difference in the way that he loves you
Is there still sadness in your eyes, you can't deny?
Do you tremble and sigh when he holds you just like I do?
What were you thinking of to throw away our love?
And it's easy to say that you won't give in again
You were just tempted for a moment and half
But it's so hard when you desire to lose control
I don't know what this feeling is but it sure seems cold
I felt the chill before the winter came
I suffered the pain and then accepted the shame
I will have lost your love by end of this sad refrain?
I felt the cold creeping over my skin...
Still as the air until the wind rushed in
Still in control, holding on to my heart and soul
Only inches from sin
And there's a sadness in your eyes that you can't hide
Why do you tremble when I hold you?
I wonder if you feel the same
I felt the chill before the winter came
But it's easy to say that I won't give in again
I was just tempted for a moment and then some
But it's so easy when you love to lose to control
Now look here if you will
At the faithful man you stole
I felt the chill before the winter came
I suffered the guilt and then accepted the blame
I wanted you before you ever spoke my name
But I knew that we would go wrong
Just as they do in all in those old tragic songs
Did that melody haunt your mind?
Just like a linger of perfume
Now you're in someone else's arms,
Locked up in another room
Is there's a difference in the way that he loves you
Is there still sadness in your eyes, you can't deny?
Do you tremble and sigh when he holds you just like I do?
What were you thinking of to throw away our love?
And it's easy to say that you won't give in again
You were just tempted for a moment and half
But it's so hard when you desire to lose control
I don't know what this feeling is but it sure seems cold
I felt the chill before the winter came
I suffered the pain and then accepted the shame
I will have lost your love by end of this sad refrain?
I felt the cold creeping over my skin...
Still as the air until the wind rushed in
Still in control, holding on to my heart and soul
Only inches from sin
My All Time Doll lyrics - Elvis Costello
When I was away I needed you so
And now coming I'm home to stay
I won't wake in the night and reach for you
And turn on the light and to my dismay
You're not there
You're never around
Or is it me?
It's so hard to see
I flick off the switch
And stare in dark
And wait for you to appear
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm out of control
It's broken my mind
But that's not all that you stole
You're My All-Time Doll
You're all I adore
I'd swear to it now it
But I already swore
My eyes are blinded with tears
But it's all my own fault
My lips taste of cruel words
My eyes sting with salt
But you can take the way I feel about you
And put it in a vault
You're My All-Time Doll
From near and from far
I've known many a girl,
Now... I'm closing in
My heart is beating
Like a whip on a hide
It's raining outside
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm out of control
It's broken my mind
That's not all that you stole
You're My All-Time Doll
You're all I adore
I'd swear to it now it
But I already swore
Every time I rant and rail
Every time I try and fail
Any time I want to quit
And say, "That's the end of it"
When I stand and start to leave
You cool my brow, you tug my sleeve
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm walking, I'm pacing, my heart is racing
I swear that clock is running slow
It only speeds up for a moment or so
Each time it's time for me to go
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm out of control
It's broken my mind
That's not all that you stole
You're My All-Time Doll
You're all I adore
I'd swear to it now it
But I already swore
In the far flung cry of a closing saloon
On the blank back side of that poisonous moon
I tried not to think about you
I thought I was immune..
You're My All-Time Doll
And now coming I'm home to stay
I won't wake in the night and reach for you
And turn on the light and to my dismay
You're not there
You're never around
Or is it me?
It's so hard to see
I flick off the switch
And stare in dark
And wait for you to appear
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm out of control
It's broken my mind
But that's not all that you stole
You're My All-Time Doll
You're all I adore
I'd swear to it now it
But I already swore
My eyes are blinded with tears
But it's all my own fault
My lips taste of cruel words
My eyes sting with salt
But you can take the way I feel about you
And put it in a vault
You're My All-Time Doll
From near and from far
I've known many a girl,
Now... I'm closing in
My heart is beating
Like a whip on a hide
It's raining outside
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm out of control
It's broken my mind
That's not all that you stole
You're My All-Time Doll
You're all I adore
I'd swear to it now it
But I already swore
Every time I rant and rail
Every time I try and fail
Any time I want to quit
And say, "That's the end of it"
When I stand and start to leave
You cool my brow, you tug my sleeve
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm walking, I'm pacing, my heart is racing
I swear that clock is running slow
It only speeds up for a moment or so
Each time it's time for me to go
You're My All-Time Doll
I'm out of control
It's broken my mind
That's not all that you stole
You're My All-Time Doll
You're all I adore
I'd swear to it now it
But I already swore
In the far flung cry of a closing saloon
On the blank back side of that poisonous moon
I tried not to think about you
I thought I was immune..
You're My All-Time Doll
Hidden Shame lyrics - Elvis Costello
I'm sorry to say that you don't know me
I'm sad in ways you never understood
Each time I try to tell the ugly truth
You always let it pass you by
You said I 'd never tell you a lie
Just because I could
Did you really think I was a bad man?
You always said that that should be my middle name
But you don't know the half of it
You don't know how that name fits
You don't know my hidden shame
[Chorus:]
Hidden shame, shame, shame
That I can't get free
From the blame and the torture
And the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me
Well, there's a different kind of prison
And it don't even have to look much like a cell
It's already on your mind
Boy, we can see it in your eyes
So, here's the bars and walls as well
Well, you know I'm never coming home, babe
You said you'd stand by me until I cleared my name
Sure it's easy to be strong
When you know the charge is wrong
But the days and weeks get long
When you've got a hidden shame
[Chorus]
I had a friend when I was just a boy
We were like brothers, we would run and hide
And we went walking on a high hillside
And I really don't how it happened
He turned to me and had this strange look in his eye
And not a single word was spoken
I must have pushed him, but I don't remember why
And all at once, he lay there broken
And I walked down without him and I didn't even sigh
CHORUS
They say you always hurt the one you love
And I'm not saying if I did or if I didn't
But like my shame, that kind of love is always hidden
They locked me up here for the ideas in my head
They never got me for the thing I really did
[Chorus]
I'm sad in ways you never understood
Each time I try to tell the ugly truth
You always let it pass you by
You said I 'd never tell you a lie
Just because I could
Did you really think I was a bad man?
You always said that that should be my middle name
But you don't know the half of it
You don't know how that name fits
You don't know my hidden shame
[Chorus:]
Hidden shame, shame, shame
That I can't get free
From the blame and the torture
And the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me
Well, there's a different kind of prison
And it don't even have to look much like a cell
It's already on your mind
Boy, we can see it in your eyes
So, here's the bars and walls as well
Well, you know I'm never coming home, babe
You said you'd stand by me until I cleared my name
Sure it's easy to be strong
When you know the charge is wrong
But the days and weeks get long
When you've got a hidden shame
[Chorus]
I had a friend when I was just a boy
We were like brothers, we would run and hide
And we went walking on a high hillside
And I really don't how it happened
He turned to me and had this strange look in his eye
And not a single word was spoken
I must have pushed him, but I don't remember why
And all at once, he lay there broken
And I walked down without him and I didn't even sigh
CHORUS
They say you always hurt the one you love
And I'm not saying if I did or if I didn't
But like my shame, that kind of love is always hidden
They locked me up here for the ideas in my head
They never got me for the thing I really did
[Chorus]
She Handed Me A Mirror lyrics - Elvis Costello
She handed me a mirror
That she had gazed upon
The glass still held an image
The glass still held an image
But it was of a man
I turned from the reflection
To see who it might be
Is that poor vanity
Quite how she pictures me?
She handed me a mirror
Rather than tell me "no"
She let slip a handkerchief
Gentle laughter flowed
Just as her lips bestowed
A dashing word like "brother"
The crushing word like "friend"
If there was no beginning
How could this be the end?
She handed me a mirror
So I could recognise
The distance from my heart to hers
The distance from my heart to hers
The pity in her eyes
She liked my pretty story
I thanked her for her song
And then I wrote a tale not very long to tell
"You are much more than pretty. You are beautiful."
She handed me mirror
But I saw her instead
She handed me a mirror
She handed me a mirror
And that is all she did...
That she had gazed upon
The glass still held an image
The glass still held an image
But it was of a man
I turned from the reflection
To see who it might be
Is that poor vanity
Quite how she pictures me?
She handed me a mirror
Rather than tell me "no"
She let slip a handkerchief
Gentle laughter flowed
Just as her lips bestowed
A dashing word like "brother"
The crushing word like "friend"
If there was no beginning
How could this be the end?
She handed me a mirror
So I could recognise
The distance from my heart to hers
The distance from my heart to hers
The pity in her eyes
She liked my pretty story
I thanked her for her song
And then I wrote a tale not very long to tell
"You are much more than pretty. You are beautiful."
She handed me mirror
But I saw her instead
She handed me a mirror
She handed me a mirror
And that is all she did...
I Dreamed Of My Old Lover lyrics - Elvis Costello
I dreamed of my old lover last night
I wonder if I spoke out loud
If by chance my husband overheard
He'd put my face back in the crowd
His eyes were clear and gentle then
He'd kiss the worries from my brow
I long to fall to sleep again
And I wonder how he would look now
Would our kids grow stubborn or grow strong
Would their limbs bronze insult to the sun
I wonder how it feels but then
I rarely dream of anyone
In the songs of shame and tales of dread
Where they seal the lovers lips with lead
And all the vines wind through their eyes
But no one knows this passion now
But No one knows this passion now
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I long to fall to sleep again
'Cos I dreamed of my old lover last night
I wonder if I spoke out loud
If by chance my husband overheard
He'd put my face back in the crowd
His eyes were clear and gentle then
He'd kiss the worries from my brow
I long to fall to sleep again
And I wonder how he would look now
Would our kids grow stubborn or grow strong
Would their limbs bronze insult to the sun
I wonder how it feels but then
I rarely dream of anyone
In the songs of shame and tales of dread
Where they seal the lovers lips with lead
And all the vines wind through their eyes
But no one knows this passion now
But No one knows this passion now
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I long to fall to sleep again
'Cos I dreamed of my old lover last night
How Deep Is The Red lyrics - Elvis Costello
Is this is not a pretty tale?
Is this not a riddle?
A bow shoots arrows through the air
A bow drags notes from a fiddle
But who is the beau of a young girl's heart?
That a king may send to battle
Is this not a pretty tale?
Is this not a riddle?
If red is the breast of soldier's tunic
Hung with a silver medal
And red is the thorn that protects the rose,
A deeper red than the petal
How deep is the red our redeemer bled,
The debt of our sins to settle?
How deep is the red?
How deep is the red?
How deep is the red our redeemer bled?
How deep is the red?
Is this not a riddle?
A bow shoots arrows through the air
A bow drags notes from a fiddle
But who is the beau of a young girl's heart?
That a king may send to battle
Is this not a pretty tale?
Is this not a riddle?
If red is the breast of soldier's tunic
Hung with a silver medal
And red is the thorn that protects the rose,
A deeper red than the petal
How deep is the red our redeemer bled,
The debt of our sins to settle?
How deep is the red?
How deep is the red?
How deep is the red our redeemer bled?
How deep is the red?
She Was No Good lyrics - Elvis Costello
She could be no good, I'm telling you
Gather 'round boys for a tale that is tragic and true
On the Mississippi riverboat, "Magnolia"
No one onboard was smelling too sweet
That precious one must have been stamping her feet
Dictating demands all well and fine
A few rods west of the Bridgeport line
But the veil was drawn and the halo slipped
Tippling tinctures and reciting scripture
Faces where slapped just as kid gloves were suffered
Vile threats were uttered and challenges were offered
On the Cumberland riverboat, "E. W. Stephens"
Daggers were drawn on pistols pulled
Staggering 'til dawn filled up with whiskey and rum
And several drunken players ran amok
Rampaging with the crew around the deck
And I received a blow that was unkind
It turned my cheek to the colour of gentian violet
I wouldn't say that this journey had quite been the highlight
Of the All-American Tour
Teetering on the edge of war
Out of the genteel Northern prosceniums
Filled up with imitation Europeans
Down along the river of rough damnations
By the blood-stained cotton and the slave plantations
She could be no good, I'm telling you
Gather round boys for a tale that is tragic and true
And I received a blow that was unkind
It turned my cheek to the colour of gentian violet
I wouldn't say that this journey had quite been the highlight
Of the All-American Tour
Teetering on the edge of war
Out of the genteel Northern prosceniums
Filled up with imitation Europeans
Down along the river of rough damnations
By the blood-stained cotton and the slave plantations
Gather 'round boys for a tale that is tragic and true
On the Mississippi riverboat, "Magnolia"
No one onboard was smelling too sweet
That precious one must have been stamping her feet
Dictating demands all well and fine
A few rods west of the Bridgeport line
But the veil was drawn and the halo slipped
Tippling tinctures and reciting scripture
Faces where slapped just as kid gloves were suffered
Vile threats were uttered and challenges were offered
On the Cumberland riverboat, "E. W. Stephens"
Daggers were drawn on pistols pulled
Staggering 'til dawn filled up with whiskey and rum
And several drunken players ran amok
Rampaging with the crew around the deck
And I received a blow that was unkind
It turned my cheek to the colour of gentian violet
I wouldn't say that this journey had quite been the highlight
Of the All-American Tour
Teetering on the edge of war
Out of the genteel Northern prosceniums
Filled up with imitation Europeans
Down along the river of rough damnations
By the blood-stained cotton and the slave plantations
She could be no good, I'm telling you
Gather round boys for a tale that is tragic and true
And I received a blow that was unkind
It turned my cheek to the colour of gentian violet
I wouldn't say that this journey had quite been the highlight
Of the All-American Tour
Teetering on the edge of war
Out of the genteel Northern prosceniums
Filled up with imitation Europeans
Down along the river of rough damnations
By the blood-stained cotton and the slave plantations
Sulphur To Sugarcane lyrics - Elvis Costello
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
'Cos everywhere I travel pretty girls call my name
I give 'em as squeeze and they shoot me a wink
I buy their hot-headed husbands a long cool drink
You'd better come up smelling sweet 'cos you're a long time stinking
Then it's a little too late to complain
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
Now if you catch my eye and you find that it runs down your leg
It's like striking a match pretty hard upon a powder keg
They'll tell you from the borders to the waters of the Gulf
And if you take all the sugar you'll end up in the sulphur
And you'll burn in...
"Hello, baby I'm a pleased to meet you"
"I wouldn't do you wrong, honey"
"I wouldn't cheat you, honey'"
"When can I see you again?"
"Wrap you up in cellophane"
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane...
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane...
And your eyes fill up with brine
Because you're drowning in wine
It's like the last days of Rome
With the despots and divine
There's no place like home
For a little doll from China
It's a little too late to complain
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
You can go west to Texas
Go east to Mississippi
You can run out of money
You can run out of pity
Throw open your purse
Until you're crying for mercy
Go to Alabama
Escape Louisiana
I'm digging like a miner
North and South Carolina
And then if you continue
You will end up in Virginia
The woman in Poughkeepsie
Take their clothes off when they're tipsy
But in Albany, New York
They love the filthy way I talk
As they gargle with the finest champagne
When they can't get the grape or the grain
'Cos it's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
If I could find a piano
Here in Bloomington, Indiana
I would play it with my toes
Until the girls all take their clothes off
Women knock upon my door
In odd and even numbers
But none of them as wild as I discovered in Columbus
I gave up married women
'Cause I heard it was a sin
But now I'm back in Pittsburgh,
I might take them up again
Because they gargle with the finest champagne
When they can't get the grape or the grain
'Cos it's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
Up in Syracuse
I was once falsely accused
But I'm not here to hurt you
I'mhere to steal your
Down in Bridgeport
The woman will kill you for sport
But inWorcester, Massachusetts
They just love my sauce
The women in Poughkeepsie
Take their clothes off when they're tipsy
But I hear in Ypsilanti
They don't wear any panties...
Once they gargle with the finest champagne
They hitch up their skirts and exclaim
It's not very far, Sugar
It's not very far, Sugar
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
'Cos everywhere I travel pretty girls call my name
I give 'em as squeeze and they shoot me a wink
I buy their hot-headed husbands a long cool drink
You'd better come up smelling sweet 'cos you're a long time stinking
Then it's a little too late to complain
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
Now if you catch my eye and you find that it runs down your leg
It's like striking a match pretty hard upon a powder keg
They'll tell you from the borders to the waters of the Gulf
And if you take all the sugar you'll end up in the sulphur
And you'll burn in...
"Hello, baby I'm a pleased to meet you"
"I wouldn't do you wrong, honey"
"I wouldn't cheat you, honey'"
"When can I see you again?"
"Wrap you up in cellophane"
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane...
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane...
And your eyes fill up with brine
Because you're drowning in wine
It's like the last days of Rome
With the despots and divine
There's no place like home
For a little doll from China
It's a little too late to complain
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
You can go west to Texas
Go east to Mississippi
You can run out of money
You can run out of pity
Throw open your purse
Until you're crying for mercy
Go to Alabama
Escape Louisiana
I'm digging like a miner
North and South Carolina
And then if you continue
You will end up in Virginia
The woman in Poughkeepsie
Take their clothes off when they're tipsy
But in Albany, New York
They love the filthy way I talk
As they gargle with the finest champagne
When they can't get the grape or the grain
'Cos it's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
If I could find a piano
Here in Bloomington, Indiana
I would play it with my toes
Until the girls all take their clothes off
Women knock upon my door
In odd and even numbers
But none of them as wild as I discovered in Columbus
I gave up married women
'Cause I heard it was a sin
But now I'm back in Pittsburgh,
I might take them up again
Because they gargle with the finest champagne
When they can't get the grape or the grain
'Cos it's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
Up in Syracuse
I was once falsely accused
But I'm not here to hurt you
I'mhere to steal your
Down in Bridgeport
The woman will kill you for sport
But inWorcester, Massachusetts
They just love my sauce
The women in Poughkeepsie
Take their clothes off when they're tipsy
But I hear in Ypsilanti
They don't wear any panties...
Once they gargle with the finest champagne
They hitch up their skirts and exclaim
It's not very far, Sugar
It's not very far, Sugar
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
Red Cotton lyrics - Elvis Costello
I'm cutting up her pure white dress
That I dyed red
That I dyed red
I'm putting scraps in cheap tin lockets
What time erases and memory mocks
I'll send them over the ocean foam
Right into those gentle European homes
The slave ship "Blessing" slipped from Liverpool
Over the waves the Royal Navy rules
To go and plunder the Kingdom of Benin
Where certain history ends and shame begins
Dahomey traders paid in powder and shot
Line up their prisoners and they sell them in lots
They packed them tight inside those coffin ships
And they took them to the brand new world of
Auction blocks and whips
I'm cutting up her pure white dress
That I dyed red
That I dyed red
I'm putting scraps in cheap tin lockets
What time erases and memory mocks
I'll send them over the ocean foam
Right into those gentle European homes
White is the sheet on your fine linen bed
The blood stained red on each cotton thread
The merchants gather at St. George's Hall
To unveil the kneeling slave who is carved upon the wall
Picture the scene at the Old Salt House docks
Where they loaded the iron shackles and locks
Between a sandstone crocodile, a barrel and a bale
You will see the nameless faces they were offering for sale
So, I sing the praises of God's glory
As a blue cetacean floats in the basement
An elephant on the second storey
And they queue all day to see him
In my American Museum
But the Lord will judge us with fire and thunder
As man continues in all his blunders
It's only money
It's only numbers
Maybe it is time to put aside these fictitious wonders
But man is feeble
Man is puny
And if it should divide the Union
There is no man that should own another
When he can't even recognise his sister and his brother
That I dyed red
That I dyed red
I'm putting scraps in cheap tin lockets
What time erases and memory mocks
I'll send them over the ocean foam
Right into those gentle European homes
The slave ship "Blessing" slipped from Liverpool
Over the waves the Royal Navy rules
To go and plunder the Kingdom of Benin
Where certain history ends and shame begins
Dahomey traders paid in powder and shot
Line up their prisoners and they sell them in lots
They packed them tight inside those coffin ships
And they took them to the brand new world of
Auction blocks and whips
I'm cutting up her pure white dress
That I dyed red
That I dyed red
I'm putting scraps in cheap tin lockets
What time erases and memory mocks
I'll send them over the ocean foam
Right into those gentle European homes
White is the sheet on your fine linen bed
The blood stained red on each cotton thread
The merchants gather at St. George's Hall
To unveil the kneeling slave who is carved upon the wall
Picture the scene at the Old Salt House docks
Where they loaded the iron shackles and locks
Between a sandstone crocodile, a barrel and a bale
You will see the nameless faces they were offering for sale
So, I sing the praises of God's glory
As a blue cetacean floats in the basement
An elephant on the second storey
And they queue all day to see him
In my American Museum
But the Lord will judge us with fire and thunder
As man continues in all his blunders
It's only money
It's only numbers
Maybe it is time to put aside these fictitious wonders
But man is feeble
Man is puny
And if it should divide the Union
There is no man that should own another
When he can't even recognise his sister and his brother
The Crooked Line lyrics - Elvis Costello
Life isn't a game... won or tied... lost by either side...
Then some people's idea of the straight and narrow
Didn't appeal to me
If you were my life's companion
As it seems you may turn out to be
I'm contemplating
How I hope I'll find you waiting
At the very end of this crooked line...
Love isn't a trial of strength and weakness
Though light into darkness
While some people remark
No worthwhile fire
Ever started without that spark
If you were my life's companion
As it seems you may turn out to be
I'm contemplating
How I hope I'll find you waiting
At the very end of this crooked line...
Then some people's idea of the straight and narrow
Didn't appeal to me
If you were my life's companion
As it seems you may turn out to be
I'm contemplating
How I hope I'll find you waiting
At the very end of this crooked line...
Love isn't a trial of strength and weakness
Though light into darkness
While some people remark
No worthwhile fire
Ever started without that spark
If you were my life's companion
As it seems you may turn out to be
I'm contemplating
How I hope I'll find you waiting
At the very end of this crooked line...
Changing Partners lyrics - Elvis Costello
We were dancing together to a dreamy melody
When they called out "Change partners"
And you waltzed away from me
Now my arms feel so empty as I gaze around the floor
And I'll keep on changing partners
Till I hold you once more
Though we danced for one moment and too soon we had to part
In that wonderful moment somethin' happened to my heart
So I'll keep changing partners till you're in my arms and then
Oh, my darlin' I will never change partners again
Though we danced for one moment and too soon we had to part
In that wonderful moment somethin' happened to my heart
So I'll keep changing partners till you're in my arms and then
Oh, my darlin' I will never change partners again
When they called out "Change partners"
And you waltzed away from me
Now my arms feel so empty as I gaze around the floor
And I'll keep on changing partners
Till I hold you once more
Though we danced for one moment and too soon we had to part
In that wonderful moment somethin' happened to my heart
So I'll keep changing partners till you're in my arms and then
Oh, my darlin' I will never change partners again
Though we danced for one moment and too soon we had to part
In that wonderful moment somethin' happened to my heart
So I'll keep changing partners till you're in my arms and then
Oh, my darlin' I will never change partners again
No Hiding Place lyrics - Elvis Costello
In the not very distant future
When everything will be free
There won't be any cute secrets
Let alone any novelty
You can say anything you want to
In your fetching cloak of anonymity
Are you feeling out of breath now?
In your desperate pursuit of infamy
Two lovers rocking up and down
In an elevator
15 minutes later
They'll make a killing in the market
They know how to work it
On that close circuit
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place
How proud you are
You got the knack
Of howling in a vacuum
Whatever I said about you
I didn't say it behind your back
I paid for my immortal sins
I know the enemy within you
As it seems these days
There is no hiding place
Next time someone wants to hurt you
Or set alight your effigy
Don't call on me to help you out
Don't come crying to me for sympathy
You stay there with your daubs and scratches
While I summon up the red machine
I'll be handing somebody matches
And carrying a can of kerosene
Walk up to me
And say what you said
Let's see how brave you are
When I'm about this far
You sit in judgment and bitch
Well, baby that's rich
You're nothing but a snitch
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place
When everything will be free
There won't be any cute secrets
Let alone any novelty
You can say anything you want to
In your fetching cloak of anonymity
Are you feeling out of breath now?
In your desperate pursuit of infamy
Two lovers rocking up and down
In an elevator
15 minutes later
They'll make a killing in the market
They know how to work it
On that close circuit
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place
How proud you are
You got the knack
Of howling in a vacuum
Whatever I said about you
I didn't say it behind your back
I paid for my immortal sins
I know the enemy within you
As it seems these days
There is no hiding place
Next time someone wants to hurt you
Or set alight your effigy
Don't call on me to help you out
Don't come crying to me for sympathy
You stay there with your daubs and scratches
While I summon up the red machine
I'll be handing somebody matches
And carrying a can of kerosene
Walk up to me
And say what you said
Let's see how brave you are
When I'm about this far
You sit in judgment and bitch
Well, baby that's rich
You're nothing but a snitch
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place
American Gangster Time lyrics - Elvis Costello
One, two, three, four
Somewhere downtown a pretty girl kneels
Offers her soft lips and a handful of pills
Peels off her dress and then the rest of her skills
It buys what she wants and the rest she just steals
He speaks between deep swallows of rum
While her head is beating like a big bass drum
And she wishes he were mute and not just dumb
When the trick asked her quick, "Did you come?"
It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time
He sits back and starts to invent
All about some Saigon correspondent
"'Til the carbine fell silent and spent
I never knew it could be so eloquent"
Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin
For each harlot and each Puritan
Pull off their wings stick them on a pin
And just watch the money roll in
It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time
What you got hidden up your sleeve?
The tracks of the train that were bidding you to leave
When they say that you should flatter to deceive
Don't count on any reprieve
The hands of the helpless are raised
Your dead little secrets are praised
The people stand dumbstruck and dazed
By the inches that you have erased
It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American gangster time
Committing the perfect crime
In American Gangster Time
Here we go
Bye bye
American Gangster Time
Somewhere downtown a pretty girl kneels
Offers her soft lips and a handful of pills
Peels off her dress and then the rest of her skills
It buys what she wants and the rest she just steals
He speaks between deep swallows of rum
While her head is beating like a big bass drum
And she wishes he were mute and not just dumb
When the trick asked her quick, "Did you come?"
It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time
He sits back and starts to invent
All about some Saigon correspondent
"'Til the carbine fell silent and spent
I never knew it could be so eloquent"
Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin
For each harlot and each Puritan
Pull off their wings stick them on a pin
And just watch the money roll in
It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time
What you got hidden up your sleeve?
The tracks of the train that were bidding you to leave
When they say that you should flatter to deceive
Don't count on any reprieve
The hands of the helpless are raised
Your dead little secrets are praised
The people stand dumbstruck and dazed
By the inches that you have erased
It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American gangster time
Committing the perfect crime
In American Gangster Time
Here we go
Bye bye
American Gangster Time
Turpentine lyrics - Elvis Costello
I can't tell if this is real or if I am sleeping
I'll embroider the truth
And that's so I shall reap
I took things that didn't belong to me
I didn't mean to do you wrong
Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it
And that's all it will ever be
Just an accident of chemistry
You did everything to me but stopped short of murder
Couldn't move me much closer to keeping my word
While the crowds threw stones at the hangman
The sky fell down
The bells rang
Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it
And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of chemistry
Airless shaft of an underground railway
Effete assassin with a hawk in a sack
The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail
As it swallowed the river running under the track
Under the track yeah
I can't tell if I'm dreaming or if I'll awaken
With a song in my heart that is longing to break
Let it out and let it fly high
Up where the spires scrape the sky
Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it
And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of history
Yeah
Airless shaft of an underground railway
Cute assassin with a hawk in a sack
The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail
Swallowed the river running under the track
That's right
I'll embroider the truth
And that's so I shall reap
I took things that didn't belong to me
I didn't mean to do you wrong
Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it
And that's all it will ever be
Just an accident of chemistry
You did everything to me but stopped short of murder
Couldn't move me much closer to keeping my word
While the crowds threw stones at the hangman
The sky fell down
The bells rang
Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it
And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of chemistry
Airless shaft of an underground railway
Effete assassin with a hawk in a sack
The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail
As it swallowed the river running under the track
Under the track yeah
I can't tell if I'm dreaming or if I'll awaken
With a song in my heart that is longing to break
Let it out and let it fly high
Up where the spires scrape the sky
Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it
And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of history
Yeah
Airless shaft of an underground railway
Cute assassin with a hawk in a sack
The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail
Swallowed the river running under the track
That's right
Harry Worth lyrics - Elvis Costello
I met them first on their wedding night
Faces were flushed by their pledges plight
We passed in the hall and I met them well
But as their carriage arrived, I found that I couldn't quite tell them
It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know
He walked the wet sands of summertime
Rain beat the window in drummertime
Cruel with his humour
She was quick with her tongue
But though a year had passed
The honeymoon didn't last
Somehow they didn't seem young
It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know
They're on their holidays
But they still find a reason to fight
No matter how long they stay
Can't make the rest of the year right
Five years had passed 'til I happened along
He said, "Do you hear that noise? Well, that once was our song"
I looked in her eyes and saw barely a spark
He laughed too loud then he drank until dark
It's not very far from tears to mirth
It's not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
No, she'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
No, she'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
Faces were flushed by their pledges plight
We passed in the hall and I met them well
But as their carriage arrived, I found that I couldn't quite tell them
It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know
He walked the wet sands of summertime
Rain beat the window in drummertime
Cruel with his humour
She was quick with her tongue
But though a year had passed
The honeymoon didn't last
Somehow they didn't seem young
It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know
They're on their holidays
But they still find a reason to fight
No matter how long they stay
Can't make the rest of the year right
Five years had passed 'til I happened along
He said, "Do you hear that noise? Well, that once was our song"
I looked in her eyes and saw barely a spark
He laughed too loud then he drank until dark
It's not very far from tears to mirth
It's not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
No, she'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
No, she'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
Drum & Bone lyrics - Elvis Costello
Maybe we're nothing but skin and bone
Blare and rubber
Eyes that blubber
Teeth that bite
Hands that slight
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
Maybe we're nothing but skin and bone
Nerves that shatter
Tongues that flatter
Lips that mutter
Lashes that flutter
Mounds of dust and lips of ripe
Twice as vicious
As the words I type
Under a ribbon
Of every stripe
There's a grip that tightens
A dark that frightens
A wise that crackles
A fear that shackles
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
And then that kinder creation
Becomes a fine fixation
All of a sudden
With the parts we've hidden
Because they are forbidden
Beneath a hide of pain
You'll find a soul of stain
While fists still beat
At heart's deceit
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
Maybe with nothing but a drum and drone
I want to beat it 'til I get unknown
Pig some skin
Stretch it tight
Make myself up overnight
Maybe this is nothing but drum and drone
Wanna beat it 'til I get unknown
Dig my pin
Kick up some stink
Find myself a brand new kink
Prick that berry
And squeeze this ink
Scratch out all of the words I think
Before your very eyes can blink
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
Blare and rubber
Eyes that blubber
Teeth that bite
Hands that slight
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
Maybe we're nothing but skin and bone
Nerves that shatter
Tongues that flatter
Lips that mutter
Lashes that flutter
Mounds of dust and lips of ripe
Twice as vicious
As the words I type
Under a ribbon
Of every stripe
There's a grip that tightens
A dark that frightens
A wise that crackles
A fear that shackles
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
And then that kinder creation
Becomes a fine fixation
All of a sudden
With the parts we've hidden
Because they are forbidden
Beneath a hide of pain
You'll find a soul of stain
While fists still beat
At heart's deceit
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
Maybe with nothing but a drum and drone
I want to beat it 'til I get unknown
Pig some skin
Stretch it tight
Make myself up overnight
Maybe this is nothing but drum and drone
Wanna beat it 'til I get unknown
Dig my pin
Kick up some stink
Find myself a brand new kink
Prick that berry
And squeeze this ink
Scratch out all of the words I think
Before your very eyes can blink
And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man
Flutter & Wow lyrics - Elvis Costello
Last rays of sunlight die
Full moon begins to rise
Reflected in your eyes
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
The crowd was gathering
The clock struck five, then ten
My happy tears were descending
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and how
The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
And pushing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night
My voice got stuck in my throat...
Pulled my hand up into the sleeve of my coat
So you'd never know how it was shaking
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
You make the motor in me
Start up and stop again
When I am spluttering
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
To the bridge
The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
And pressing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night
Full moon begins to rise
Reflected in your eyes
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
The crowd was gathering
The clock struck five, then ten
My happy tears were descending
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and how
The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
And pushing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night
My voice got stuck in my throat...
Pulled my hand up into the sleeve of my coat
So you'd never know how it was shaking
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
You make the motor in me
Start up and stop again
When I am spluttering
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
To the bridge
The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
And pressing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night
Stella Hurt lyrics - Elvis Costello
You should wear your red galoshes
Walking o'er the city pride
Streets are paved with heaven's pennies
Gutters full of suicides
Teddy steadily fell from grace
Somewhere near Arcadia
Once she overheard a voice
That she didn't hear on the radio
Velvet gloves and country clubs
Were never going to hold her
Ringing the necks of silly
Southern belles
Who wanted to scold her
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Teddy soon dropped out of sight
Turned up in another town
Changed her name for the spotlight
Singing like a blue bird in a sequin gown
She finally fell and married well
But I knew it wouldn't last
Reversing back into the limelight
No one ever saw her even half-plastered
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Then she saw those soldier boys
Throw their bonnets in the air
Self-made men would pledge their fortunes
And dream of her
And dream of her...
Generals in the commissary opened up a case of wine
Checked the perfume of the cork
Said "Made in 1929"...
They used her up, to raise morale for money
And Old Glory
Her voice was shot beyond repair
But this is not the last act of this story
The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until the needle drags her through the static
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Walking o'er the city pride
Streets are paved with heaven's pennies
Gutters full of suicides
Teddy steadily fell from grace
Somewhere near Arcadia
Once she overheard a voice
That she didn't hear on the radio
Velvet gloves and country clubs
Were never going to hold her
Ringing the necks of silly
Southern belles
Who wanted to scold her
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Teddy soon dropped out of sight
Turned up in another town
Changed her name for the spotlight
Singing like a blue bird in a sequin gown
She finally fell and married well
But I knew it wouldn't last
Reversing back into the limelight
No one ever saw her even half-plastered
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Then she saw those soldier boys
Throw their bonnets in the air
Self-made men would pledge their fortunes
And dream of her
And dream of her...
Generals in the commissary opened up a case of wine
Checked the perfume of the cork
Said "Made in 1929"...
They used her up, to raise morale for money
And Old Glory
Her voice was shot beyond repair
But this is not the last act of this story
The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until the needle drags her through the static
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Mr. Feathers lyrics - Elvis Costello
They looked at her this way ever since she was a girl
Mr. Feathers, Mr. Feathers
The echo in every smile that would curl into a leer
Oh my dear, Mr. Feathers is near
The counter is falling
Something is spoiling
It's really appalling
You pleased and you promised
You never saw it through
Nobody knows the damage that we do
Do you carry it with you?
She passed him out in the street
He suddenly seemed so frail
As her fast heart beat
She should kick him anyway
Sharpen her nails...
For eyes that strayed where hands should never stray
She thought she was wanton ever since she was a girl
Mr. Feathers, Mr. Feathers
The kindness in every smile that would curl into a sneer
Oh my dear, Mr. Feathers is near
Her lover is calling
Something is spoiling
It's really appalling
You pleased and you promised
You never saw it through
Nobody knows the damage that we do
The damage that we do
Mr. Feathers, Mr. Feathers
The echo in every smile that would curl into a leer
Oh my dear, Mr. Feathers is near
The counter is falling
Something is spoiling
It's really appalling
You pleased and you promised
You never saw it through
Nobody knows the damage that we do
Do you carry it with you?
She passed him out in the street
He suddenly seemed so frail
As her fast heart beat
She should kick him anyway
Sharpen her nails...
For eyes that strayed where hands should never stray
She thought she was wanton ever since she was a girl
Mr. Feathers, Mr. Feathers
The kindness in every smile that would curl into a sneer
Oh my dear, Mr. Feathers is near
Her lover is calling
Something is spoiling
It's really appalling
You pleased and you promised
You never saw it through
Nobody knows the damage that we do
The damage that we do
My Three Sons lyrics - Elvis Costello
Day is dawning
Almost sounded like a warning
Wind was rushing through the trees almost roaring
I never thought that I'd become
The proud father of
My three sons
Here's a fragment
Between the shame and the sentiment
For all the years that I might have been absent
I can't do what can't be undone
Oh no, my three sons
I love you more than I can say
What I give to one
The other cannot take away
I bless the day you came to be
With everything that is left to me
Here's your pillow
Go to sleep and I will follow
May you never have any more sorrows
That's not something you can count upon
Still I want it for my three sons
My my
My three sons
Deep in the night I turn cold and sick
But I only curse arithmetic
I bless the day that you came to be
With everything that is left to me
Day is closing
Old men and infants are dozing
That's the kind of life I've chosen
Just see what I've become
The humble father of my three sons
The humbled father of my three sons
Almost sounded like a warning
Wind was rushing through the trees almost roaring
I never thought that I'd become
The proud father of
My three sons
Here's a fragment
Between the shame and the sentiment
For all the years that I might have been absent
I can't do what can't be undone
Oh no, my three sons
I love you more than I can say
What I give to one
The other cannot take away
I bless the day you came to be
With everything that is left to me
Here's your pillow
Go to sleep and I will follow
May you never have any more sorrows
That's not something you can count upon
Still I want it for my three sons
My my
My three sons
Deep in the night I turn cold and sick
But I only curse arithmetic
I bless the day that you came to be
With everything that is left to me
Day is closing
Old men and infants are dozing
That's the kind of life I've chosen
Just see what I've become
The humble father of my three sons
The humbled father of my three sons
Song With Rose lyrics - Elvis Costello
Between last breaths and first regrets
The days dragged on like cigarettes
In the distance martyrs and martinets
Dally, dancing with the empty silhouettes of threats
So, where but heaven does love end
And where on earth does it begin
It's not the kind of love that is pinned
Like a medal
Or presses pennies in a tin
There is hope, and after that, there is only faith
Love like a wraith
Never made me afraid
Consoled as I was by that shade...
Here lie the roses in the ashes
Deep as the barnacles that cling
Just like a lace that runs through everyone and everything
In that other still forever
In that time before the past
I told myself we'd be together
Can you promise me that it will be eternally?
There is hope, and after that, there is only faith
Love like a wraith
Never made me afraid
Consoled as I was
Consoled as I was
Consoled as I was by that shade...
The days dragged on like cigarettes
In the distance martyrs and martinets
Dally, dancing with the empty silhouettes of threats
So, where but heaven does love end
And where on earth does it begin
It's not the kind of love that is pinned
Like a medal
Or presses pennies in a tin
There is hope, and after that, there is only faith
Love like a wraith
Never made me afraid
Consoled as I was by that shade...
Here lie the roses in the ashes
Deep as the barnacles that cling
Just like a lace that runs through everyone and everything
In that other still forever
In that time before the past
I told myself we'd be together
Can you promise me that it will be eternally?
There is hope, and after that, there is only faith
Love like a wraith
Never made me afraid
Consoled as I was
Consoled as I was
Consoled as I was by that shade...
Pardon Me Madam, My Name Is Eve lyrics - Elvis Costello
Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
I think it's time for you to leave
I don't believe that we have met
That's one thing you would not forget
In another time or life
When I was his only wife
When I was his only bride
Before I was torn out from his side
In the orchard apples are withering
In the shadows something is slithering
So go along there if you must
And try to do as I suggest
He's just a gathering of dust
And if he can't recall my name
Tell him to take his time, it's worth recovering
Look at me, and what I'm covered in
I'm covered in shame
I came back looking for my man
Wandered everywhere and then
Stood outside and gazed upon
A beautiful garden, a shimmering pond
See the sunlight on the leaves that dapple
Did you see my little teeth marks on the apple?
Don't close the door on the hand I'm offering
There is always someone on the outside doing all of the suffering
In the orchard, apples are withering
In the shadows, something is slithering
But in another time or life
When I was his only wife
When I was his only bride
Before I was torn out
Before I was torn out
Before I was torn out
From his side
Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
I think it's time for one of us to leave
I think it's time for you to leave
I don't believe that we have met
That's one thing you would not forget
In another time or life
When I was his only wife
When I was his only bride
Before I was torn out from his side
In the orchard apples are withering
In the shadows something is slithering
So go along there if you must
And try to do as I suggest
He's just a gathering of dust
And if he can't recall my name
Tell him to take his time, it's worth recovering
Look at me, and what I'm covered in
I'm covered in shame
I came back looking for my man
Wandered everywhere and then
Stood outside and gazed upon
A beautiful garden, a shimmering pond
See the sunlight on the leaves that dapple
Did you see my little teeth marks on the apple?
Don't close the door on the hand I'm offering
There is always someone on the outside doing all of the suffering
In the orchard, apples are withering
In the shadows, something is slithering
But in another time or life
When I was his only wife
When I was his only bride
Before I was torn out
Before I was torn out
Before I was torn out
From his side
Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
I think it's time for one of us to leave
Go Away lyrics - Elvis Costello
Are we rolling?
One, two, one, two, three, four
Here in my little spy movie
With my garter and dagger
And my gag and my cuff
And my gunslinger swagger
You used to be my hand-painted villain
You used to be so thrilling
It's a switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
And betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Budapest intrigue
Three hours of black and white
Squinting at subtitles
Through a telescopic sight
Hungarian melody
Repeating endlessly
Is this the end I see?
Approaching in front of me
A switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
In this hysterical epic
Secret passage of the palace
Powder from a hollow ring
Into the poisonous chalice
Unfrocked fondler
In a half moonlit gondola
Pampered hog in a ringlet wig
Gamboled a merry jig
You're always pursuing
But she won't need possessing
Just undoing and undressing
Please don't stop confessing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
In my mystery caper
As I lower my lamp
On a fey little gunsel
Who dreamed of drilling that vamp
I'm walking the shade
Of this silent parade
With my pepper and mace
And my heartbroken face
Rainy railway station
Drowns out a tearful parting
Last canister rolling
On our little melodrama
Is a one-horse opera
A screwball comedy
Mistaken identity
Well, who do you want to be?
A switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Hey hey
Why don't you
Go away
Why don't you go away?
One, two, one, two, three, four
Here in my little spy movie
With my garter and dagger
And my gag and my cuff
And my gunslinger swagger
You used to be my hand-painted villain
You used to be so thrilling
It's a switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
And betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Budapest intrigue
Three hours of black and white
Squinting at subtitles
Through a telescopic sight
Hungarian melody
Repeating endlessly
Is this the end I see?
Approaching in front of me
A switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
In this hysterical epic
Secret passage of the palace
Powder from a hollow ring
Into the poisonous chalice
Unfrocked fondler
In a half moonlit gondola
Pampered hog in a ringlet wig
Gamboled a merry jig
You're always pursuing
But she won't need possessing
Just undoing and undressing
Please don't stop confessing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
In my mystery caper
As I lower my lamp
On a fey little gunsel
Who dreamed of drilling that vamp
I'm walking the shade
Of this silent parade
With my pepper and mace
And my heartbroken face
Rainy railway station
Drowns out a tearful parting
Last canister rolling
On our little melodrama
Is a one-horse opera
A screwball comedy
Mistaken identity
Well, who do you want to be?
A switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Hey hey
Why don't you
Go away
Why don't you go away?
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