Look Now (2018) - (as Elvis Costello and The Imposters)

• Under Lime
• Don't Look Now
• Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter
• Stripping Paper
• Unwanted Number
• I Let The Sun Go Down
• Mr. & Mrs. Hush
• Photographs Can Lie
• Dishonor The Stars
• Suspect My Tears
• Why Won't Heaven Help Me?
• He's Given Me Things
• Isabelle In Tears (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
• Adieu Paris (L'nvie Des Etoiles) (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
• The Final Mrs. Curtain (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
• You Shouldn't Look At Me That Way (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track) 

Under Lime lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

It's a long way down from the high horse you're on

When you stumble and then you're thrown

The last time we saw him, he was out in the rain

Watching that train roll down the track

Now he's back in showbiz

Trying to make a comeback

We know that he's desperate

And we know that he's broke

He's the mystery guest we'll puncture

They told a young girl with a clipboard

"Just keep him amused"

"Whatever you do, don't tell him your name"

"Whatever you think, don't let him drink"

Under lime, under lime, under lime

He whistles out of tune

His words don't always rhyme

But we will be right back

We're almost out of time

Down a long corridor, he's trying to impress

He was helping a showgirl fasten up her dress

And the clock on the wall tick-tocked the time away

And the band starts to play

In the violent strip of an undressing room

She loosened his grip and started

Tell me your story if you feel so inclined

He was a mess, almost resigned

Though she could guess, I think you will find

She thought "Oh, you know, I wouldn't mind"

He asked her boyfriend's name

Then her whole family tree

She thought I can't believe

It's happening to me

And upset, said "Hey, Pet, would you kindly pass that pill"

And allow me to just dictate my dying will

And the clock on the wall tick-tocked the time away

And the band starts to play

Jimmie was dreaming as she uncrossed her legs

He shuttered his eyes discreetly

And he thought of a drummer and considered a snare

But the beat of his heart said, "Don't ever start"

His conscience was bare, it said "Don't even dare"

She's completely unaware

She forced a laugh or a sign

At every alibi

Once every crime was confessed

He buttoned up his vest

Said "Hey gal, you're a pal, you've really been a sport"

And you don't get a record if you never get caught

And the clock on the wall tick-tocked the time away

And the band starts to play

It's a long way down from that high horse you're on

It's a long way back, 'less you cover your track

Or you bury your crime

Under lime, under lime, under lime, under lime

It's a long way down from that high horse you're on

It's a long way back, 'less you cover your track

Or you bury your crime

Under lime, under lime, under lime, under lime

It's a long way down from that high horse you're on

It's a long way back, 'less you cover your track

Cause you bury your crime

Under lime, under lime, under lime

Don't Look Now lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

Don't look now, don't you dare

I'm not decent, go sit over there

Would you rather I was draped in priceless fur?

As there's nothing else to wear

Don't look now

I saw you shoot that glance

I said, "Don't peek

At the sway of my dance

And the length of my limb

And the blush of my cheek"

Okay, look at me now

What do you see?

I see you looking at me

Looking at how you're looking at me

Oh, oh, oh

I know what you're thinking

I can read your mind

Oh, I promise, I'll be good this time

Now I wonder what you see

Will you be thinking of me?

Later on, when you're alone

Are you ever alone and longing?

I'll sit here silent and still

See if I'm breaking your will

I see you looking at me

Looking at how you're looking at me

Oh, don't look at me now...

Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

She says, "What is it that I've done

That you want me to be punished?"

When she woke up one day to find

That he had started to vanish

But if you overhear voices

Perhaps you should not be listenin' at all

Twitch the vigilant lace

Make a slow, sour face

Set the scandalized whispering

She's out on her own with the rest of her riches

As the kids paint him out of their refrigerator pictures

She picks up the bill, pays off the babysitter

'Cause everybody knows burnt sugar is so bitter

Once there was a time

Before he turned strange

She thought they would be together

For more than a lifetime

Look at him now

My, how things have changed

He could tear the sweet heart out of any girl

On just a whim

And turn it from a candy to a caramel

And make her hate the silly way she used to feel

And say, "I know nothing about him"

Now what's left of the birthday cake

Is very beautifully frosted

An absent father picks up the phone

To find the number's unlisted

But while the kids are distracted

They don't notice she's nervous at all

But how long will it take

Not to make a mistake

When a gentleman comes to call?

She's out on her own with the rest of her riches

As the kids tear down the refrigerator pictures

They already know how a woman may advance

From a pretty picture hat to a supermarket trance

But if he's unkind, he might as well forget her

'Cause everybody knows burnt sugar is so bitter

Burnt sugar is so bitter

Burnt sugar

Stripping Paper lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

I got time on my hands I'm just stripping paper

It's amazing what you will find

Stripping paper

When you get down to the past

Back then we didn't have means

For fine decorations

So we painted while mixing wine

With flirtation

There, in the mess of it all

He took me right there in the thrill

Not quite against my will

With my back to that rococo wall

We slipped right down to the floor

I kicked closed the door

He complimented my taste

I anointed his serious face

With wallpaper paste

I wish we could laugh like that now

But what seemed to follow

And ended up hollow

Was our vow

Tear a strip or two

See what came not much later

Here's a pony and toy balloon

Behind a vine that withered all too soon

Here's the pencil of a measuring mark

And a monster she spied in the dark

Now I've got no place in her heart

Let me go back to the start

I got time on my hands I'm just stripping paper

I got time on my hands I'm just stripping paper

I got time on my hands I'm just stripping paper

Unwanted Number lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

You should hear the things that they say about me

They're saying "She's no better than she needed to be"

They don't know that he was kind and warm and tender

Soon he's gonna be another Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

How can I tell them?

How can I express?

How it felt to step out of this life and into his embrace

How can I tell them?

How can I explain?

All the love that I never had, I found in him

There may be a stain on the family name

And if my father was here I think I know who he'd blame

Mama says that he just doesn't care to remember

And all he thinks of me is another Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

What can she tell me?

What can I expect?

Of all the painful lessons that she learned she never earned respect

What can she tell me?

What can I believe?

That she really didn't hear me cry whenever he would leave?

There's a local game where they whisper my shame

They say "He gave her his child, he wouldn't give her his name"

They will torture me from January till September

And I will give my love to another Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

I will give my love to another Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

And I will give my love

And I will give my love

I will give my love to another Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

And I will give my love

And I will give my love

I will give my love to another Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

Unwanted Number

I Let The Sun Go Down lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

Whenever I'm in the tightest corner

Whenever I feel forlorn

I think of the isle where I was born

And the duty to which I've sworn

But I woke up in a nightmare

With a Union Jack and half a crown

John Bull got caught with his pants down, again

That's inviting sundown

It's time to do or die

It's time to say "Good-bye"

Cause I'm the man who lost the British Empire

Yes I'm the one, I let the sun go down

Don't let the shadows lengthen

And cover my good intentions

They say that darkness brings the right time

But it's also time for tears

I'm so sorry and sincere

Ahead of me a brilliant career

Now I'm going nowhere

It's time to do or die

It's time to say "Good-bye"

Cos I'm the man who lost the British Empire

Yes I'm the one I let the sun go down

Stay awhile

Delay the night

I'm too young for twilight

They'd tell the sun to hesitate

That's when Britain was Great

Now that the lights are flickering

My pulse is quickening

All over the world the lamps will dim

And never be seen again

The balloon's gone up

The night descends

As they lower the flag on no-man's land

They'll take you down a peg or two

This is the bitter end

I walk into darkness

It's time to do or die

It's time to say "Good-bye"

Cos I'm the man who lost the British Empire

Yes I'm the one, I let the sun go down

I let the sun go down

Don't let the sun go down

I let the sun go down

Mr. & Mrs. Hush lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

I tripped through a house of mirrors

Distorted my suspicions and fears (I heard a whisper)

There is a place where those secrets begin (they had a list)

I gave my name and they invited me in (but here's the twist)

A sign flickered and it started to flash

"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Hush"

Haven't you tired of that darkness yet?

Didn't you cry your heart out?

It's only a dream

What is it about love you can't accept?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

To be

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

But it was something I just couldn't understand

Until I slipped my finger into the band

Just think what those eyes might betray

Stare hard and now don't look away

Haven't you tired of that darkness yet?

Didn't you cry your heart out?

It's only a dream

What is it about love you can't accept?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

To be

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

I don't know if I'm deep down right inside her heart

Or outside her door

I don't know if I have the key to either

Uncertain if I should take her hand or leave her

(I thought I saw her)

It's a game of blindfold and bluff

(I thought I saw her)

You know I love you

Is it ever enough?

(I thought I saw her)

Oh, what did I know

(I thought I saw her)

Heigh-ho and there you go

(I thought I saw her)

A voice that caresses and heels like spurs

(I thought I saw her)

What if you walked in with some other fella

(I thought I saw her)

Heat is rising

And red is the colour

(I thought I saw her)

Green is the colour of my true love's eyes

(I thought I saw her)

And green is the colour of those jealous disguises

Haven't you tired of that darkness yet?

Didn't you cry your heart out?

It's only a dream

What is it about love you can't accept?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

To be

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

Mr. and Mrs. Hush

Photographs Can Lie lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

He was wired, dynamite

And she was rare as treasure

That's not the kind of story

You deny

In a frame, under glass

They'll always be together

And so in love, but photographs

Can lie

Now they say I have the gaze

That must recall my father

Saying, "He's my knight,

My bright morning sun"

Now I am mourning everyone

See him now, know he cheats

Why can't she see through him?

He used to be more valiant

Than vain

Put him on a pedestal

And it's a long way down there

I'll never be his little girl

Again

Now they say I have the gaze

That must recall my father

Saying, "He's my knight,

My bright morning sun"

Now I am mourning everyone

Someone else will look at me

And think he is my lover

Developing the image

In his eye

In a frame, under glass

We'll always be together

And so in love, but photographs

Can lie

Dishonor The Stars lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

If you wake and chance to look above you

There's one I named to show how much I love you

Hanging up high

Poets long have written and have sung

Of moonlight and some distant satellite

And when we're young we wish upon them

Other men may only dream to kiss you

But it's not a thrill like this

Put your lips a little closer to my cheek

Then whisper, then speak

So, tell me if you know

How deep can this thing go?

Honey will still desire the flowers

And there will be a love like ours

Until the sky dishonours the stars

What in the world would all this amount to?

If I can't tell you how much I want you

On such a night the sky might dishonour the stars

Disown and dishonour the stars

Poets long have written and have sung

Of moonlight and some distant satellite

And when we're young we wish upon them

Other men may only dream to kiss you

But it's not a thrill like this

Put your lips a little closer to my

Cheek then whisper, then speak

So, tell me if you know

How deep can this thing go?

Honey will still desire the flowers

And there will be a love like ours

Until the sky dishonours the stars

What in the world would all this amount to?

If I can't tell you how much I want you

On such a night the sky might dishonour the stars

Disown and dishonour the stars

Suspect My Tears lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

Do you remember how to say please?

You've had your own way for such a long time

Your lashes sweep down, I dry your cheek

You think I'm powerless when you speak

You may have something, I don't deny

You look so beautiful when you cry

If I seem unconcerned

Perhaps it's time you learned

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

You're not the only one who can turn it on

When oh when you need it

Do you remember how bad it felt?

Big eyes would fill up, your lip would tremble

You want to hurt me, but then you melt

You always promise to lose control

I learned the trick that you used to play

I'm tired of you having it your own way

With the power to persuade

Beginning to cascade

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

You're not the only one who can turn it on

When oh when you need it

If you hear me weeping

I may be cheating or just laughing inside

If you're suspicious

That I'm sly and vicious

Here's your chance to decide

Two hypocrites collide

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

You're not the only one who can turn it on

When oh when you need it

Oh when you need it

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

You're not the only one who can turn it on

When oh when you need it

Oh when you need it

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

I'll cry until you suspect my tears

Why Won't Heaven Help Me? lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

I set off alarms and fire off flares

Cause sometimes they answer prayers

I'm listening

I wait for some distant bell to ring

Why won't heaven help me?

(Far, far away)

Why won't heaven help me?

(It's so hard to say)

Why won't heaven help me?

Hey you out there!

Even if you dare...

Take care of your wishes

If you find they do come true

You may regret that too

Why won't heaven help me?

Why won't heaven help me?

Remember the thrill that followed praise

While dressed for a lover's gaze

The moment when

You saw through the lies of older men

Why won't heaven help me?

(Far, far away)

Why won't heaven help me?

(It's so hard to say)

Why won't heaven help me?

Hey you out there!

Even if you dare...

Take care of your wishes

If you find they do come true

You may regret that too

Why won't heaven help me?

(Why won't heaven)

Why won't heaven help me?

(Why won't heaven)

Why won't heaven help me?

(Why won't heaven)

I sensed this was wrong but take my word

I thought somehow I'd be spared

Alone again

Believe what you want of me

'Til then

Why won't heaven help me?

(Far, far away)

Why won't heaven help me?

(It's so hard to say)

Why won't heaven help me?

Hey you out there!

Even if you dare...

Take care of your wishes

If you find they do come true

You may regret that too

Why won't heaven help me?

(Why won't heaven)

Why won't heaven help me?

(Why won't heaven)

Why won't heaven help me?

(Why won't heaven)

He's Given Me Things lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

He's given me things you never would have

And if you did you'd want them back

Forgiven me things I didn't know that

I had done, but just faded to black

He's given me time and consolation

Some verses to read and lines to say

I will stay here for a while now

He call me "child" now

But it works that way

He's given me things you couldn't guess at

I don't mean jewels although they were fine

A way to depart, one way to enter

A right to dismiss upon a whim

When I close the door and you're supposing

I kick up my heels and then I scream

"Why was I chosen?" You'll never know

What I give to him

He's given me things you never thought of

Because they were not yours to give

So take this pill and tranquilize

And roll your eyes at the husbands

Not the customer's wives

He's forgiven me trials and tears and tantrums

And even all my false alarms

You sat there amused while I was crying

And just seemed to sigh but that's money can buy

And now I know why I come back to him

And now I know why you'll never do

Who are you?

Out there with one penny

You are so many

And we are so few

So cover the canvas if you're leaving

There's a bowl in the hallways to wash your hands

If the waters runs black please leave some silver

Then step past the glass and never come back

I'm living up here and you can see me

Yes, you can look but you can't touch

'Cause you don't belong, the air is thin here

You may asphyxiate my dear

For didn't you tell me "You should hold me"

"Oh please, you must hold me, as if I were hung"

To think you were exciting when love was frightening

But I was so young

He's given me things you never dreamed of

Where hopes are dashed and trash is praised

He has an awful lot of money

The past can be bought and then erased

Isabelle In Tears lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

Isabelle in tears, Isabelle is ringing

Saying, "I need you near to me,

But a telephone just isn't worth the flinging

Like a book or that ashtray that I aimed at your head

I'd rather see you dead"

But it's not as it appears so I tripped up the stairs

To find Isabelle in tears

Isabelle remains Isabelle in tethers

Wears a flimsy negligee of innocence and feathers

She says, "That's a good idea" as she pours herself a shot

But she can't get the genius back into the bottle

"After you're kind you'll find that no-one cares"

So her lovers and her fears leave Isabelle in tears

And I left her standing out there in the rain calling my name

As I pulled away pretending that I'd never met her

Oh, you never know the thrill of the Isabelle of memory

They say she was a bombshell who turned to an incendiary

Till the whole town burned down and returned into the earth

Can you admit your love? Can you confess her worth?

That the slant of time obscures and on certain nights appears

Like Isabelle in tears

That the slant of time obscures and on certain nights appears

Like Isabelle in tears

Adieu Paris (L'envie Des Etoiles) lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

Adieu, Paris

Mon, ancien amour

O, Adieu Paris

Could I have loved you much less,

or wanted you more?

O, Adieu...

Regarde la lumière

Et regarde ton regard

I looked in your eyes,

so long and hard

L'envie des étoiles

L'écho de nos rires

Au milieu des débris

O, Adieu Paris

You've taken back all

That you've given to me

O, Adieu...

Regarde la lumière

Et regarde ton regard

I looked in your eyes,

so long and hard

L'envie des étoiles

Après la tristesse

Larmes sur la page

Après la douleur

Le premier cri de rage

Seulement silence

Alors étudie mon visage

Ce sera le dernier,

que vous voyez de moi

Adieu, mes amis

L'envie des étoiles

So long, fare thee well, mes amis

O Adieu, Paris

Regarde la lumière

Et regarde ton regard

I looked in your eyes,

so long and hard

Adieu, Paris

Mon, ancien amour

O, Adieu...

Regarde la lumière...

I looked in your eyes,

so long and hard

Adieu, Paris

Mon, ancien amour

Adieu, Paris

Mon, ancien amour

Adieu, Paris

Mon, ancien amour

Adieu

The Final Mrs. Curtain lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

He was a plain piece of paper, an ordinary smith

The kind that you never trifle with

Drawn in wide-eyeliner, a solitary lass

Her beauty veiled by tortoiseshell and tinted glass

She was a husband collector of impeccable taste

She said, "My hands are tied but my glass is chaste"

He said, "If I were him, I'd fill that to the brim, so tell me more,

'Cause that's the kind of talk that I adore"

To lay with you

To lie with you

To live with you

Maybe die with you

As first love fades

Then two, then three

I'm certain to see

The Final Mrs. Curtain

There's not enough paper, there's not enough ink

There's not enough hours in the day, or poisons to drink

But there are too many teardrops that are still left to cry

And different kinds of kisses to help them dry

To lay with you

To lie with you

To live with you

Maybe die with you

As first love fades

Then two, then three

I'm certain to see

The Final Mrs. Curtain

To lay with you

To lie with you

To live with you

Maybe die with you

I'm the one who'll hold you

Till we're through

The Final Mrs. Curtain

You Shouldn't Look At Me That Way lyrics - Elvis Costello and The Imposters

Am I fine, am I pleasing

Are you pitying, are you teasing

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Should a glance from you, just shoot through me

If a glimpse of you could undo me

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Time among all of your enemies

Leaves you nothing but bitter memories

From the first splash of affection

To avoiding your own reflection

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Now the flashbulbs may dazzle

While you're figuring out this puzzle

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Don't take more than I offer

All my love or I'll make you suffer

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Time among all of your enemies

Makes disguises from drastic remedies

From the first splash of detection

To avoiding your own reflection

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

You shouldn't look at me that way

Elvis Costello other songs:

 

Anyone Who Had A Heart lyrics - Elvis Costello

(Live In London at Royal Festival Hall, October 29, 1998)

Anyone who ever loved

Would look at me and know that I love you

Anyone who ever dreamed

Would look at me and know I dream of you

Knowing I love you so

Anyone who had a heart

Would take me in her arms and love me too

You couldn't really have a heart

And hurt me like you hurt me

And be so untrue

What am I to do?

Every time you go away

I always say

"This time it's goodbye, dear."

Loving you the way I do

I take you back

Without you I'd die, dear

Knowing I love you so

Anyone who had a heart

Would take me in her arms and love me too

You couldn't really have a heart

And hurt me like you hurt me

And be so untrue

What am I to do?

Knowing I love you so

Anyone who had a heart

Would take me in her arms and love me too

You couldn't really have a heart

And hurt me like you hurt me

And be so untrue

Anyone who had a heart would love me too

Anyone who had a heart would surely take me in her arms and always love me

Why can't you?

Anyone who had a heart would love me too

Anyone who had a heart would surely take me in her arms and always love me

Why can't you?

Anyone who had a heart would love me too

Anyone who had a heart would surely take me in her arms and always love me

Why can't you?

Blue Minute lyrics - Elvis Costello

Blue minute, blue minute, blue minute

I don't know how I got in it

I thought about you for a while

And then I tried to dial you anyway

Can't get you out of my day

I tried to get you off my mind

I'm better off without your kind

Then I get along just fine for a day or two

But now that I'm on my own again

I find that every now and then

Something always seems to remind me of you

Blue minute, blue minute, blue minute

I don't know how I got in it

I thought about you for a while

And then I tried to dial you anyway

Can't get you out of my day

Why oh why do you affect me this way

Oh I get that helpless feeling any time any day

Blue minute, blue minute, blue minute

I don't know how I got in it

I thought about you for a while

And then I tried to dial you anyway

Can't get you out of my day

Can't get you out of my day

Can't get you out of my day

Blue minute, blue minute, blue minute

But Not For Me lyrics - Elvis Costello (feat. Larry Adler)

Old man sunshine, listen you

Never tell me dreams come true

Just try it and I'll start a riot

Beatrix Fairfax, don't you dare

Ever tell me she will care

I'm certain it's the final curtain

I never want to hear from any cheerful Pollyannas

Who tell you fate provides a mate

It's all bananas

They're writing songs of love

But not for me

A lucky star's above

But not for me

With love to lead the way

I've found more skies of gray

Than any Russian play could guarantee

I was a fool to fall and get that way

Hi ho alas and also lackaday

Although I can't dismiss

The memory of her kiss

I guess she's not for me

I was a fool to fall and get that way

Hi ho alas and also lackaday

Although I can't dismiss

The memory of her kiss

I guess she's not for me

I guess she's not for me

Here, There And Everywhere lyrics - Elvis Costello & The Imposters

(originally by The Beatles)

To lead a better life

I need my love to be here

Here

Making each day of the year

Changing my life with a wave of her hand

Nobody can deny that there's something there

There

Running my hands through her hair

Both of us thinking how good it can be

No one is speaking, but she doesn't know he's there

I want her everywhere

And if she's beside me I know I need never care

But to love her is to need her everywhere

Knowing that love is to share

Each one believing that love never dies

Watching her eyes

And hoping I'm always there

I will be there and everywhere

Here, there and everywhere

Honeyhouse (Cruel No. 2) lyrics - Elvis Costello

I exit through the spotlight glare

I stepped out into thin air

Into a perfume so rarefied

Here comes the bride

Not quite aside, they snide, she's number four

There's number three just by the door

Those in the know, don't even flatter her, they go one better

She was selling speedboats in a trade show when he met her

Look at her now

She's starting to yawn

She looks like she was born to it

But it was so much easier

When I was cruel

She reaches out her arms to me

Imploring another melody

So she can dance her husband out on the floor

The captains of industry just

Lie there where they fall

In eau-de-nil and pale carnation creation

A satin sash and velvet elevation

She straightens the tipsy head-dress of her spouse

While hers recalls a honey house

There'll be no sorrows left to drown

Early in the morning in your evening gown

But it was so much easier

When I was cruel

The entrance hall was arranged

With hostesses and ushers

Who turned out to be the younger wives

Nursing schoolgirl crushes

Parting the waves of those

Few feint friends

Fingers once offered are now too

Heavy to extend

The ghostly first wife glides up

On stage, whispering to raucous talkers

Spilling family secrets out to

Flunkey's and castrato walkers

See that girl, watch that scene

Digging the dancing queen

Two newspaper editors like playground sneaks

Running a book on which of them is going to last the week

One of them calls to me and he says, I know you

You gave me this tattoo back in '82

You were a spoilt child then with a record to plug

And I was a shaven headed, seaside thug

Things haven't really changed that much

One of us is still getting paid too much

There are some things I [?] report

The memory of his last retort

But it was so much easier

When I was cruel, oh

Look at me now, she's starting to yawn

She looks like she was born to it

Ah, but it was so much easier

When I was cruel

I'll Still Love You lyrics - Elvis Costello

(originally by Johnny Cash)

One of these mornings

I'm gonna rise up flying

One of these mornings

I'll sail away

Beyond the blue

I've gotta promise

There's a world ahead

I want you to know that when I come

I'll still love you

I'll still love you

I won't be a stranger

When I get to heaven

'Cause you gave me heaven

Right here on earth

If I get rewarded

With an ancient heart of gold

[?] for what it's worth

I'll still love you

One of these mornings

When my trouble's over

One of these morning

When all my suffering is through

I'll go out singing

It'll be a day to sing about

And I'll guarantee for eternity

I'll still love you

I'll still love you

I'll still love you

I'll still love you

Let Me Roll It lyrics - Elvis Costello & The Imposters

You gave me something

I understand

You gave me loving in the palm of my hand

I can't tell you how I feel

My heart is like a wheel

Let me roll it

Let me roll it to you

Let me roll it

Let me roll it to you

I want to tell you

And now's the time

I want to tell you that

You're going to be mine

I can't tell you how I feel

My heart is like a wheel

Let me roll it

Let me roll it to you

Let me roll it

Let me roll it to you

You gave me something

I understand

You gave me loving in the palm of my hand

I can't tell you how I feel

My heart is like a wheel

Let me roll it

Let me roll it to you

Let me roll it

Let me roll it to you

Magnificent Hurt (Remix) lyrics - Elvis Costello, The Imposters & chelmico

[Rachel:]

Shita o dashite sonobashinogi

Airashī sono ko shibai

Mirai mitaina shinajī

Shisen no oku ni wa mada mu i wadachi

Kawaiito kanashī wa kamihitoe

Wakaranainara sono sakini tobe

Taimingu wa osokare hayakare

Wakaranainara soko no kami ni toe

2tsu no engi kakeru tenbin

Kara mawaru made fukasu enjin

Boku ni wa nai sekinin

Kimi no katachi ni nuritsubushita sutenshiru

Nan datte shitterushi

Dokoni datte ikeru bokutachi

It's the way you make me feel, magnificent hurt

[Mamiko:]

Kore matamata mukashi no hanashi

Sōtei-gaina boku no me o choromakashi

Akai sora no shita mō dō surya ī

Iunareba kore wakagenoitari

Eda kara ringo ochiru toki

Boku no kokoro mo mata ochikomi

Tokidoki wakan'naku naru

Yueni kimi ni muchū subete sasagete ita

Rikai shitai

Shigeki-zai o nonde aruku

Kimi wa ippo rīdo itsu datte

Itsu datte kimi wa boku o warau

Korya migotona hodo no itamida

It's the way you make me feel, magnificent hurt

I stood at the door, and I almost went through with it

Tight as the angle of my amen and I swore

To ゙ u shiyō mo nai

Kimi ka ゙ sonoke ni sa seru toki

Furimawasare ni itteru

Waraeyo

To ゙ u shiyō mo nai

Kimi ka ゙ sonoke ni sa seta toki

Itaiyo kuse ni natteru

Baka nanoha to ゙ tchi

It's the way you make me feel, magnificent hurt

I stood at the door, and I almost went through with it

Tight as the angle of my amen

And I swore

To ゙ u shiyō mo nai

Kimi ka ゙ sonoke ni sa seru toki

Furimawasare ni itteru

Waraeyo

Utsukushi suki ゙ru kimi

Yurushi wa shi ゙-meta kokoro to karada

Mō tomaru koto wanai

Shigeki-teki sa

Ā itai na

[Japanese:]

[Rachel:]

舌を出してその場しのぎ

愛らしいその小芝居

未来みたいなシナジー

視線の奥にはまだ無い轍

可愛いと悲しいは紙一重

分からないならその先に飛べ

タイミングは遅かれ早かれ

分からないならそこの神に問え

２つの演技 かける天秤

から回るまでふかすエンジン

僕には無い責任

君の形に塗りつぶしたステンシル

なんだって知ってるし

どこにだって行ける僕たち

It's the way you make me feel, magnificent hurt

[Mamiko:]

これまたまた昔のハナシ

想定外な僕の目をちょろまかし

赤い空の下もうどうすりゃいい

いうなればこれ若気の至り

枝からりんご落ちる時

僕の心もまた落ちこみ

時々分かんなくなる

故に君に夢中全て捧げていた

理解したい

刺激剤を飲んで歩く

君は一歩リードいつだって

いつだって君は僕を笑う

こりゃ見事なほどの痛みだ

It's the way you make me feel, magnificent hurt

I stood at the door, and I almost went through with it

Tight as the angle of my amen and I swore

どうしようもない

きみがその気にさせる時

振り回されにいってる

笑えよ

どうしようもない

きみがその気にさせた時

痛いよ クセになってる

バカなのはどっち

It's the way you make me feel, magnificent hurt

I stood at the door, and I almost went through with it

Tight as the angle of my amen

And I swore

どうしようもない

きみがその気にさせる時

振り回されにいってる

笑えよ

美しすぎるきみ

許しはじめた心と身体

もう止まることはない

刺激的さ

ああ痛いな

Make It Easy On Yourself lyrics - Elvis Costello

(Live In London at Royal Festival Hall, October 29, 1998)

'Cause breaking up is so very hard to do

If you really love him

And there's nothing I can do

Don't try to spare my feelings

Just tell me that we're through

And make it easy on yourself

Make it easy on yourself

'Cause breaking up is so very hard to do

And if the way I hold you

Can't compare to his caress

No words of consolation

Will make me miss you less

My darling, if this is goodbye

I just know I'm gonna cry

So run to him

Before you start crying too

And make it easy on yourself

Make it easy on yourself

'Cause breaking up is so very hard to do

It's so hard to do

It's so hard to do

My Little Red Book lyrics - Elvis Costello

(Live In London at Royal Festival Hall, October 29, 1998)

I just got out my little red book

The moment that you said goodbye

I thumbed right through my little red book

I wasn't gonna sit and cry

And I went from A to Z

I called up every pretty girl in town

They danced with me and as I held them

All I did was talk about you

Hear your name and I'd start to cry

There's just no getting over you

No girl who's in my little red book

Just ever could replace your charms

And each girl in my little red book

Knows you're the one I'm thinking of

Won't you please come back to me?

Without your precious love I can't go on

Where can you be? I need you so much

All I do is to talk about you

Hear your name and I start to cry

There is just no getting over you

Won't you please come back to me?

Without your precious love I can't go on

Where can you be? I need you so much

All I do is to talk about you

Hear your name and I start to cry

There is just no getting over you

All I do is to talk about you

Hear your name and I start to cry

There is just no getting over you

I just got out my little red book

I just got out my little red book

I just got out my little red book

Out Of Time lyrics - Elvis Costello & The Imposters

(originally by The Rolling Stones)

You don't know what's going on

You've been away for far too long

You can't come back and think you are still mine

You're out of touch my baby

My poor discarded baby

I said, baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

Well, baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

I said, baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

Yes, you are left out, yeah, you're out of there without a doubt

Baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

You thought you was a clever girl

Giving up your social whirl

You can't come back and be the first in line

You're obsolete, my baby

My poor old-fashioned baby

I said baby, baby, baby you're out of time

Yeah, baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

I said, baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

Yes, you are left out

Yeah, you're out of there without a doubt

Baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

Oh, oh, oh, baby, baby, baby you're out of time

I said, baby, baby, baby you're out of time

Yes, you are left out

Yeah, you're out of there without a doubt

Baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

Oh, yeah

Baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

I said, baby, baby, baby you're out of time

You're left out

Yeah, you're out of there without a doubt

Baby, baby, baby, you're out of time

Phonographic Memory lyrics - Elvis Costello

"We have not come so much to a fork in the road, as a fork on the plate, scraping the last lick off the gravy train of history"

There was nervous laughter round from the dais that rolled outwards through the crowd on a breeze that rustled flags and banners.

It was the voice of Orson Welles, his baritone coming to us over decades of dead silence through a metallic tannoy, each word meticulously tape-spliced from various soundtracks and radio broadcasts in the Library of Congress.

It wowed the crowd before it fluttered and faltered as the powder of lost oxide caused a catch in his voice just as the spool ran out.

Curiously, the simulated address seemed to be delivered in the same, strange, stage-Irish accent that Welles had possibly purloined from the actor, Michael MacLiammóir, when he had bluffed his way onto the Dublin stage as a teenager.

Now it was just one in a queue of immigrant inflections that might have taken the day.

It was also the voice that Orson had used in "Lady From Shanghai". You know, the one with the shootout amidst the shattered reflections of fun house mirrors.

Few remembered that motion picture now.

One man in the third row remarked to his wife that he seemed to remember this voice selling him sweet sherry in his youth but there were many in the crowd who knew nothing of this "Citizen" and the "Kane" he had once raised, back when the worst one could imagine was an invasion from another sphere.

After the peace was negotiated and the internet switched off, knowledge returned to its medieval cloister, in this and that illuminated volume, the jealous possession of the pious and the superstitious, who might once again wield ignorance like a scythe.

There were but dimly remembered facsimiles after many of the public libraries had been torched. Untouched books now went for the price of a Vuitton handbag.

Ever since the U.S. Mint was sucked dry and spat out, bookworms paid for rare tomes with wheelbarrows full of banknotes, some of them worthless Confederate money, stashed in plinths of various toppled statues.

They bartered it on a Mississippi square with the irony and arrogance of victors.

None of it helped the healing.

Yet in the absence of a noble woman or a statesman equal to the task, a tireless engineer had magically assembled the random words of Welles' oration into a speech worthy of the occasion from the depths of the national archive.

President Swift gave a slight, shy smile of pearl and pillar-box red and began to sing a plain song of her acceptance.

Smile lyrics - Elvis Costello

(originally by Nat King Cole)

Smile though your heart is aching

Smile even though it's breaking

When there are clouds in the sky

You'll get by

If you smile through your fear and sorrow

Smile and maybe tomorrow

You'll see the sun come shining through

For you

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear

May be ever so near

That's the time you must keep on tryin'

Smile, what's the use of cryin'

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you'd just smile

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear

May be ever so near

That's the time you must keep on tryin'

Smile, what's the use of cryin'

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you'd just smile

Smile

So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star lyrics - Elvis Costello & The Imposters

So you want to be a rock-and-roll star?

Then listen now to what I say

Just get an electric guitar

Then take some time and learn how to play

And with your hair swung right

And your pants too tight

It's gonna be all right

Then it's time to go downtown

Where the agent man won't let you down

Sell your soul to the company

Who's waiting there to sell plastic ware

And in a week or two if you make the charts

The girls'll tear you apart

The price you paid for your riches and fame

Was it all a strange game?

You're a little insane

The money, the fame

And the public acclaim

Don't forget what you are

You're a rock-and-roll star

La, la la la la la, la la la la la la

La la la la la

La, la la la la la, la la la la la la

La la la la la

Someone Else's Heart lyrics - Elvis Costello

I got nosy and I read her letters

I read her diary it's the same story and nothing better

The words remind me of someone else's heart

Has gone and left a mark

And the pop music plays

On the local radio

There's people on the streets but no one that I know

And like my heart is now

I know not where they go

Same words different meaning

Same heart different feeling

So much for him so much for her 'cause that's past

Now I know about that someone else's heart

She got nosy and read my letters too

And my notebook surprised to find that

Love is not so new

So we both took

Someone else's heart

And walked it through the dark

A feeling so rich

I turned around to laugh

We had both indulged in each other's past

To find out that our love

Was true enough to last

Same words different meaning

Same heart different feeling

So much for him so much for her 'cause that's past

Now I know about that someone else's heart

(Someone else's heart)

Now I know about that someone else's heart

That's Me lyrics - Elvis Costello

(from "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County" soundtrack)

Am I fine, am I pleasing

Are you pitying, are you teasing

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Should a glance from you, just shoot through me

If a glimpse of you could undo me

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Time among all of your enemies

Leaves you nothing but bitter memories

From the first splash of affection

To avoiding your own reflection

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Now the flashbulbs may dazzle

While you're figuring out this puzzle

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Don't take more than I offer

All my love or I'll make you suffer

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

Time among all of your enemies

Makes disguises from drastic remedies

From the first splash of detection

To avoiding your own reflection

You shouldn't look at me

You shouldn't look at me that way

You shouldn't look at me that way

Truth Drug - Memphis Magnetic Version lyrics - Elvis Costello & The Imposters

I've been taking the truth drug

I've been telling a friend

It's alright

I've been up all night

I've been taking the lid off

I've been telling a friend

Like it is

In the mood to fizz

Rushing here and there

Talking everywhere

I'll see everything

'Cause I don't care

Hands are getting wet

Drugs are feeling warm

I'm a modern boy

In the whole light of dawn

On the truth drug

On the truth drug baby

I've been taking the truth drug

I've been telling a friend

It's wonderful

Like an animal

I've been taking the truth drug

I've been telling a friend

It's alright

I've been up all night

One more

One more

One more

When I Was Cruel No. 1 lyrics - Elvis Costello

Did you talk your way out of this?

Did someone flip your switch?

Now there is only right or wrong

Can you tell which is which?

But it was so much easier

When I was cruel

Why did you leave your happy home?

Why did you travel far abroad?

So you could sleep with strangers?

You must have heard just how absurd

The words poured out of you, you fraud

I guess you don't know what pain is

So dont pretend you're innocent

Do I look like your fool?

I guess you have forgotten

When I was cruel

Oh, when I was cruel, I could make you so unhappy

Lonely cowards followed me like ghouls

And you liked me too, when I was cruel

Oh, you know you did

But if you should feel anything, a signal from within

Go back in your laboratory and try to dial it in

And if you should feel anything, a signal from without

Abandon your dreams of vengence

So don't protest your innocence

The truth is hard to judge

Perhaps you have forgetten when

I had a grudge

Oh, but I was cruel and I would make you very sorry

Lonely cowards followed me like ghouls

And you liked me too, when I was cruel

Oh, you know you did

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong About Me lyrics - Elvis Costello

(from "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County" soundtrack)

Well you look down your noses

When anyone's having fun

I guess you can't remember

What it's like to be young

You got no fun lovin' spirit left in you at all

Just two young lovers here tryin' to have a ball

It's people like you

Who think that heaven's the place to be

But you're wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong about me

Well you've lied to your children

About what's good and bad

And you falsify the truth

About all the fun that you've had

You always act so goody-goody

With your "thank you, dear" and "please"

But you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong about me

In summation just to bring this to a close

I bet you've done some things yourself

That nobody's supposed to know

Don't forget who you're talkin' to, dear

Because everything you do I see

But you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong about me

Ten commandments, hell!

With me, there's only one

Each individual has the right

The fella next to you has none

You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong about me

"Wise Up Ghost" (2013) (with THE ROOTS)

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

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

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

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

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

(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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"National Ransom" (2010)

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

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