Please Stay lyrics - Elvis Costello

If I got on my knees and I pleaded with you
Not to go but to stay in my arms
Would you walk out the door
Like you did once before
This time be different
Please stay don't go

If I call out your name like a prayer
Would you leave me alone with my tears
Knowing I need you so
Would you still turn and go
This time be different in some way
Don't go please stay

You took me away from the rest of the world
When you taught me to love you like this
Now I hang my head when I think how you lied
But I still can be saved by your kiss

I loved you before I even knew your name
I wanted to give you my heart
But when you came back after leaving me one time
Oh I knew, yes I knew that the heartaches would start

If I told you my life was a song
That was written for you, you alone
Would you hurt all my pride
Oh, till I cry this time be different
Please stay
Oh, this time be different in some way
Don't go please stay

Running Out Of Fools lyrics - Elvis Costello

Sure you haven't got the wrong number
Sure it's me you want to talk to tonight
Everyone in town's got your number
Everyone in town's got you pegged just right
Is that why you got in touch with me
I guess you must be running out of fools

Even when you left me there crying
Your goodbye was even colder than ice
You didn't care that you left me there crying
Now you wanna break my heart twice

Is that why you got in touch with me
I guess you must be running out of fools

I guess you got back to my name in your little black book
Hey guess what I bet you forgot how I even look
So go ahead with all your sweet talking
Go ahead for all the good it will do
Have yourself a dime's worth of talking
Then I'm gonna hang right up on you

Cause this time you're not getting through to me
I guess you must be running out of fools

Even fools like me
Even fools like me
I guess you're running out of fools
Even fools like me

Days lyrics - Elvis Costello

Thank you for the days
Those endless days those sacred days you gave me
I'm thinking of the days
I won't forget a single day believe me
I bless the light
I bless the light that shines on you believe me
And though you're gone
You're with me every single day believe me

Days I remember all my life
Days where you can't see wrong from right
You took my life
And then I knew that very soon you'd leave me

But it's alright
Now I'm not frightened of this world believe me
I wish today could be tomorrow
The night is dark
It just brings sorrow let it wait

Thank you for the days
Those endless days those sacred days you gave me
I'm thinking of the days
I won't forget a single day believe me

I bless the light
I bless the light that shines on you believe me
And though you're gone
You're with me every single day believe me
Days I remember all my life
Days where you can't see wrong from right
You took my life
And then I knew that very soon you'd leave me

But it's alright
Now I'm not frightened of this world believe me...days

Thank you for the days
Those endless days those sacred days you gave me
I'm thinking of the days
I won't forget a single day believe me

I bless the light
I bless the light that shines on you believe me
And though you're gone
You're with me every single day believe me...days

Step Inside Love lyrics - Elvis Costello

Step inside love, let me find you a place
Where all the cares of the day
Will be carried away
By the smile on your face
We are together now and forever
Come what may
Step inside love and stay

Step inside love
Step inside love
Step inside love
I want you to stay

You look tired love, let me turn down the light
Come in out of the cold
Rest your head on my shoulder
And love me tonight
I'll always be here if you should need me
Night and day
Step inside love and stay

Step inside love
Step inside love
Step inside love
I want you to stay

When you leave me, say you'll see me again
For I know in my heart
We will not be apart
And I'll miss you till then
We'll be together now and forever
Come what may
Step inside love and stay

Step inside love
Step inside love
Step inside love
I want you to stay

Sticks And Stones lyrics -

People talkin', tryin' to break us up
Why don't they let us be
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But talk don't bother me

(No) People talkin', tryin' to break us up
When they know that I love you so
So I don't care what the people might say
I'm never gonna let you go

I've been abused (I've been abused)
In my heart (I've been accused)
I've been accused (I've been accused)
I've been rebuked and I've been stomped

(Well) People talkin', tryin' to break us up
They're scandalizing my name
They'll say anything just to make me feel bad
They'll say anything to make me shamed

I've been abused (I've been abused)
In my heart (I've been accused)
I've been accused (I've been accused)
I've been rebuked and I've been stomped

(Well) People talkin', tryin' to break us up
They're scandalizing my name
They'll say anything just to make me feel bad
They'll say anything to make me shamed

"Brutal Youth" (1994)

Pony Street lyrics - Elvis Costello

She lives on Pony Street
And they should scatter flowers at her feet
But when they come calling I think it's appalling
They're sober and they're polite
They're deeply respectful when I would expect them
To keep her out all night
That little martinet
Will get her own way yet
If you need instruction in mindless destruction
I'll show you a thing or two
You used to adore me but now my life flashes before me
For you to view

Oh mother, oh mother, sometimes you are so mortifying
From the hole in your leopard skin tights I can tell you've been spying
But your generation confesses before it transgresses
Those Super-8 movies of daddy in your disco dresses

If you're going out tonight
I won't wait up
Reading "Das Kapital"
Watching "Home Shopping Club"
While you're flogging a dead horse
All the way down Pony Street
Where you live after a fashion
All the way down Pony Street
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
That lives on, that lives on, that lives on
Pony Street

Daughter, oh daughter, you know I will love you forever
But spare me the white ankle socks with the lace and the leather
For you and your cartoon threat do no good to resist me
For I am the genuine thing but for you it's just history

If you're going out tonight
How can you be sure
Where you lay your pretty head
Mother may have been before
So you're flogging a dead horse
All the way down Pony Street
Where you live after a fashion
All the way down Pony Street
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
That lives on [5x]
She lives on Pony Street [2x]
She lives on, she lives on [2x]

Kinder Murder lyrics - Elvis Costello

Here in the bar, the boys like to have fun
There's a wager lost and an argument won
There's a stone-washed damsel on a junk food run
It's a kinder murder

There's a ladder to heaven from a battered stiletto
Spitting out the words that he put into her mouth
See her in silhouette going down south

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence
He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless
Then he went back to his regiment

It's a kinder murder

The officer said it has to be denied
There's a tear-stained would-be teenage bride
All the family pride in the little ram-rider

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

The child went missing and the photo fit his face
Dishonoured Jimmy just read about the case
He said that he was just taking up space

It's a kinder murder

Jimmy took his best friend's keys from the pile on the table in a flash
He was dreaming of the pigskin seats and the walnut dash
The knickers in her handbag and the one false eyelash

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

She could have kept her knees together
Could have kept her mouth shut

It's a kinder murder [4x]

13 Steps Lead Down lyrics - Elvis Costello

When nobody knows she puts on secret clothes
And lies in the meadow with her hands tied behind her back
I won't refuse if you know how to use it
Just stop playing that ugly drug music

[Chorus:]
Thirteen steps lead down
Thirteen steps lead down
There's commoners and kings
And everyone's a prisoner of
Paper and glue
And a decent pair of scissors
So tonight I'm drinking to your health
Because I just can't stand myself

Thirteen steps lead down [4x]

She stands and fails
On fashion fingernails
Her lovers have her walking 'round
On instruments of torture
And one of them is poisonous
The other is a thief they say
So what one could give to her
The other cannot take away

When nobody knows she puts on secret clothes
And lies in her splendour for a picture opportunity
Cover up that bruise, put on patent leather shoes
Just stop playing that bad mood music

[Chorus]

Thirteen steps lead down [4x]

This Is Hell lyrics - Elvis Costello

[Chorus:]
This is hell, this is hell
I am sorry to tell you
It never gets better or worse
But you get used to it after a spell
For heaven is hell in reverse

The bruiser spun a hula hoop
As all the barmen preen and pout
The neon "i" of nightclub flickers on and off
And finally blew out
The irritating jingle
Of the belly-dancing phoney Turkish girls
The eerie glare of ultra violet
Perfect dental work

[Chorus]

The failed Don Juan in the big bow-tie
Is very sorry that he spoke
For he's mislaid his punchline
More than halfway through a very tasteless joke
The fraulein caught him peeking down her gown
He's yelling in her ear
And all at once the music stopped
As he was intimately bellowing "My dear . . ."

[Chorus]

The shirt you wore with courage
And the violent nylon suit
Reappear upon your back
And undermine the polished line you try to shoot
It's not the torment of the flames
That finally see your flesh corrupted
It's the small humiliations that your memory piles up

This is hell, this is hell, this is hell.

"My Favourite Things" are playing
Again and again
But it's by Julie Andrews
And not by John Coltrane
Endless balmy breezes and perfect sunsets framed
Vintage wine for breakfast
And naked starlets floating in Champagne
All the passions of your youth
Are tranquillised and tamed
You may think it looks familiar
Though you may know it by another name

[Chorus]

This is hell, this is hell.

Clown Strike lyrics - Elvis Costello

She'll fix you with an iron cross
And cover you up with petals
And hang you up with some amber beads
And four or five precious metals
And in that black flamingo chair
You'll sit among her trophies
And pray to be abandoned
Till you don't know what hope is

[Chorus:]
But there's one thing that I had to keep inside
Because I was shaking
Why don't you get some pride
There was a clown strike
And the clowns threw down their tools
But you don't have to play so hard
And I'm nobody's fool
You don't have to go so far
'Cause I love you as you are

The big top is deserted now
And the circus girl rehearses
She knows how to turn their heads
And not fall between two horses
But all that seems a simple step
If only I were able
To love you like I want to do
And not by some times table

[Chorus]

And it's pandemonium
For the humble and the mighty
You don't have to tumble for me
Even a clown knows when to strike

Tell me what you want of me
Or are you terrified of failure?
You put on a superstitious face
Behind all this paraphernalia
We're not living in a masquerade
Where you only have three wishes
It isn't easy to see
In a lifetime of mistaken kisses

[Chorus]

In this pandemonium
For the humble and the mighty
You don't have to tumble for me
Even a clown knows when to strike

You Tripped At Every Step lyrics - Elvis Costello

Take your tiny feet out of your mother's shoes
Or there is going to be a terrible scene
It's not just the lipstick drawn on crooked
When they find how wicked we are
How wicked we have been
How I've been tempted

[Chorus:]
How you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step, you tripped at every step
How you tripped at every step

There's a merry tune that starts in "I"
And ends in "You," like many famous pop songs do
You would sing along with little tell-tale staggers
While balancing on daggers
Though they were killing you
You looked so deadly

[Chorus]

And I would try to catch you
Anytime you call
Only you drank that potion
And went out of control
There's nothing to stop you
So how can you fall?
Let me take your hand
Put down that frying pan

Darkness would become me underneath the table
As the fury raged around the house
Your despairing tread was angry and unstable
You never suspected
Just as that cartoon mouse
Went undetected

So you tripped at every step

In another world of gin and cigarettes
Those cocktail cabinets put mud in your eye
Maybe that is why you find it hard to see me
And if you don't believe me
Before you start to cry
"Don't ever leave me"

As you start to lose your grip
(Once you start losing your grip)
You will stumble as you slip
(And you will stumble and slip)
As you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step, you tripped at every step
As you tripped at every step

Still Too Soon To Know lyrics - Elvis Costello

Do you love him
Or is it still too soon to know?
When I think back a couple of days
Before I found you in his spell
Was there a warning?
What can I say
Should I look away
It's still too soon to know
Are you sorry
Or is it still to soon to know?
It didn't take much to break us in two
For it was in the way that he came close to touching you
The look in your eyes
I thought I recognised
It's still too soon to know

And it's still too soon to know
Will you stay or will you go?
It's still too soon to know

When I think back a couple of days
If I wasn't happy then, I never will be
I wonder was this ignorance or bliss?
It's still too soon to know

20% Amnesia lyrics - Elvis Costello

What is your destiny? the policewoman said (20% amnesia)
The word that she wanted was destination I'm afraid (20% amnesia)
This is your future boy, this is your fate (20% amnesia)
And you're obsolete and they can't afford to educate you (20% amnesia)
In his bedtime boot boy jersey
Ringing up some fantasy tart
Give me strength or give me mercy
Life intimidates art

[Chorus:]
Give me strength or give me mercy
Don't let me lose heart
From rage to anaesthesia
Twenty percent amnesia

Were you passed out on the sofa (20% amnesia)
While justice was bartered by a drunken oaf? (20% amnesia)
This is all your glorious country thinks of your life (20% amnesia)
Stripped Jack naked with a Stanley knife (20% amnesia)

So the German Queen went home again
But she couldn't find forgiveness
They made a fist of her hand of friendship
But it's only business

[Chorus]

The wine you drink has never seen a grape
And now your sci-fi suit has lost its shape
But its a dangerous game that comedy plays
Sometimes it tells you the truth, sometimes it delays it

Think back, think back if you still can
When the trumpet sounded and the world began
Somebody said "We must have won"
So they started burying the bogeyman

Mister Gorbachov came cap in hand (20% amnesia)
From a bankrupt land to a bankrupt land (20% amnesia)
Mister Gorbachov and some other fella (20% amnesia)
Were taken to a show called "Cinderella" (20% amnesia)
It wasn't an accident, it wasn't a mystery (20% amnesia)
It was calculated and the rest is history (20% amnesia)

You don't have to listen to me
That's the triumph of free will
When there are promises to break
And dreams to kill

[Chorus]

Sulky Girl lyrics - Elvis Costello

She wears a wedding ring her sister lent
To throw them off the scent
Just let them guess, it's what they expect
Who in the world has bitten her neck?
She's discovered wearing last night's dress
The carnal and cunning, she couldn't express
Who do you think she's trying to impress?

[Chorus:]
I think you'd better hold your tongue
Although you've never been that strong
I'm sorry to say that I knew all along
You're no match for that sulky girl

She left her European town
Before she let the family down
She couldn't stand the Massacre Game
So she dyed her hair and adopted another name
With the evidence of passing out stamped on her hand
She glows in the dark
He thinks she's from another planet

[Chorus]

Sulky girl
I'm sure you look a picture when you cry
Threatening the silent treatment doesn't qualify
It's like money in the bank
Your expression is blank
But while the chance appears
You'll be nearer to tears
Sulky girl [2x]

He said "Hello, my pretty flower"
Just trying out his tycoon power
Avoiding the mirror, her pitying stare
She said "You're mistaken, your money's no good in here"
Just some stupid little know-it-all
Who thought she looked easy; he's not that astute
He'll pay for the distance
Between cruelty and beauty

[Chorus]

So I won't tell you again
What do you gain
By blackening her name
She's smarter than you
Oh isn't it a shame
You're gonna lose that sulky girl

Sulky girl
I saw you practising your blackmail faces
Suddenly you're talking like a duchess
But you're still a waitress
I saw through your pretence
But in my defence
There are a few events
I think will spare the censor
Sulky girl [4x]