Elvis Costello LYRICS

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Elvis Costello - Big Tears - lyrics

Everyone is busy with the regular routine
The sniper just takes his aim
Everyone is window shopping, no one is amazed
Even if he hit you, youd still think its just a graze
You go to a movie, you go to a show
You think that youre living, you dont really know
Big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When youre lying in your coffin
Tell me whos been taken in
Oh, you talk about the new boss automatic clause
But of course they make it all up for you
Always fascinated by the weird edge of town
Come home disappointed every time they put you down
Laughing with the old boys, saying that its all noise
I suppose big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When youre lying in your coffin
Tell me whos been taken in
All the buttons of my overcoat
They have fallen off one by one
You wouldnt even like me if youd never had a drink
You wouldnt even like me if you never stopped to think
Standing in the shadow, turning wives to widows
Dont you know big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When youre lying in your coffin
Tell me whos been taken in
Tell me, me or yous been taken in
Tell me, tell me, tell me

Elvis Costello - You Want Her Too - lyrics

She makes me go so wrong
(yeah, you kept me away, you know you did)
Ive loved her oh, so long
(so why dont you come right out and say it, stupid? )
She makes me do things I dont want to do
I dont know why I should be telling you
I know that you want her too
My intentions are quite sincere
(thats not what you said the other night)
And all you can do is sneer
(so go ahead and kid yourself youre right)
She makes me do things I dont want to do
I dont know why I should be telling you
I know that you want her too
Ive got a better chance than you do
I know that you want her too
Youre such a hopeless romantic
She told me youre so predictable and nice
She only did you a favor once or twice
Once or twice
She makes me go so wrong
(so why dont you lie back and enjoy it? )
Oh, my conscience is clear and strong
(yes, she says Im just the boy for it)
She makes me do things I dont want to do
I dont know why I should be telling you
I know that you want her too
I know that you want her too
I know that you want her too

Elvis Costello - 13 Steps Lead Down - lyrics

When nobody knows she puts on secret clothes
And lies in the meadow with her hands tied behind her back
I wont refuse if you know how to use it
Just stop playing that ugly drug music
Chorus:
Thirteen steps lead down
Thirteen steps lead down
Theres commoners and kings
And everyones a prisoner of
Paper and glue
And a decent pair of scissors
So tonight Im drinking to your health
Because I just cant 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]

Elvis Costello - Jump Up - lyrics

Everybodys talking like they cant sit down
And looking like they cant stand up
It must be the lastest style
And theyve seen a lot of things that you never see
Back on the mile up to the hanging tree
Some people cant keep their fingers clean
Just clicking their heels to the beat of the scene
Trying to keep careen until the first edition of last nights obituries
Jump up--hold on tight
Cant trust the promise or a guarantee
cause the man round the curve says that hes never heard
Of you or me
No tombstone would ever surprise me
When Im locked in a room about half the size of a matchbox
Got holes in my socks
They match the ones that I got in my feet
I put my feet in the holes in the street and somebody paved me over
I was a statue standing on the corner
Tell me, how else can a boy get to see those pretty pleats?
Candidate talkin on the radio from the cheaters jamboree
It must be their lastest fool
cause its a two-horse race and he changed his bets
Like it was just another brand of cigarettes
Some people judge and they just guess the rest
They cant understand that dont mean that youre blessed
They ought to catch the express next stop no where
That way you can forget
Jump up--hold on tight
Cant trust the promise or a guarantee
cause the man round the curve says that hes never heard
Of you or me

Elvis Costello - Little Palaces - lyrics

In chocolate town all the trains are painted brown
On the silver paper of the wrapper
Theres a dapper little man
And he wears a wax moustache
That he twists with nicotine fingers
As he drops his cigarette ash
And someone comes and sweeps it up
And then he doffs his cap
And theres a rat in someones bedroom
And theyre shutting someones trap
And theyll soon be pulling down the little palaces
And the doors swing back and forward, from the past into the present
And the bedside crucifixion turns from wood to phosphorescent.
And theyre moving problem families from the south up to the north,
Mothers crying over some soft soap opera divorce,
And you say you didnt do it, but you know you did of course,
And theyll soon be pulling down the little palaces.
Its like shouting in a matchbox, filled with plasterboard and hope,
Like a picture of prince william in the arms of john the pope.
Theres a world of good intentions, and pity in their eyes,
The sedated homes of england, are theirs to vandalize.
So you knock the kids about a bit, because theyve got your name,
And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.
And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.
Youre the twinkle in your daddys eye, a name you spray and scribble,
You made the girls all turn their heads, and in turn they made you miserable.
To be the heir apparent, to the kingdom of the invisible.
So you knock the kids about a bit, because theyve got your name,
And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.
And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.

Elvis Costello - Poison Moon (Honky Tonk Demo) - lyrics

Cut loose in a nightmare
Cast off in my dreams
If home is anywhere that I can hang my hat
Then it's coming apart at the seams
My luck is hanging upside-down
I try to hold on tight
But money's rollin' outta town
And love slips right outta sight
Chorus:
And these bones, they don't look so good to me
Jokers talk, and they all disagree
One day soon I will laugh
Right in the face of the poison moon
You look in the mirror
I'm sorry but it can't be replaced
You're thrown straight out in that cruel parade
Buttoned down and laced
It starts like facination
It ends up like a trance
You gotta use your imagination
On some on that magazine romance
-chorus-
One day soon I will laugh
Right in the face of the poison moon
--------------------------------------------------
Submitted by: Paul Hosken

Elvis Costello - Poisoned Rose - lyrics

The poisoned rose
That you gave to me
It left me half alive
And half in ecstasy
But if half of your love
Is all I can win
Give me just a fraction
But no more medicine
The poisoned rose
On a valentine card
That you take straight to the heart
That you call my junkyard
But if all I can do
Is save pieces of you
The piece of your mind
The piece of your heart
Didnt tear me apart
Like the poisoned rose
I received from you
I dont know
How we came to grow
Into this very sad affair
Everytime we do the decent thing
Somebody spikes the drink
And a single becomes a pair
The poisoned rose
That you wear at your best
That I keep pressed between the white sheets
Where you lie half undressed
I threw away my shirt and shoes
You looked and I dived in
Its just you and me now
cause I threw away the gin
I threw away your alibis
And all your worn-out clothes
I threw myself upon the floor
But I couldnt throw away
This poisoned rose
This poisoned rose
This poisoned rose

Elvis Costello - The Comedians - lyrics

I fell under such gentle persuasion
You cant refuse its like a home from home
Meanwhile in the motor car kingdom
Theyre finding that all that glitters is not chrome
The social circle have these cardiac complaints
Their hearts are empty when their hands are full
All these new found fond acquaintances
Turn out to be the red rag to my bull
Chorus
And Im up while the dawn is breaking
Even though my heart is aching
I should be drinking a toast to absent friends
Instead of these comedians
Ive looked into these eyes upon reflection
Theyve seen the face of love, theyve seen a few
What kind of love is this upon inspection
Youll be the last to know whos fooling who
Chorus

Elvis Costello - (Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - lyrics

Oh I used to be disgusted
And now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted,
You know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
But when they told me 'bout their side of the bargain,
That's when I knew that I could not refuse.
And I won't get any older, now the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
Oh-oh.
I was watching while you're dancing away.
Our love got fractured in the echo and sway.
How come everybody wants to be your friend?
You know that it still hurts me just to say it.
Oh, I know that she's disgusted. (Oh why's that)
'Cause she's feeling so abused. (Oh that's too bad)
She gets tired of the lust, (Oh I'm so sad)
But it's so hard to refuse.
Can you say that I'm too old,
When the angels have stolen my red shoes?
Oh, I said "I'm so happy, I could die."
She said "Drop dead", then left with another guy.
That's what you get if you go chasing after vengeance.
Ever since you got me punctured this has been my sentence.
Oh I used to be disgusted
And now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted,
You know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
But when they told me 'bout their side of the bargain,
That's when I knew that I could not refuse.
And I won't get any older, now the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
Oh I won't get any older, now the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
Red shoes, the angels wanna wear my red shoes. (repeat and fade)

Elvis Costello - ...and In Every Home - lyrics

You turn to the sinister when you get the boot
Sliding down the banister in your sunday suit
Lying on a slag heap of blankets and magazines
She's only thirty-five going on seventeen
You'd better roll over and go to sleep if you don't come clean
And in every home there will be lots of time
I will be all yours you might have been admired
(and in every home there will be lots of time)
They say they're very sorry but you are not desired
Oh heaven preserve us
Oh heaven preserve us
Oh heaven preserve us
Because they don't deserve us
Holding your life in your hand
With an artificial limp wrist
And so a young blade becomes a has-been
Looking for a new twist
A year after the wedding he broke all their china plates
He's in prison now she's running with his mates
Sees him every sunday
And he asks her where she's been
She's only thirty-five going on seventeen
She's going to cop a packet if he ever finds her
In between the sheets
(chorus)

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