Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"Sulphur To Sugarcane"

"Sulphur To Sugarcane"



It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
'Cos everywhere I travel pretty girls call my name
I give 'em as squeeze and they shoot me a wink
I buy their hot-headed husbands a long cool drink
You'd better come up smelling sweet 'cos you're a long time stinking
Then it's a little too late to complain
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane

Now if you catch my eye and you find that it runs down your leg
It's like striking a match pretty hard upon a powder keg
They'll tell you from the borders to the waters of the Gulf
And if you take all the sugar you'll end up in the sulphur
And you'll burn in...
"Hello, baby I'm a pleased to meet you"
"I wouldn't do you wrong, honey"
"I wouldn't cheat you, honey'"
"When can I see you again?"
"Wrap you up in cellophane"
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane...
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane...

And your eyes fill up with brine
Because you're drowning in wine
It's like the last days of Rome
With the despots and divine
There's no place like home
For a little doll from China
It's a little too late to complain
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane

You can go west to Texas
Go east to Mississippi
You can run out of money
You can run out of pity
Throw open your purse
Until you're crying for mercy
Go to Alabama
Escape Louisiana
I'm digging like a miner
North and South Carolina
And then if you continue
You will end up in Virginia
The woman in Poughkeepsie
Take their clothes off when they're tipsy
But in Albany, New York
They love the filthy way I talk
As they gargle with the finest champagne
When they can't get the grape or the grain
'Cos it's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane

If I could find a piano
Here in Bloomington, Indiana
I would play it with my toes
Until the girls all take their clothes off
Women knock upon my door
In odd and even numbers
But none of them as wild as I discovered in Columbus
I gave up married women
'Cause I heard it was a sin
But now I'm back in Pittsburgh,
I might take them up again
Because they gargle with the finest champagne
When they can't get the grape or the grain
'Cos it's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane

Up in Syracuse
I was once falsely accused
But I'm not here to hurt you
I'mhere to steal your
Down in Bridgeport
The woman will kill you for sport
But inWorcester, Massachusetts
They just love my sauce
The women in Poughkeepsie
Take their clothes off when they're tipsy
But I hear in Ypsilanti
They don't wear any panties...
Once they gargle with the finest champagne
They hitch up their skirts and exclaim
It's not very far, Sugar
It's not very far, Sugar
It's not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane

 

[fox69]

"Sunday's Best"

"Sunday's Best"


Times are tough for English babies
Send the army and the navy
Beat up strangers who talk funny
Take their greasy foreign money
Skin shop, red leather, hot line
Be prepared for the engaged sign
Bridal books, engagement rings
And other wicked little things

[Chorus:]
Standing in your socks and vest
Better get it off your chest
Every day is just like the rest
But Sunday's best

Stylish slacks to suit your pocket
Back supports and picture lockets
Sleepy towns and sleeper trains
To the dogs and down the drains
Major roads and ladies smalls
Hearts of oak and long trunk calls
Continental interference
At death's door with life insurance

[Chorus]

Sunday's best, Sunday's finest
When your money's in the minus
And you suffer from your shyness
You can listen to us whiners

Don't look now under the bed
An arm, a leg and a severed head
Read about the private lives
The songs of praise, the readers' wives
Listen to the decent people
Though you treat them just like sheep
Put them all in boots and khaki
Blame it all upon the darkies

[Chorus]

Sunday's best

 

[fox69]

"Suspect My Tears"

"Suspect My Tears"



Do you remember how to say please?
You've had your own way for such a long time
Your lash is sweet now, I dry your cheek
You think I'm powerless when you weep
You may have something, I don't deny
You look too 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
Where and when you need to

Do you remember how bad it felt?
Big eyes would fill up
That lip would tremble
You want to hurt me
Make me feel guilty
You always promise to lose control
I stole 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

 

[fox69]

"Sweet Dreams"

"Sweet Dreams"



Sweet dreams of you, every night I go through
I should hate you girl the whole night through
Instead I'm having sweet dreams all about you
You don't love me it's plain
I should have known you'd never share my name
Why can't I forget you girl, start loving someone new?
Instead I'm having sweet dreams all about you

Why can't I forget my past, start loving someone new?
Instead I'm having sweet dreams all about you

Sweet dreams of you, every night I go through
I should hate you girl the whole night through
Instead I'm having sweet dreams all about you

 

[fox69]

"Sweet Pear"

"Sweet Pear"



Sweet pear, sweet pear
Those who say they love you would never dare
I'll watch out for you
I'll always be there
In the hour of distress you need not fear
In all the world there's only one true love
And finding it's hard enough
I bless whatever's in the sky above
For bringing you to me

But there's a void without your kiss
I wake on the precipice above the abyss
And though the touch of your lips these fears dismiss
Make no mistake there is an ache I have to live with

Was my grip too lose, my grip too strong
That made you want to run away
And now you're back where I pretend you belong
I wonder every night and day
How long

I swear this is my prayer
till we're burned and scattered in the atmosphere
Or lost in the world across a crowded room
I am your stupid lover, your wretched groom

 

[fox69]

"Swine"

"Swine"



You're a swine and I'm saying that's an insult to the pig
In the foul furrow that you dig
Why don't you lay your head down
In that unconsecrated ground
WAS she your MOTHER?
Or WAS she your bride
To defile and to blister
To gnaw at her side
Is this the end of the world?
Now that you've finished your life
This RIDDLE is the work of my little pen-knife

 

[fox69]

"Taking My Life In Your Hands"

"Taking My Life In Your Hands"


My dear impulsive darling I suspect my letter got to
you too late
And it's really just a silly fragment of paper
But it means so much to those who wait
All the suffering days and nights till I dare dream again
There you suddenly stand and I'll be damned if you
didn't disappear with the dawn

[Chorus:]
Hours pass and darkness comes
Soon I will close my eyes
Will you return if you don't reply
You'll be taking my life in your hands
You'll be taking my life in your hands
Taking my life in your hands

I don't know why my dearest darling
I can't tell you how I feel when you are near
When I see you have returned my letters unopened
I will tear them up, your voice ringing in my ears
But you're kidding yourself if you think this
correspondence will end
I can always pretend words I don't have the courage to
send
Reach you

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Talking In The Dark"

"Talking In The Dark"



I tried in vain to drive myself insane
I talk to myself but I don't listen
I found out what I was missing
I miss talking in the dark
Without you, I'm not conversational
Without the sense of the occasional
Without you, I miss talking in the dark
When the barking and the biting is through
We can talk like we're in love or talk like we're above it
We can talk and talk until we talk ourselves out of it

I look for the news, somebody to abuse
I look at myself but it's so chancy
I see things that I don't fancy

I miss talking in the dark
Without you, I'm not conversational
Without the sense of the occasional
Without you, I miss talking in the dark
Without you, I miss talking in the dark

 

[fox69]

"Tart"

"Tart"


Hear silver trumpets will trill in Arabic streets of Seville
Oranges roll in the gutter
And you pick them up
And peel back the skin
To the red fruit within

[Chorus:]
But the flavour is...
Tart
And the flavour is...
Tart
Is it something you crave?
And you say that you only feel bitterness
When you know it's a lie, lie, lie...

Wild with a blackberry bush
There were blossoms of cherries to crush
There, at the edge of the asphalt tempting fingertips
They stain your hand, press too hard
They'll colour your lips...

But the flavour is...
Tart
And the flavour is...
Tart
Is it something you crave?
'Cos you say that you only feel bitterness
Would it kill you to show us a little sweetness?

[Chorus]

Odd, where nothing else grows
It was something like love that she chose
Always a creature of habit
When pity would do
She wore down that heel with no feeling
She kept on her shoes

[Chorus]

Nylon was hung from a peg
And a kohl black seam ran down her leg
Fishermen look for their nets
And send their regrets
The bug lay there broken
She spoke, "Is this some kind of joke?"

But the flavour is...
Tart

 

[fox69]

"Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)"

"Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)"



Who dries your eyes when you cry real tears?
Who know or cares what an imitation is?
Only you do
You can paint his nails
Make him wear high heels
Why waste time altering the hemline?
Or do you?

Tear off your own head
Tear off your own head
It's a doll revolution

You can bat your lashes
You can cut your strings
You can pull his hair with your moveable fingers
It looks so real
If one won't do it, so collect the set
Dress him in pink ribbons
Put him in a kitchenette
How does this feel?

Tear off your own head
Tear off your own head
It's a doll revolution

What's that sound?
It will turn you around
It's a doll revolution

They're taking over
And they're tearing it down
It's a doll revolution

You can pull and pinch him
'Til he cries and squeals
You can twist his body 'til it faces backwards
Those plastic features
You could make somebody a pretty little wife
But don't let anybody tell you how to live you life
Broken pieces

Tear off your own head
Tear off your own head
It's a doll revolution
Tear off your own head
Revolution