Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"Crawling To The U.S.A."

"Crawling To The U.S.A."



I thought I would go to the sea and shrink down very tiny
And slide inside the telephone wire that runs under the briny
Till I found there is a way of crawling to the U.S.A.
You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

Saw it late one night on a secret channel
It's farther on along the tunnel
It's way beyond the final station
That's the one they never mention

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

You don't have to pay them that much
You had better bring your lunch
It's undercover, around the houses
Up your skirt and down your trousers

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

She said, "I catch you taking liberties and they do not impress me
Attach me to your credit card and then you can undress me
Everybody is on their knees except the Russians and the Chinese

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

 

[fox69]

"Crimes Of Paris"

"Crimes Of Paris"


I thought it was you and your optimist's view of the clock
And how it's always another day
Just after twelve o'clock's struck
You said "Now I only want you so I don't have to promise"
But tiny children in grown-up clothes whispered all the Crimes of Paris

[Chorus:]
You're not the girl next-door or a girl from France
Or the cigarette-girl in the sizzle hot-pants
All the words of love seem cruel and crass
When you're tough and transparent as armoured glass
You're everywhere girl in an everyday mess
Who'll pay for the Crimes of Paris

I heard that you fell for the "Hell or to Hammersmith Blues"
In the tiny torn up pieces of his mind he's irresistible too
Now it's hard to say now if he's only stupid or smart
When he crawled through the door
And poured out more of his creeping-Jesus heart

[Chorus]

And it's all here and now
She hit him with that paper-weight Eiffel Tower
And I tried to hold on to you but I don't know how
And I find it hard to swallow good advice
Like going down three times to only come up twice

She's so convenient, he's always stiff as hair-lacquer
It's hard to discover now he's in love with her
It was her way of getting her own back
You never did anything she couldn't do on her own
You're as good as your word and that's no good to her
You'd better leave that kitten alone

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Cry, Cry, Cry"

"Cry, Cry, Cry"



Everybody knows where you go when the sun goes down
They say you only live to see the lights of town
I wasted my time when I would try, try, try
'Cause when the lights have lost their glow, you'll cry, cry, cry
Soon your sugar-daddies will all be gone
And you'll wake up some cold day and find you're alone
You'll come to me but I'm gonna tell you bye, bye, bye
When I turn around and walk away, you'll cry, cry, cry

You're gonna cry, cry, cry and you'll cry alone
When everyone's forgotten and you're on your own
You're gonna cry, cry, cry

I lie awake at night and wait till you come in
You stay a little while and then you're gone again
Every question that I ask, I get a lie, lie, lie
For every lie you tell, you're gonna cry, cry, cry

When your fickle little love gets old, no one will care for you
You'll come back to me for a little love that's true
I'll tell you no and you're gonna ask me why, why, why
When I remind you of all of this, you'll cry, cry, cry

You're gonna cry, cry, cry and you'll want me there
It'll hurt when you think of the fool you've been
You're gonna cry, cry, cry

 

[fox69]

"Daddy Can I Turn This?"

"Daddy Can I Turn This?"



There is a button and there's a switch
There is a needle and there's a dial
There is a lever I want to lift
And still you treat me like I'm a child
Daddy can I turn this?
Daddy can I turn this?

Will it be very dangerous?
Or will it taste nice?
You wash your hands with perfume and spice
I'll tell you when I want your advice
Daddy can I turn this?
Daddy can I turn this?

Is anybody acting your age?
You got a girl you keep in a cage
You give her present after a while
A birthday cake containing a file
Daddy can I turn this?
Daddy can I turn this?

The flashing lights go running 'round and 'round
It spits out money
It tastes like honey
So drink it down

It leaves the slightest chemical taste
It could be most unfortunate
Earrings that jangle before they're seen
She slaps your face like a tambourine
Daddy can I turn this?
Daddy can I turn this?
Daddy can I turn this?
Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy...

 

[fox69]

"Damnation's Cellar"

"Damnation's Cellar"


Did anybody notice, over marmalade and eggs
In between the Princess' legs
What with wars and floods and beggars
Not to mention stocks and shares
If you have a moment to spare
Can you write and reassure me that I have seen
They're constructing a time machine
There will be no need for the obituary pages
We can have any hero from the bygone ages
'Til the truth emerges, the argument rages

[Chorus:]
The major and the minor
Turn from tallow into tar
Should we leave them in their place?
Down in damnation's cellar

When any form of deity that you might enjoy
Can be conjured with a test-tube and a flame
If it's out there then science can explain it
Or at least remove the blame
And if theres is anyone you'd like to see again
The speak up quickly

Send us back Da Vinci then we don't have to ponder
The maddening smile of "La Giaconda"
The critics say Nijinsky, the dancer, of course
While the punters would probably prefer the horse
You'll find it's quicker than history, cheaper than divorce

[Chorus]

Bring back Liberace or Ollie and Stan
Shakespeare will have to wait his turn
Elvis Presley and Puccini shall return
I suppose we live and learn, though it's hard to believe as we
cheerfully burn
It's curious
Some will call for justice.
There are murders to solve
What about Hitler? Or at least Lee Harvey Oswald
Give us this day and everything we squander
Anyone beautiful
Somebody blonder
They'll never please mankind, so lie back and enjoy it
Stop press: They've just decided to destroy it

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Darling, You Know I Wouldn't Lie"

"Darling, You Know I Wouldn't Lie"




Here I am late again for the last time
And like I promised, I just told her goodbye
Please believe me 'cause this time, it's really over
And darling, you know I wouldn't lie
Didn't I come and tell you about her
How temptation lured she and I
Now I know it was only fascination
And darling, you know I wouldn't lie

I had to let her down easy as slow as I could
After all, she's got feelings too
But it took a little longer than I thought it would
But this time, she knows we're really through

She wanted to hold me forever
And this lipstick shows her final try
And these tears on my shoulder are proof that she failed
And darling, you know I wouldn't lie

 

[fox69]

"Dear Sweet Filthy World"

"Dear Sweet Filthy World"



Dear sweet filthy world, my wife or whoever reads this
I think that I've lived too long
With all of my promise unfulfilled
But there is a veil drawn over all of that
I know you'll probably say, "Spare us the melodrama"
"I don't know how he chose the pills or the stupid revolver"
I'm out of luck
I'm not that strong
My hands, your neck
I might have wrung

Don't try to find me
I'm not worth anything anymore
I am not leaving you with all of your problems
The biggest one is me

Life is dark
Cold as the sea
Embrace me in my anguish
Put seaweed in my hair and vow that you won't cry because
I've gone
I can't go on, I can't go on, I can't go on
I must close now

 

[fox69]

"Deep Dark Truthful Mirror"

"Deep Dark Truthful Mirror"


One day you're going to have to face
A deep dark truthful mirror
And it's going to tell you things that I still love
you too much to say
The sky was just a purple bruise, the ground
was iron
And you fell all around the town until you
looked the same

[Chorus:]
The same eyes, the same lips, the same lie from
your tongue trips
Deep dark, deep dark truthful mirror
Deep dark, deep dark truthful mirror

Now the flagstone streets where the newspaper
shouts ring to the boots of roustabouts
But you're never in any doubt, there's something
happening somewhere

You chase down the road till your fingers bleed
On a fiberglass tumbleweed

You can blow around the town, but it all shuts
down the same

[Chorus]

So you bay for the boy in the tiger-skin trunks
They set him up, set him up on the stool
He falls down, falls down like a drunk
And you drink till you drool
And it's his story you'll flatter
You'll stretch him out like a saint
But the canvas that he splattered will be the
picture that you never paint

[Chorus]

A stripping puppet on a liquid stick gets into it
pretty thick
A butterfly drinks a turtle's tears, but how do
you know he really needs it?

'Cos a butterfly feeds on a dead monkey's hand,
Jesus wept he felt abandoned
You're spellbound baby there's no doubting that
Did you ever see a stare like a Persian cat?

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Deep Dead Blue"
(feat. Bill Frisell)

"Deep Dead Blue"
(feat. Bill Frisell)



Deep dead blue
That I invite
Bringing on disguise of night
Turn the whole Kaleidoscope
Deep dead blue

Deep dead blue that nightly shades
Most unlikely escapades
As the lights that frighten fade
Till the dawn drags into view
I'm lost in deep dead blue

Deep dead blue
I'd rather stay
Far from the cruel coloured day
Leave me in my monochrome
Till I find a finer hue
Beyond the deep dead blue

 

[fox69]

"Deportee"

"Deportee"



In the Arrivederci Roma nightclub, bar and grill
Standing in the fiberglass ruins watching time stand still
All your troubles you confess to another faceless, backless dress
Schnapps, chianti, porter and ouzo
Pernod, vodka, sambuca - I love you so
Deportee

There's a tatty beauty talking in riddles
Rome burns down and everybody fiddles
Deportee
But a thousand dollars won't buy you a Yank, you wife, alas
There's a thousand years of history ground in this chaser glass
And how I wish that she was mine
I could have been the King in Six Eight Time
Deportee

Oh, it's a brittle charm, but she's had enough
Still she wrote her name upon his paper cuff
And you don't where to start or where to stop
All this pillow talk is nothing more than finally talking shop

When I came here tonight my pockets were overflowing
They took my return ticket without me even knowing
Well, I pray to the saints and all the martyrs
For the secret life of Frank Sinatra
But none of these things have come to pass
In America the law is a piece of ass
Deportee

So it's Schnapps, chianti, porter and ouzo
Pernod, vodka, sambuca - I love you so
Deportee
Deportee
Poor Deportee