Elvis Costello

fox69 · 27.11.2015

"Fire Suite Reprise"

"Fire Suite Reprise"

Now you've heard our refrain
And this story must end
'Cause the stars can't stay up
They can only descend

Say we drank
And we prayed
Some just sit like a choir
Came the smoke
In the night
Came the heat
Came the fire

Timber tender
Tender will you remember
Grim sender I can't pretend
So I'll Surrender
Will you remember

fox69 · 27.11.2015

"Fish 'N' Chip Paper"

"Fish 'N' Chip Paper"

When Sunday morning dandruff turns out to be confetti
And the cost of living in sin would make a poor man out of Paul Getty
The girl in your dreams would have you up on an under age charge
And the man of the moment is the lifer at large

[Chorus:]
If you've got something to hide, if you've got something to sell
If you've got somebody's pride she might kiss and tell
Or wind up with a fight fan in the Hammersmith Hotel
You better speak up now if you want your piece
You better speak up now
It won't mean a thing later
Yesterday's news is tomorrow's fish and chip paper

Your girl says she's leaving and this time she really means it
You can just look at the pictures, you don't actually have to read it
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
There's a man in the launderette and he's looking through your underwear
for clues
And the milkman is working through the News of the Screws

He says...
[Chorus]

fox69 · 27.11.2015

"Five Small Words"

"Five Small Words"

Maybe you'll recognize in time
Maybe one day you will discover
All the pain that lies behind
You and your unfortunate love

Somebody might be more
Unsuitable and strange
With eyes that offer everything
And are capable of danger

My mind turns over lies you told
Things said to your other lover
Sweet as they had been to me
You lay there telling them to each other

Now I stand outside the door
My head is filled phrases
Inside someone's calling out
Their voices rise with praises

Five Small Words
"I don't want you anymore"
Five Small Words
"I don't need you anymore"
Five Small Words
Coward that you are, you would faithlessly implore
"Baby please don't leave me"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Why did you deceive me?"

It didn't take some shiny dagger
The tattooed fingers grip and hone
I walked under some dark ladder
Heard your final loving moan
All your indiscretions are
So merciful and brief
Genteel poison sprinkled on your Spanish handkerchief

Five Small Words
"Don't you love me anymore?"
Five Small Words
But then who is keeping score?

Coward that you are, you would so faithlessly implore
"Baby please don't leave me"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Why did you deceive me?"

Maybe in time you'll want me more
Accidentally like this '45
This '44

fox69 · 27.11.2015

"Flutter & Wow"

"Flutter & Wow"

Last rays of sunlight die
Full moon begins to rise
Reflected in your eyes

I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow

The crowd was gathering
The clock struck five, then ten
My happy tears were descending

I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow

Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and how

The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
And pushing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night

My voice got stuck in my throat...
Pulled my hand up into the sleeve of my coat
So you'd never know how it was shaking

I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow

Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow

You make the motor in me
Start up and stop again
When I am spluttering
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
To the bridge

The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
And pressing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"For Other Eyes"

"For Other Eyes"

I don't know what I would do
If this letter should fall into
Other hands than it should pass through
For other eyes
He said, "It was nothing...it's over and done"
But the rotten worm was burrowing still
Its spirit invades me bleeding me white
For other replies
I searched his pockets
I searched his eyes
I searched his wallet for clues and lies
And I found a number that I somehow dialed
A woman answered, a woman smiled
Then she hung up on the silence unperplexed
Innocently spun her rolodex
I dialed again I could not resist
Revealing just the dentist receptionist

One day we'll laugh about it or maybe we'll curse
But there is one thing that is making it worse
And it's the lack of forgiveness that I can't disguise
No matter how well he lies
Now we don't know each other anymore
And when we touch our lips feel sore
I question the longing left in his sighs
For other eyes

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"For The Stars"
(feat. Anne Sofie Von Otter)

"For The Stars"
(feat. Anne Sofie Von Otter)

The stars were so much brighter then,
They dim and die,
So why pretend
The sky goes on forever:
But if they fade as science teaches,
Poets lose the power of speech.
Waste paper, ink and feather.

If I'd taken up the trumpet
As I should have done,
Then I wouldn't be
Always losing sleep,
While I'm trying to make this rhyme.

For the stars
Were so much,
They were so much brighter then.
If I couldn't put a price on your head,
What's the use of me trying
For the stars?

The morning comes, the days are
Just the time between
Until the dusk,
When we can be together,

If I'd taken up the drums
And I could play in time,
If I had the power,
Would I be wond'ring how,
I'm ever going to write this down.

For the stars
Were so much,
They were so much brighter then.
If I couldn't put a price on your head,
Then what's the use of me trying
For the stars?

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Forgive Her Anything"

"Forgive Her Anything"

Oh, a TV went off like three day old milk
That shook this town down better than most
And it always was less of an idea and more of a boast
Oh, you're burning in the bloom of life
Till you're powder in the grave
Or you're pounding in the counter begging for more
Till you evaporate
You'd forgive her anything
If you look like you, my pretty miss
I wonder where you are tonight
And this place becomes pitiless?

Oh, I couldn't sleep, but I can't complain
Oh, this won't hurt a bit, oh, this won't hurt again
When the roof comes down and the walls move in
Oh, he didn't know it could feel like that
And your face turned away and the day turned black
And the rain fell like a curtain
Oh, it's my turn to begin
To forgive her anything

You'd forgive her anything
If you knew what I know
You'd forgive her anything
So where did all my pride go?

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh, oh, you'd forgive her anything
If you knew what I know
You'd forgive her anything
So where did all my pride go?

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Freedom For The Stallion"

"Freedom For The Stallion"

Freedom for the stallion
Freedom for the mare and her colt
Freedom for the baby child
Who has not grown old enough to vote.
Lord, have mercy, what you gonna do about the people who are praying to you?
They got men making laws that destroy other men,
They've made money "God"
It's a doggone sin,
Oh, Lord, you got to help us find the way.

Big ship's a-sailing, slaves all chained and bound,
Heading for a brand new land that some cat said he upped and found.
Lord, have mercy, what you gonna do about the people who are praying to you?
They got men making laws that destroy other men,
They've made money "God"
It's a doggone sin.
Oh, Lord, you got to help us find the way.

Some sing a sad song
Some got to moan the blues
Trying to make the best of a home
That the man didn't even get to choose
Lord, have mercy, how you gonna be with people like John and me
They've got men building fences to keep other men out
Ignore him if he whispers and kill him if he shouts
Oh, Lord, you got to help us find the way
Oh, Lord, you got to help them find the way
Oh, Lord, you got to help us find the way.

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"From A Whisper To A Scream"

"From A Whisper To A Scream"

Oh it's not easy to resist temptation
Walking around looking like a figment of somebody else's imagination
Taking ev'ry word she says just like an open invitation
But the power of persuasion is no match for anticipation

[Chorus:]
Like a finger running down a seam
From a whisper to a scream
So I whisper and I scream
But don't get me wrong
Please don't leave me waitin' too long
Waitin' too long
Waitin' too long
Waitin' too long
Hey

Oh oh oh oh oh

Oh if the customers like it then they'll keep on paying
If they keep on drinking then they'll end up staying
I heard someone say where have we met before
But the one over the eight seem less like one or more like four

[Chorus]

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"From Head To Toe"

"From Head To Toe"

Oh, well, now you're the girl I'm simply mad about.
Oh yes, I'm really glad it's been me. Oh yeah.
I hope that you've been getting ready,
'Cause I'm gonna ask you to go steady with me.
I got two eyes that happened by ya,
And when they saw you, they said they knew you were fine.
I got two lips that long to kiss you,
And when they speak, they say they wish you were mine.
Hey, sweet baby, oh don't you know that I am yours from head to toe.

Oh, I got a little heart inside me beating
And when it speaks it keeps repeating your name all the time.
You better watch out 'cause of what I say
Cause baby, don't you know that I ain't playing a game?

Hey, sweet baby, oh don't you know that I am yours from head to toe.
All the way down from the top to the ground, sweet baby.

I got two legs and I got two feet that always take me to your street
Everyday, all the time.
No matter which way I try to go, my legs and my feet
They seem to know the way.

Hey, sweet baby, oh don't you know that I am yours from head to toe.
All the way down from the top to the ground. Hey, sweet baby.
I am yours from head to toe. Sweet baby.