Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"God's Comic"

"God's Comic"


I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was
a funny feller
The crowd would hoot and holler for more
I wore a drunk's red nose for applause
Oh yes I was a comical priest
"With a joke for the flock and a hand up your
fleece"
Drooling the drink and the lipstick and
greasepaint
Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar

[Chorus:]
Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead,
now I'm dead, now I'm dead
And I'm going on to meet my reward
I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was
scared
He might of never heard God's Comic

So there he was on a water-bed
Drinking a cola of a mystery brand
Reading an airport novelette, listening to
Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem"
He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer
the one about my son"
"I've been wading through all this unbelievable
junk and wondering if I should have given
the world to the monkeys"

[Chorus]

I'm going to take a little trip down Paradise's
endless shores
They say that travel broadens the mind, till you
can't get your head out of doors

I'm sitting here on the top of the world
I hang around in the longest night
Until each beast has gone bed and then I say
"God bless" and turn out the light
While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe and
you beg and you promise
And you bargain and you plead
Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus
It's the big white beard I suppose
I'm going up to the pole, where you folks die of cold
I might be gone for a while if you need me

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead,
now I'm dead, now I'm dead and you're all
going on to meet your reward

Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared?
Are you scared?
You might have never heard, but God's comic

 

[fox69]

"Good Year For The Roses"

"Good Year For The Roses"



I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick
On the cigarettes there in the ashtray
Lyin' cold the way you left 'em,
But at least your lips caressed them
While you packed
Or the lip-print on a half-filled cup of coffee
That you poured and didn't drink
But at least you thought you wanted it,
Tat's so much more than I can say for me
What a good year for the roses
Many blooms still linger there
The lawn could stand another mowin'
Funny I don't even care
As you turn to walk away
As the door behind you closes
The only thing I have to say
It's been a good year for the roses

After three full years of marriage,
It's the first time that you haven't made the bed
I guess the reason we're not talkin',
Tere's so little left to say we haven't said
While a million thoughts go racin' through my mind
I find I haven't said a word
From the bedroom the familiar sound
Of a baby's cryin' goes unheard

What a good year for the roses
Many blooms still linger there
The lawn could stand another mowin'
Funny I don't even care
As you turn to walk away
As the door behind you closes
The only thing I have to say
It's been a good year for the roses

 

[fox69]

"Goon Squad"

"Goon Squad"



Mother, Father, I'm here in the zoo
I can't come home 'cause I've grown up too soon
I got my sentence
I got my command
They said they'd make me major if I met all their demands
I could be a corp'ral into corp'ral punishment
Or the gen'ral manager of a large establishment
They pat some good boys on the back and put some to the rod
But I never thought they'd put me in the

Goon squad
They've come to look you over and they're giving you the eye
Goon squad
They want you to come out to play
You'd better say goodbye

Some grow just like their dads
And some grow up too tall
Some go drinking with the lads
Some don't grow up at all

And you must find the proper place
For everything you see
But you'll never get to make a lampshade out of me

I could join a chain of males or be the missing (a) link
Looking for a lucky girl to put me in the pink
They pat some good boys on the back and put some to the rod
But I never thought they'd put me in the

Good squad ....

Mother, Father, I'm doing so well
I'm making such progress now that you can hardly tell
I fit in a little dedication
With one eye on the clock
They caught you under medication
You could be in for a shock

Thinking up the alibis that ev'ryone's forgotten
Just another mummy's boy gone to rotten
They pat some good boys on the back and put some to the rod
But I never thought they'd put me in the

Goon squad....

 

[fox69]

"Green Shirt"

"Green Shirt"



There's a smart young woman on a light blue screen
Who comes into my house every night.
And she takes all the red, yellow, orange and green
And she turns them into black and white.
But you tease, and you flirt
And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt
You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

Better cut off all identifying labels
Before they put you on the torture table

'Cause somewhere in the "Quizling Clinic"
There's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes
She's listening in to the Venus line
She's picking out names
I hope none of them are mine

But you tease, and you flirt...

Never said I was a stool pigeon
I never said I was a diplomat
Everybody is under suspicion
But you don't wanna hear about that

'Cause you tease, and you flirt...

Better send a begging letter to the big investigation
Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?

You tease, and you flirt...

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it
You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

[fox69]

"Green Song"
(feat. Anne Sofie Von Otter)

"Green Song"
(feat. Anne Sofie Von Otter)



Fine rain was falling on the gravel and glades.
The last rays of September bejewelled broken blades.
But there's someone that I long for.
Oh, where have you been?
As the red earth lies under a covering of green.
Do you trip on the city's golden gutters and kerbs?
As the seasons grow wild and the ground undisturbed.
`Till you find what you are now
Is less than you've been;
As the red earth lies under a covering of green.

Is patience exhausted?
Are your pockets picked clean?
I was lost in the next world
Or somewhere in between.
And it's much as predicted,
They go down that same track.
They say they'll return
But they never come back.

Fine rain was falling on the gravel and glades.
The lest rays of September bejewelled broken blades.
Are you still restless'
Or are you serene?
As the red earth lies under just a covering of green.

 

[fox69]

"Hand In Hand"

"Hand In Hand"



No, don't ask me to apologise.
I won't ask you to forgive me.
If I'm gonna go down,
you're gonna come with me
You say 'Why don't you be a man about it,
like they do in the grown-up movies?'
But when it comes to the other way around,
you say you just wanna use me. Oh,
you sit and you wonder whether
it's gonna be syndicated.
You sit with your knees together.
All the time your breath is baited.

Hand in Hand.
No, don't ask me to apologise.
I won't ask you to forgive me.
If I'm gonna go down,
you're gonna come with me

Don't you know I got the bully boys out
changing someone's facial design,
sitting with my toy room lout,
polishing my precious china
Don't you know I'm an animal?
But don't you know I can't stand up steady?
But you can't show me any kind of hell
that I don't know already.

Hand in Hand.
No, don't ask me to apologise.
I won't ask you to forgive me.
If I'm gonna go down,
you're gonna come with me
Hand in hand, hand in hand, hand in hand...

 

[fox69]

"Harpies Bizarre"

"Harpies Bizarre"



He selects the plainest face form a spiteful row of girls
Elegant insulted women, a flaw of cultured pearls
He drops a name or two, she fails to catch
At last he's met his match
Unspoiled and unaffected, he wants her so much
She puts up half-hearted resistance, like she was taught to do
She's heard some of those small town playboys but this is
something new
His promise seems dangerous, she'd like to believe
He says "You'd better leave"
"You've only got yourself to blame, shame, or deceive"

The waiting lines are long
They never get too far
Everyone wearing that medal with pride
Harpies Bizarre

I looked on but hesitated
I failed to interrupt
You're so hard to tell the truth to
So easy to corrupt
I'll memorize your face
Your tragic smile
The hurt look in your eyes
As you betrayed yourself to the part of him that dies

The waiting lines are long
They never get too far
They're shining up their shoes to kick a falling star
You think you should be somebody
But you don't know who you are
Everyone wearing that medal with pride
Harpies Bizarre

 

[fox69]

"Harry Worth"

"Harry Worth"



I met them first on their wedding night
Faces were flushed by their pledges plight
We passed in the hall and I met them well
But as their carriage arrived, I found that I couldn't quite tell them

It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know

He walked the wet sands of summertime
Rain beat the window in drummertime
Cruel with his humour
She was quick with her tongue
But though a year had passed
The honeymoon didn't last
Somehow they didn't seem young

It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know

They're on their holidays
But they still find a reason to fight
No matter how long they stay
Can't make the rest of the year right

Five years had passed 'til I happened along
He said, "Do you hear that noise? Well, that once was our song"
I looked in her eyes and saw barely a spark
He laughed too loud then he drank until dark

It's not very far from tears to mirth
It's not many moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
No, she'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
No, she'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth

 

[fox69]

"He's Got You"

"He's Got You"



I got the picture that you gave to me
And it's signed with love, just like it used to be
The only thing different, the only thing new
I got the picture, he's got you
I got the records that we used to share
And they still sound the same, as when you were here
The only thing different, the only thing new
I got the records, he's got you

I got your memory, or has it got me?
I really don't know, but I know it won't let me be

I got your class ring that proves you care
And it still looks the same as when you gave it dear
The only thing different, the only thing new
I got these little things, he's got you

I got your memory, or has it got me?
I really don't know, but I know it won't let me be

I got the picture that you gave to me
And it's signed with love, just like it used to be
The only thing different, the only thing new
I got these little things, he's got you

 

[fox69]

"Heart Shaped Bruise"

"Heart Shaped Bruise"



Tell me now
Or are you only teasing?
I felt the cold hard facts of life
Five degrees from freezing
Does it amuse you to always hurt me so?
I try my best it's not enough
Should I give up and let you?

What more is there to take from me?
There's nothing else to give you, dear
There's nothing more that I can lose
Except this Heart Shaped Bruise

It will fade
From purple to violet
It will fade
Just as the day dissolves into twilight

Tell me now
Or am I only dreaming?
You said that you'd be mine for life
And now you say you're leaving
If I could hold you once more before you go
When I approach you just lash out
Should I give up and let you?

What more is there to take from me?
There's nothing else to give you, dear
There's nothing more that I can lose
Accept this Heart Shaped Bruise

It will fade from purple to violet
It will fade?
She's pulling out the pin