Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"Joe Porterhouse"

"Joe Porterhouse"


The children sit upon the stairs
High above a valley of tears
Don't let them see you crying that way oh no
Oh no Joe Porterhouse
Is not gone forever
He'll be back another day
Don't let them see you crying that way

[Chorus:]
Please don't wake him let him sleep
It's a moment she can keep
Like an old bus ticket or a photograph
Resting on the mantlepiece
While for the wicked there is no peace
She says it's not his time to go
Why we were nearly lovers years ago
Now what is left for me
Among the broken branches of the family tree

Heart like an anchor
Arms like cable
He stood all alone on an iron turntable
Don't let them see you crying that way oh no

The sun beats down
It's cracking the flags
Boys who should know better
Are stamping out fags
Don't let them see you laughing that way

[Chorus]

Oh no Joe Porterhouse
Is not gone forever
He'll be back another day
Don't let them see you crying that way

 

[fox69]

"Jump Up"

"Jump Up"



Everybody's talking like they can't sit down
And looking like they can't stand up
It must be the lastest style
And they've seen a lot of things that you never see
Back on the mile up to the hanging tree
Some people can't keep their fingers clean
Just clicking their heels to the beat of the scene
Trying to keep careen until the first edition of last night's obituries
Jump up - hold on tight
Can't trust the promise or a guarantee
'Cause the man 'round the curve says that he's never heard
Of you or me

No tombstone would ever surprise me
When I'm 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 it's 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 can't understand that don't mean that you're blessed
They ought to catch the Express Next Stop No Where
That way you can forget

Jump up - hold on tight
Can't trust the promise or a guarantee
'Cause the man 'round the curve says that he's never heard
Of you or me

 

[fox69]

"Just A Curio"
(feat. Anne Sofie Von Otter)

"Just A Curio"
(feat. Anne Sofie Von Otter)



In the cold pale sunlight that was slanting down, I spied
Frost reflecting on the glass and in the air outside,
Fond relations mouthing words of love and tragedy.
Though it's cold there's vapour rising from a moving stream.
In a narrow, shallow bed of fine linen and starch,
Where her long hair tumbled once upon her graceful arch,
Lace hung on the counters and the walnut cabinets,
Teeth ware chattering like schoolgirls clicking castanets.

There will be no light to guide as you ascend the stairs.
There may be a candle as you kneel and say your prayers.
Throw the window wide and open, keep this mark from me,
Just the letter "T" and its most dread companion "B".

How in heaven? Hadn't it been conquered long ago?
How did it come back again? It's just a curio.

 

[fox69]

"Just A Memory"

"Just A Memory"



Layin' about, lyin' in bed
Maybe it was something that I thought I'd said
With the tempo of today and the temptation of tomorrow
I don't know if I could give you anything but sorrow
They stay alive this late on Radio Five
But the pen that I write with won't tell the truth
'Cause the moments that I can't recall
Are the moments that you treasure
Better take another measure for measure
Losing you is just a memory
Memories don't mean that much to me
Losing you is just a memory
Memories don't mean that much to me

Now you're here, I'm here too
Could be this easy for me and you

Losing you is just a memory
Memories don't mean that much to me
Losing you is just a memory
Memories don't mean that much to me

Lyin' about layin' in bed
Maybe it was something that I thought I'd said

 

[fox69]

"Just About Glad"

"Just About Glad"


I'm just about glad that I knew you once
And it was more than just a passing acquaintance
I'm just about glad that it was a memory
That doesn't need constant maintenance
There are a few things that I regret
But nothing that I need to forget
For all of the courage that we never had
I'm just about glad

[Chorus:]
Just about glad we didn't do that thing
Just about glad we didn't have that fling
Just about glad we didn't give it a try
Just about glad, is that a tear in your eye

And on the few times I rang to propose
There was a man there or so I suppose
The greatest lover that you never had
I'm just about glad

They called time and vodka and lime
In some far flung Canadian club
(Just about glad)
And there I was just waiting to fall
Like a toe just aching to stub
(Just about glad)
Later on I could never accept it
When you finally gave it all to him
(Just about glad)
And you said that my nurse was sweet
But her lamp was just beginning to dim

I'm just about glad
That we never did that thing we were going to do
I'm just about glad I can look you in the eye
But I can't say the same for you
And though the passion still flutters and flickers
It never got into our knickers
For all of the courage that we never had
I'm just about, I'm just about
I'm just about, I'm just about

[Chorus]

And it's all just a stupid creation
Of my feverous imagination
If I'm the greatest lover that you never had
I'm just about, I'm just about
I'm just about, I'm just about

[Chorus]

Is that a tear in your eye [3x]

 

[fox69]

"Kid About It"

"Kid About It"


He saw no tears in her eyes
Say you wouldn't kid about it
She's telling all of those lies
She swore she'd never told before
But I doubt it

So he bit his tongue
And tried hard to capture his breath
When she said I waited all my life
For just a little death

[Chorus:]
Say you wouldn't kid about it
Say you wouldn't kid about it
Say you wouldn't kid about it

Sometimes he takes himself so seriously
She makes her movements mysteriously
Slow fast or furiously
It's a big responsibility
With a face full of mixed ability
Big dreams of elegance
Singing the leaving of Liverpool
And turning into Americans

Say you wouldn't kid about it
So what if this is a man's world
I want to be a kid again about it
Give me back my sadness
I couldn't hide it even if I tried girl

We fight so frail
Making love tooth and nail
You gave me the kiss of my life
I might even live to tell the tale

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Kinder Murder"

"Kinder Murder"


Here in the bar, the boys like to have fun
There's a wager lost and an argument won
There's a stone-washed damsel on a junk food run
It's a kinder murder

There's a ladder to heaven from a battered stiletto
Spitting out the words that he put into her mouth
See her in silhouette going down south

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence
He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless
Then he went back to his regiment

It's a kinder murder

The officer said it has to be denied
There's a tear-stained would-be teenage bride
All the family pride in the little ram-rider

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

The child went missing and the photo fit his face
Dishonoured Jimmy just read about the case
He said that he was just taking up space

It's a kinder murder

Jimmy took his best friend's keys from the pile on the table in a flash
He was dreaming of the pigskin seats and the walnut dash
The knickers in her handbag and the one false eyelash

It's a kinder murder
It's a kinder murder

She could have kept her knees together
Could have kept her mouth shut

It's a kinder murder [4x]

 

[fox69]

"King Horse"

"King Horse"


Cheap cut satin and bad perfume
Showtime is almost here
Teased up by a strip cartoon
Laughing up your sleeve
Sniggering in your beer
He'd seen the bottom of a lot of glasses
But he'd never seen love so near
He'd seen love get so expensive
But he'd never seen love get so dear

[Chorus:]
Now I know that you're all King Horse
Between tenderness and brute force [Repeat]

She can turn upon a sixpence in the mouth and trousers set
Hit the bill, ring the bell, never spill a sip
And still she knows the kind of tip that she is gonna get
A lot of loose exchanges, precious little respect
When it's someone else's weekend
That's the best you can expect

[Chorus]

So fond of the fabric
So fond of fabrication
From comic books to tragic
Through the heart of complications

Meanwhile back in some secluded spot
He says 'will you please?' and she says 'stop'
If I ever lose this good thing that I've got
I never want to hear the song you dedicated tonight
Cause I knew that song so long before we met
That it means much more than it might

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"King Of Confidence"

"King Of Confidence"



She had her mind made up just like her face
She painted in the lines and shadows
She shaded color in that would express
The lonely mood that follows
Love, short and painful and tidy lies in self-defense
She just told a thing or two to the King of Confidence

You said that he could tell her anything
She even held him when he was crying
And made her feel she was the only one
You knew that he was lying when he said he was lying

Love is short and painful, that she finally made sense
Of the love he had for the one and only King of Confidence

It's hard enough to be your lover and alone your confidant
You say you know what I need but you don't know who I want
It's just another tawdry morning now
another tarnished farewell
Your body's tired and complaining now
But you're too tore down to tell

Love is short and painful, all you kind ladies and gents
I spent years and a couple of days as the King of Confidence

It's hard enough to be your lover and alone your confidant
You say you know what I need but you don't know who I want
It's just another tawdry morning now
another tarnished farewell
Your body's tired and complaining now
But you're too tore down to tell

Love is short and painful, all you kind ladies and gents
I spent years and a couple of days as the King of Confidence
I spent years and a couple of days as the King of Confidence

 

[fox69]

"King Of Thieves"

"King Of Thieves"



I had forgotten all about 'The Case Of The Three Pins'
THEY SAID I MUST BE CRACKED
Until the brown paper parcel landed on my welcome mat
Even the pretty secretaries who wouldn't even
Let me HANG MY HAT
All recognize my handwriting
And return to sender as a matter of fact
If I were you I'd change my name again
They don't care what they do to you believe me
This is the coronation of the King of Thieves
His occupation is the King of Thieves
He can steal more than you can save
You can take him on, but you're not that brave

I'll tell your fortune in a minute or two
I might even tell you what comes next
The moguls want a HUMAN SACRIFICE
AND LOOK AT THAT GIRL, YOUNG HUNGRY AND PERPLEXED
They took away the best years of her life
Ah but it's all in good fun
And if you kept you nose clean
You can laugh now at the caring things they've done

I'll write this story down, but you'll never guess the
Final twist
Blow the whistle on the whole design
As they find my name on that fatal mailing list
I hear the clatter of a typewriter
Another rookie eating up the reams
I think it's time to place my feet under the desk
And PUT MY MARK ON ANOTHER MAN'S DREAMS
This is the coronation of the King of Thieves
And look at that girl
Look at that girl
LOOK AT THAT GIRL