Elvis Costello

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Last Boat Leaving"

"Last Boat Leaving"

Hush my little one don't cry so
You know your daddy's bound to go
They took his pride
They took his voice
Don't upset him now, don't make a noise
They said "You're lucky son you've still got a choice"
Last boat leaving
Don't waste your tears
It's not as if I'm in chains
I don't want to go now, it would be better for
you, too, if I don't look back when we sail

Hush my dear, while I whisper it in your ear
We're not going to sail tonight
We're going to disappear
And it feels like a punishment, but I don't know what for
Take care of your mother, son, it's you that she adores
'Cos no matter how long we sail we'll never reach the shore
Last boat leaving

So dry your tears
It's not as if I'm in chains
When you go to school, son, you'll read my
story in history books
Only they won't mention my name

So hush now, my darling, my sweet little one
I hope that you never have to do what I've done
Do you know what I've done?
Why I'm going away? On the last boat leaving
this stinking town
It's the last boat leaving, it's the last boat leaving

You've had my innocence, you've had my heartbreak
You've taken the place where I once belonged
Now what more can you take?

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Leave My Kitten Alone"

"Leave My Kitten Alone"

You better leave my kitten all alone
You better leave my kitten all alone
Well I tell you big bad bulldog
Well, you better leave her alone
Don't you know
My kitten isn't dead
Don't you know
My kitten isn't dead
So get your hands off of her
Cause I'm her lovin' man

Well mister dog
I'm gonna hit you
On the top of your head
That girl's gonna miss you
And you're gonna wish that you were dead

You better leave my kitten all alone
I love my little kitten
Well, like you hounddogs love your bone

Well mister dog
I'm gonna hit you
On the top of your head
That girl's gonna miss you
And you're gonna wish that you were dead

You better leave my kitten all alone
I tell you big bad bulldog
Well, you better leave her
I tell you big bad bulldog
Well, you better leave her
I tell you big bad bulldog
Well, you better leave her alone

You better leave
You better leave
You better leave
My kitten all alone

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Less Than Zero"

"Less Than Zero"

Calling Mister Oswald with the swastika tattoo,
there is a vacancy waiting in the English voodoo,
carving "v" for vandal on the guilty boy's head.
When he's had enough of that maybe you'll take him to bed
to teach him he's alive before he wishes he was dead.

[Chorus:]
Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect,
even your mother won't detect it,
no your father won't know.
they think that I've got no respect
but everything means less than zero.
Hey, ooh hey, hey, ooh hey.

Oswald and his sister are doing it again.
They've got the finest home movies that you have ever seen.
They've got a thousand variations: every service with a smile.
They're gonna take a little break, and they'll be back after a while.
well I hear that South America is coming into style.

[Chorus]

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor.
Mister Oswald said he had an understanding with the law.
He said he heard about a couple living in the USA.
He said they traded in their baby for a Chevrolet.
Let's talk about the future now we've put the past away.

[Chorus]

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Less Than Zero (Dallas Version)"

"Less Than Zero (Dallas Version)"

Jenny takes her clothes off in succession,
While her husband rides a bumper in the President's procession.
She's sees him on the screen as she looks up from giving head.
When he's had enough of that her lover throws her on the bed
to teach her she's alive and suddenly he's dead.

[Chorus:]
Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect,
even your mother won't detect it,
no your father won't know.
they think that I've got no respect
but everything means less than zero.
Hey, ooh hey, hey, ooh hey.

Calling Mister Oswald, calling anyone at the scene,
If you were taking home movies there's a chance you might have seen him.
They've got a thousand variations, every witness in a file.
Jenny puts on some coffee and she comes back with a smile.
She says, "I hear that South America is coming into style."

[Chorus]

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor.
Mister Oswald thought he had an understanding with the law.
She's got rubies on her fingers, Jenny turns and looks away.
Her mind upon a basement out of the USA.
She says, "Let's talk about the future now we've put the past away."

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Lesson In Cruelty"

"Lesson In Cruelty"

Here's a thought to dwell upon,
Daddy's girl is almost gone
Now there's just a vain princess
'Her Ruthlessness'
Tearing up the nursery
Stars more used to glittering
Pictured in the guttering
Faces caught about to laugh
Torn in half
Slipping through your fingers
See them scatter
Maybe it doesn't matter
But I still really want to pick pieces up
You can't fool me
With this lesson in cruelty
It's not as if I was asking time to stop
In violent blue
Like roses red
She laughed as she tore off his head
The hours she gazed on her former champion
Now it's just a frame of sellotape and torn wallpaper
As she rips his pretty face to bits

[Chorus]

It's too much too soon or so it seems
To put away these childish dreams
You'll find out soon enough that worship can be tough
Love is just a name to celebrate a vision
Or confetti littered with regrets.
See it scatter...
Dear heart to good to waste
But if some hot-head should claim it
Don't rush to his embrace
And it remains to say...
I'll love you just the same, whatever your decision
As you put the paper to the flame
(It's a lesson in cruelty)

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Let Him Dangle"

"Let Him Dangle"

Bentley said to Craig "Let him have it Chris"
They still don't know today just what he meant
by this
Craig fired the pistol, but was too young to swing
So the police took Bentley and the very next thing
Let him dangle
Let him dangle
Bentley had surrendered, he was under arrest,
when he gave Chris Craig that fatal request
Craig shot Sidney Miles, he took Bentley's word
The prosecution claimed as they charged them
with murder
Let him dangle
Let him dangle

They say Derek Bentley was easily led
Well what's that to the woman that Sidney
Miles wed
Though guilty was the verdict, and Craig had
shot him dead
The gallows were for Bentley and still she
never said
Let him dangle
Let him dangle

Well it's hard to imagine it's the times that
have changed
When there's a murder in the kitchen that is
brutal and strange
If killing anybody is a terrible crime
Why does this bloodthirsty chorus come round
from time to time
Let him dangle

Not many people thought that Bentley would
hang
But the word never came, the phone never rang
Outside Wandsworth Prison there was horror
and hate
As the hangman shook Bentley's hand to
calculate his weight
Let him dangle

From a welfare state to society murder
Bring "back the noose" is always heard
Whenever those swine are under attack
But it won't make you even
It won't bring him back

Let him dangle
Let him dangle (String him up)

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Let Me Tell You About Her"

"Let Me Tell You About Her"

I wasn't very indiscreet and yet
That is a notion that I might as well forget
Friends look at me these days with fond surprise
But when I start to speak they roll their eyes

Let me tell you about her
Hush now, I've said too much
There's something indescribable I can't quite catch
Let me tell you about her
The way that she makes me feel
Then draw a curtain on this scene I shan't reveal

Some things are too personal
Too intimate to spill
And gentlemen don't speak of them
And this one never will

I wasn't very conversational
Accept to say that, "You're sensational"
Friends now regard me with indulgent smiles
But when I start to sing they run for miles

Let me tell you about her
Hush now, I've said too much
There's something indescribable I can't quite catch
Let me tell you about her
The way that she makes me feel
Then draw a curtain on this scene I shan't reveal

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Let Them All Talk"

"Let Them All Talk"

Hear what I say
See what I do
Believe me now I'm all over you
All over you
I know a place
A CERTAIN VERY TENDER SPOT
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
Listening to the sad song that the radio plays
Have we come this fa-fa-fa to find a soul cliche
Let them talk
Let them talk
Let them all talk
Oh yeah we're killing time
Just to KEEP YOU CLOCKING ON
These are the best years of your life
Now they're here and gone
Do the world a service
And you could do yourself a favour
WHOSE TONGUE NOW IS TASTING LAST WEEK'S FLAVOUR
Our day will come
When you have squandered all your youth
To have and to hold
A stranger to the truth
Listening to the sad song that the radio plays
Have we come this fa-fa-fa to find a soul cliche
Let them talk

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Life Shrinks"

"Life Shrinks"

Shall I wear a buttonhole to jog your memory?
So you'll recall the promise
That I swore you made to me when we were younger
You look sorry for yourself but what about?
I'm some idea you're not without a doubt
So you can put away that tongue
I don't know who I'm trying to kid
I'll find another name for you
I'll try to put the blame on you
For everything we did
Life shrinks and before you know it
You have forgotten all the cuts and bruises
Just be thankful we were only fighting for buttons
And you know by now who loses

You're only half awake because you never go to bed
And when he hears about it
You know then the both of you's is dead and that's a promise
You'll be sorry because I won't tell you again
You'll stick like that one day
And if you don't believe me go and ask St. Thomas
I don't know where it's going to stop
Spend your whole time trying to stay
From breaking down or running away
Or trying to keep up

fox69 · 28.11.2015

"Lip Service"

"Lip Service"

You left the motor running.
But I know you're so attractive.
Getting in some sharp practice.
You better not do anything reckless.

But everybody is going through the motions.
Everybody is going through the motions.
Are you really only going through the motions?

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me

Don't make any sudden movements.
These are dangerous amusements.
When did you become so choosy?
Don't act like you're above me;
just look at your shoes.

[Repeat bridge and chorus]

But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me
But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me
But if you change your mind
you can send a little letter to me