Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"North"

"North"



The East has that Englishmen
And the rising sun
The West has the open plains
And how they were won
On Independence Day
For all it's worth
You can ring those southern belles
I'm going
North

Up were the rushing rivers run and salmon leap
I could even get there in my sleep
Give me the ice and snow
Time to go...
North

So run up a banner and we'll stand underneath
You gave me a starry flag
For one with a leaf
I'm on the borderline
I jump back and forth
There's nothing to stop me now
I'm heading...
North

Up where the polar bears and moose and geese will play
And some of them address you en francais
Give me the ice and snow
Time to go...
North

And so I must leave you all
Alas and alack
And though we are parting now
I'll always come back
So as the compass points
That's where I'll be
But if you could only see
The perfection of...

North
It's something I will always carry in my heart
A place when dreams begin and life can start
Who cares what people know?
Let me go...
North

 

[fox69]

"Nothing Clings Like Ivy"

"Nothing Clings Like Ivy"



Nothing clings like Ivy
Frightened by the dark
Though she cuts deep
It never leaves a mark

No one quite like Ivy
Ever gets it straight
What she believes
She won't negotiate

All the words of tenderness
That never quite got through
She said "You know how young girls are
From my contempt for you."

Outside in the hollow
She may dare herself
For there may be
A serpent in the grass

Nothing clings like Ivy
Trying to scare herself
And it may strike or
Wait for her to pass

All the words of tenderness
That she never possessed
"So what's the use of promises?
I had my fingers crossed."

All the words of tenderness
That never quite got through
She said, "I laughed behind your back
When I told them to you."

Nothing clings like Ivy
Frightened by the dark
Though she cuts deep
It never leaves a mark

 

[fox69]

"O, Mistress Mine"

"O, Mistress Mine"



O, mistress mine
Where are you roaming?
O, stay and hear
Your true love's coming
That can save both high and low

Trip no further pretty sweeting
Journeys end in lovers meeting
Every wise man's son doth know

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Trip no further pretty sweeting
Journeys end in lovers meeting
Every wise man's son doth know

What is love?
'Tis not hereafter
Present mirth
Hath present laughter
What's to come is still unsure

In delay there lies no plenty
Then come kiss me sweet and twenty
It's a stuff will not endure

 

[fox69]

"Oh Well"

"Oh Well"



The ink is running
The words are taught
I'm sitting helpless with my paper and charts
I had to follow my passion
Oh well

I don't get paid that much for all I deserve
To waste a sentence or shatter my nerves

I had to follow my passion
Oh well

Sometimes I long to run outside
I'd give it all up but it's my pride
Oh well
Oh well

I had a dream once or so I thought
I'd be a pilot or an astronaut
I had a dream like that until I found
Even an astronaut goes into the ground

Life is just passing us bye-bye

Oh well
Oh well
Oh well

 

[fox69]

"Oliver's Army"

"Oliver's Army"


Don't start me talking
I could talk all night
My mind goes sleepwalking
While I'm putting the world to right
Called careers information
Have you got yourself an occupation?

[Chorus:]
Oliver's army is here to stay
Oliver's army are on their way
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today

There was a checkpoint Charlie
He didn't crack a smile
But it's no laughing party
When you've been on the murder mile

Only takes one itchy trigger
One more widow, one less white nigger

[Chorus]

Hong Kong is up for grabs
London is full of Arabs
We could be in Palestine
Overrun by a Chinese line
With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne

But there's no danger
It's a professional career
Though it could be arranged
With just a word in Mr. Churchill's ear

If you're out of luck or out of work
We could send you to Johannesburg

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"On Your Way Down"

"On Your Way Down"



Sunrise
Sunset
Since the beginning it hasn't changed yet
People fly high begin to lose sight
You can't see very clearly when you're in flight

It's high time that you found
The same people you misuse on your way up
You might meet up
On your way down

Vintage wines from the year '62
It's your thing, it's your thing
It pleases you
You got to frown when you cross town
You think it's an honor just to have you around

It's high time that you found
The same dudes you misuse on your way up
You might meet up
On your way down

You think the sun rises and sets for you
But the same sun rises, sets and shines
On the poor folks too
I don't mind you turning round
I myself would even like a little higher ground

It's high time that you found
The same people you walk on on your way up
You might meet up
On your way down
On your way down

 

[fox69]

"One Bell Ringing"

"One Bell Ringing"



Raining slapping on the window pane
An hour or more of teeming
Storm punching like a hurricane
That tore him out of dreaming

Air screaming through the slightest gap
Rattling between the frame and the sill
Drapes hanging from the final act
When I had you still

One lonely bird is singing
Lower the hood hung of his lament
Dash him down on cold cement
One Bell Ringing

Flies buzzing round strip search light
They've got him down on his knees
He thinks of honey dripping from a spoon
Girls whispering in Portuguese

Between muzzle and the black site
Electrical contact
Deny your name and then carry the blame
Somewhat after the fact

One lonely bird is singing
Lower the hood hung on that last lament
Dash him down on cold cement
One Bell Ringing

 

[fox69]

"Opportunity"

"Opportunity"


Born in the middle of a second big baby boom
Those noisy boys just might have spoken up too soon
Now I'm looking for a little girl, I wonder where she's gone
Big money for families having more than one

[Chorus:]
Opportunity, opportunity
This is your big opportunity
They shop around
follow you without a sound
Whatever you do now
Don't turn around

Whatever happened to the pride of the nation?
They say, "just wait until you break formation"
She was sitting pretty on a velvet cushion
But her bedroom eyes were like a button she was pushing
She said, "When they get to Dover they'll be be taking over"
I said I'd come to her defense and then she pulled me over

[Chorus]

I'm in the foxhole, I'm down in the trench
I'd be a hero but I can't stand the stench
The Fitness Institute was full of General Motormen
And the "Hello House of Beauty" wouldn't stand a chance with them
The chairman of this boredom is a compliment collector
I'd like to be his funeral director

[Chorus]
Please don't turn around...

 

[fox69]

"Our Little Angel"

"Our Little Angel"



This is the place where I made my best mistakes
This is the place even angels don't understand
I've seen the disappointment in her face
And the collection of engagement rings on her right hand
She sits alone apart from the crowd
In a white dress she wears like a question mark
Friends speak of her fondly
Enemies just think out loud
You think you're man enough to please her
And you're fool enough to start
You're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change
Now the cabaret is frozen and the laughter comes in cans
And the lonely hearts club clientele don't know what to do with their hands
You think that you'll be sweet to her but everybody knows
That you're the marshmallow valentine that got stuck on her clothes
But you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

So you mix your drinks and words
You make bad jokes you make bad time
The floors are there to walk over
The walls are there to climb
You swear that you'll never go back again once you're inside
You're never the bridegroom she's always the bride
And you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

You'll come in a sweetheart and you'll go out a stranger
Well you try to love her but she's so contrary
Like a chainsaw running through a dictionary
So get your mind off the sweet behind of our little angel
You're not going to do a thing
You're not going to do a thing
You're not going to do a thing to our little angel

 

[fox69]

"Pads, Paws And Claws"

"Pads, Paws And Claws"



She's a feline tormentor, not any vaudeville wife
But with a drunk-town lament he leads her a miserable life
But when he's full of that beer-champagne
She pads, paws, pads, paws and claws
And if he should wake up in some terrible dive
And he don't know if he's so-so
But he's so surprised he's alive
"Come on little honey, let me under your hive"
She pads, paws, pads, paws and claws

She pads, pads around the bedroom, practicing ways to flirt
He paws, pours another drink and anything in a skirt
Anything wearing a necklace
He thinks of claws scratching his back
He's going out there he's not coming back

She's got spider-leg fingers, sharpened whenever he strays
And she carries a bird-purse, with all of her womanly ways
Till he's drinking hairspray, she knows that he never would dare
She could be in pictures if she wasn't all covered in fur
He's coming home now and here's the surprise
You wouldn't believe the lies that he tries
She cut him down to her favourite size
She pads, paws, pads, paws and claws

She pads, paws, pads, paws and claws