Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"The Only Flame In Town"

"The Only Flame In Town"



I know a girl got my mind in a mess
I never heard her say goodnight and God bless
She's not the only flame in town
And when we're alone we never quarrel
I'm miles away now here's the moral
She's not the only flame in town

She's not the only flame in town
She's got to stop thinking that I'm
carrying this torch around

He struck a match and it lit up her face
We should have struck a match girl
To burn down the whole place
Now you're not the only flame in town

But you blew hot and cold
Turned my heart to a cinder
And with each passing day
You'd be less tender and more tinder
Now you're not the only flame in town

She's not the only flame in town
She's got to stop thinking that I'm
carrying this torch around

Thought I saw your face in the fire
But it's so hard to remember
Even an inferno can cool down to an ember
Now you're not the only flame
You're not the only flame
You're not the only flame in town

 

[fox69]

"The Other End (Of The Telescope)"

"The Other End (Of The Telescope)"


Shall we agree that just this once
I'm gonna change my life
Until it's just as tiny or important as you like?

And in time we won't even recall that we spoke
Words that turned out to be as big as smoke
As smoke that disappears in the air
There's always something that's smoldering somewhere

[Chorus:]
I know it don't make a difference to you
But oh! It sure made a difference to me
You'll see me off in the distance, I hope
At the other end
At the other end of the telescope.

The promise of indulgence in my confidential voice
Approached immortal danger but you'll never know how close
Then down the hall I overheard such a heavenly choir
They interrupted my evil designs
One day you are up in the clouds
The next thing you're down with the Sweet Adelines

[Chorus]

Lie down baby now don't say a word
There there baby your vision is blurred
Your head is so sore from all of that thinking
I don't want to hurt you now
But I think you're shrinking

You're half-naked ambition and you're half out of your wits
Or several tiny fractions that this portrait still omits
And it's so hard to pick the receiver up when I call
I never noticed you could be so small
The answer was under your nose but the question never arose

I know it don't make a difference to you
But oh! It sure made a difference to me
'Cause late in the evening as I sit here moping
With a bamboo needle on a shellac of Chopin
And the cast-iron heart that you failed to tear open
At the other end
At the other end of the telescope

 

[fox69]

"The Other Side Of Summer"

"The Other Side Of Summer"


The sun struggles up another beautiful day
And I felt glad in my own suspicious way
Despite the contradiction and confusion
Felt tragic without reason
There's malice and there's magic in every season

[Chorus:]
From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of Summer
To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf
The other side of Summer

The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace
The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice
The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows
A teenage girl is crying 'cos she don't look like a million dollars
So help her if you can
'Cos she don't seem to have the attention span

[Chorus]

Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?
A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't need no lessons"?
The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop
The pop princess is downtown shooting up
And if that goddess if fit for burning
The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning

Madman standing by the side of the road saying
"Look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes"
Now you can't afford to fake all the drugs your parents used to take
Because of their mistakes you'd better be wide awake

[Chorus]

The mightiest rose
The absence of perfume
The casual killers
The military curfew
The cardboard city
An unwanted birthday
The other side of summer

The dancing was desperate, the music was worse
They bury your dreams and dig up the worthless
Goodnight
God bless
And kiss "goodbye" to the earth
The other side of summer

 

[fox69]

"The People's Limousine"

"The People's Limousine"



It's a chilly Florentine evening
Two men in evening hats
Telling tales of the underground and
fishing for Reds
Policemen armed with Uzis
stand guard but they don't speak
Ain't seen no Michaeangelo
he'll be here next week.
The girl in the shoes
with the crystal heels went chaperoned by her brother
They raise a glass of amber wine
take pictures of each other
of the policemen in the fountains
and the sickle and the hammer
and they came with Uncle Romulus
with his walking cane and camera
She looked like someone's girlfriend
she looked like a dream
she looked as unlikely
as the people's limousine.

Come and sit by me, girl, before I breathe the breath out of you
Hush your mouth and cover your eyes for I'll tell your father of you
He paid to have you painted in the company of angels
Only to find you flirting anew with Chico Marx and perverted Engels

The patron saint of television smiles down from the shelf
Romulus can't criticize but he can't bless himself
He has a tin of pea-green paint and a big roll of black tape
To vandalize these obscenities then make his escape

She walked up to the nice policeman and asked him for a match
He saw Romulus approaching and slipped off the safety catch
Then cut down her uncle, he was painted red and green
Just as she was kidnapped in the people's limousine.

 

[fox69]

"The Puppet Has Cut His Strings"
(with The Roots)

"The Puppet Has Cut His Strings"
(with The Roots)



They pulled the stars down one by one
Hauled up the moon to shine upon
A velvet curtain rising
Now her puppet has cut his strings

The footlights glare
The trumpets blare
Why is your face drawn on so glum, old chum
Paintbrush dragging on a drum
The rimshot on the punchline that you fumbled
The crowd went home and left you
For dead
My old woodenhead
Took the thimble and the thread
Choked back tears like a cymbal

The breath is slow and shallow too
The sky is bright Venetian blue
The cardboard sun is all ablaze
The air is painted Clifford Brown
Caressing "Yesterdays"
The steady gaze of your glass eye
Head in a basket smiling still
Free of will, free of wisdom

Can't feel my fingers anymore
Can't raise my hand and ask for more
Dance my doll across the floor
Or fire a flag from a pistol
("Bang")

They pulled the stars down one by one
Hauled up the moon to wish upon
The puppet finally cut his strings
And free at last from earthly things
He's dancing on the ceiling
With a showgirl in a feather dress
Time is meaningless

We carried you on buckled limbs
Through mournful airs and martyrs hymns
Then one blue and one more yellow pill
One keeps you quiet
One keeps you still
You sang "The Way You Looked Tonight"
Your voice is ringing true and clear
Then you wore them down like candlelight

And in the darkness
You'd best beware
And in the darkness
You'd best beware
You'd best beware
You'd best beware
I used to love him
When I used to care
Canopy
Satin trim
Slowly closing
The puppet has cut his strings

 

[fox69]

"The River In Reverse"

"The River In Reverse"



How long does a promise last?
How long can a lie be told?
What would I take in exchange for my soul?
Would I notice when it was sold?

Wake me up
Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
'Cos I don't see how it can get much worse
What do we have to do to send
The river in reverse

Every man a crawling kingsnake
Every girl a half a heartbreak
Every woman sold into shame
To any son without a name

Are your arms too weak to lift?
Another shovel on the graveyard shift
Here comes the flood if you catch my drift
Where the things that they promised are not a gift

If man falls through the mirror of a lake
They fish him out quick and they call him a fake
Give him all the temptations he can take
Tie him up high 'til his bones break

Wake me up
Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
'Cos I don't see how it can get much worse
What do we have to do to send
The river in reverse

I thought I heard somebody laugh
Look out your window
They're chasing shadows in the dark
They're counting widows

I felt a sliver of glass
Saw a cross in splinters
I felt the truce of spring
Dig me out of the trench of winter

So count your blessings when they ask permission
To govern with money and superstition
They tell you it's all for your own protection
'Til you fear your own reflection
But the times are passing from illumination
Like bodies falling from a constellation
An uncivil war divides the nation
So erase the tape on that final ape running down creation
Running down creation

Wake me up
Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this

 

[fox69]

"The Scarlet Tide"

"The Scarlet Tide"


Well I recall his parting words
Must I accept his fate?
Or take myself far from this place
I thought I heard a black bell toll
A little bird did sing
Man has no choice
When he wants everything

[Chorus:]
We'll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride

Man goes beyond his own decision
Gets caught up in the mechanism
Of swindlers who act like kings
And brokers who break everything
The dark of night was swiftly fading
Close to the dawn of the day
Why would I want him
Just to lose him again

[Chorus 2x]

 

[fox69]

"The Sharpest Thorn"

"The Sharpest Thorn"



I wore my finest suit of clothes
The sharpest thorn defending the rose
Hot as a pistol
Keen as a blade
The sharpest thorn upon parade

And it's the same most every year
Ghosts of the dear departed are near
We raise our glasses and we cheer
Should old acquaintance disappear
Just as we wipe away a tear

Archangel Michael will lead the way
Archangel Gabriel is ready to play
Although we know we must repent
We hit the scene and look for sins
That haven't even been invented

The strongest cage that guards the prize
The longest lash that covers your eyes
A sight no eyes are meant to know
Then on the third day he arose

Archangel Michael will lead the way
Archangel Gabriel is ready to play
Although we know we must repent
We hit the scene and look for sins
That haven't even been invented

So Good and Evil were having a fight
It lasts much longer than any one night
It may last longer than a life
And turn a mistress into a wife

And so confetti fills the air
My head is aching
My pockets are bare
I didn't recognise their warning
Then I wasn't born the sharpest thorn
I wasn't born the sharpest thorn
I wasn't born the sharpest thorn
I wasn't born the sharpest thorn
I wasn't born the sharpest thorn

 

[fox69]

"The Spell That You Cast"

"The Spell That You Cast"



The spell that you cast
Seems to be wearing off fast
(The spell that you cast)
Come back baby, cos I don't know if I can last
(The spell that you cast)
And I wonder whether
You got some other kind of lover
That you like to please
Better than me
I don't think I can take it
How am I going break it?
The Spell That You Cast

The spell that you've woven
Seems to be coming undone
(The spell that you cast)
Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going
(The spell that you cast)
'Cos you know quite well
I'm not a jealous kind of feller
But they look in your eyes
And they're all hypnotized
I'm going to miss you madly
'Cos I love you sadly
The Spell That You Cast

Jimmy come quickly 'cos I feel quite sickly
(The Spell That You Cast)
You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley
(The Spell That You Cast)

I don't think I can take it
How am I going break it?
The Spell That You Cast

 

[fox69]

"The Stamping Ground"

"The Stamping Ground"



The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
still hang around.
Coming in with the same blokes,
going home with the same jokes,
if you ever go missing
I know where you'll be found :
the stamping ground.
The big fella on the front door knows your face.
The barman pretends that he's saved you a place,
but when your back is turned
they say she's older than she tells.
I could stand the main attraction,
but not the clientele.
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
still hang around.
Coming in with the same blokes,
going home with the same jokes,
if you ever go missing
I know where you'll be found :
the stamping ground.
Everybody knows
evrybody's trouble,
who comes in alone,
who leaves as a couple.
When they seen you coming, babe,
they act like they're pleased to meet you.
Say "It's very nice to know you,
but I wouldn't want to be you."
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
still hang around.
Going home with the same blokes,
going home with the same jokes,
if you ever go missing
I know where you'll be found :
the stamping ground.
You talk like you don't have a brain in your head.
You act like you don't have a care in your bed.
Th lights are on,
there's no one home,
it scares you to death.
You stamp on anyone who stops to take a breath.
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
still hang around.
Going home with the same blokes,
going home with the same jokes,
if you ever go missing
I know where you'll be found :
the stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.