Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"This Sad Burlesque"

"This Sad Burlesque"



I write in hopes that by the time you get this letter
We may live to see a change for the better
Or are we so devoted to these wretched selfish motives
When the cold facts and figures all add up
They cannot contradict this sad burlesque
This sad burlesque
With miserable failures making entertainment of our fate
Laughter cannot dignify of elevate
This sad burlesque

Now can they recall being young and idealistic
Before wading knee-deep in hogwash and arithmetic
The pitying smirk
The argument runs like clockwork
Will run down eventually and splutter to a stop

P.S. Well by now you know the worst of it
And we've heard all the alibis that they've rehearsed
The smug predictions
If it's not a contradiction
Keep faith in human nature
And have mercy on the creatures in this sad burlesque

 

[fox69]

"This Year's Girl"

"This Year's Girl"



See her picture in a thousand places
'cause she's this year's girl.
You think you all own little pieces
of this year's girl.

Forget your fancy manners,
forget your English grammar,
'cause you don't really give a damn
about this year's girl.
Still you're hoping that she's well spoken
'cause she's this year's girl.
You want her broken with her mouth wide open
'cause she's this year's girl.
Never knowing it's a real attraction,
all these promises of satisfaction,
while she's being bored to distraction
being this year's girl.

Time's running out. She's not happy with the cost.
There'd be no doubt, only she's forgotten
much more than she's lost.

A bright spark might corner the market
in this year's girl.
You see yourself rolling on the carpet
with this year's girl.
Those disco synthesizers,
those daily tranquilizers,
those body building prizes,
those bedroom alibis,
all this, but no surprises for this year's girl.
All this, but no surprises for this year's girl.
All this, but no surprises for this year's girl.

 

[fox69]

"Tiny Steps"

"Tiny Steps"



Muscle baby won't let go
Weekend baby won't say no
Is she an active beauty ?
I should say so
Wooden bones and pretty lashes
Iodine for your baby's gashes
Little tombs for your baby's ashes
If something goes wrong

Tiny steps almost real
Tiny fingers you almost feel
Make her walk or make her kneel
Oh, she's almost human beneath that Cuban heel

Who's that down at the bottom of the garden ?
Who's that hiding underneath the sofa ?
Who gets blamed whenever you're in trouble ?
She's your friend and she's your double

Tiny steps almost real
Tiny fingers you almost feel
Make her walk or make her kneel
Oh, she's almost human beneath that Cuban heel

Pretty little fashion face
Pick anyone up off the shelf
Though you say it's a disgrace
You know you owe it to yourself
You can even shop around
Though you won't find any cheaper
She's your baby now
You can keep her

Tiny steps almost real
Tiny fingers you almost feel
Make her walk or make her kneel
Oh, she's almost human beneath that Cuban heel

 

[fox69]

"TKO (Boxing Day)"

"TKO (Boxing Day)"



You can run all you like from the classroom or the cot
From a great big man or a tiny tot
But from this day everyday will be BOXING DAY
Don't need your indecision let there be no doubt
Don't need you permission I can count you out
TKO

They put the numb into number they put the cut into cutie
They put the slum into slumber and the boot into beauty
But from this day everyday will be BOXING DAY
It's a fight to the finish let there be no doubt
As the seconds turn into minutes I can count you out

TKO

You need a back to break or a back to stab
NOW YOUR BIRTHDAY SUIT LOOKS DULL AND DRAB
But from this day everyday will be BOXING DAY
NOW YOU DON'T LOOK SO GLAMOROUS
WHENEVER I FEEL SO AMOROUS
I CAN COUNT YOU OUT

TKO

 

[fox69]

"Tokyo Storm Warning"

"Tokyo Storm Warning"


The sky fell over cheap Korean monster-movie scenery
And spilled into the reservoir of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery
And I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell
So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are
While the K.K.K. convention are all stranded in the bar
They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery
But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday

[Chorus:]
What do we care if the world is a joke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We'll give it a big kiss
We'll give it a poke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
Death wears a big hat 'cause he's a big bloke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We're only living this instant

The black sand stuck beneath her feet in a warm Sorrento sunrise
A barefoot girl from Naples or was it a Barcelona hi-rise
Whistles out the tuneless theme song on a hundred cheap suggestions
And a million false seductions and all those eternal questions

[Chorus]

So they flew the Super-Constellation all the way from Rimini
And feasted them on fish and chips from a newspaper facsimile
Now dead Italian tourists bodies litter up the Broadway
Some people can't be told you know they have to learn the hard way

Holidays are dirt-cheap in the Costa del Malvinas
In the Hotel Argentina they can hardly tell between us
For Teresa is a waitress though she's now known as Juanita
In a tango bar in Stanley or in Puerto Margarita
She's the sweetest and the sauciest
The loveliest and the naughtiest
She's Miss Buenos Aires in a world of lacy lingerie

[Chorus]

Japanese God-Jesus robots telling teenage fortunes
For all we know and all we care they might as well be Martians
They say gold paint on the palace gates comes from the teeth of pensioners
They're so tired of shooting protest singers
That they hardly mention us
While fountains fill with second-hand perfume
And sodden trading stamps
They'll hang the bullies and the louts that dampen down the day

[Chorus]

We braved the cold November air and the undertaker's curses
Saying "Take me to the Folies Bergere and please don't spare the hearses"
For he always had a dream of that revolver in your purse
How you loved him 'til you hated him and made him cry for mercy
He said "Don't ever mention my name there or talk of all the nights you cried
We've always been like worlds apart now you're seeing two nightmares collide"

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Toledo"

"Toledo"



All through the night you telephoned
I saw the light blinking red
Beside the cradle
But you don't know how far I've gone
Now I must live with the lie
That I made
But if I call, I know I won't have to say it
You'll hear my voice - something is bound to betray it

But do people living in Toledo
Know that their name hasn't travelled very well?
And does anybody in Ohio
Dream of that Spanish citadel?
But it's no use saying that I love you
And how that girl really didn't mean a thing to me
For if anyone should look into your eyes
It's not forgiveness that they're gonna see

You hear her voice - "How could you do that?"
You hear her voice - "How could you do that?"

So I walked outside in the bright
Sunshine and lovers pass by
Smiling and joking
But they don't know the fool I was
Why should they care what was lost
What was broken?

But if I call, I know I won't have to say it
You'll hear my voice - something is bound to betray it

But do people living in Toledo
Know that their name hasn't travelled very well?
And does anybody in Ohio
Dream of that Spanish citadel?
But it's no use saying that I love you
And how that girl really didn't mean a thing to me
For if anyone should look into your eyes
It's not forgiveness that they're gonna see

But do people living in Toledo
Know that their name hasn't travelled very well?
And does anybody in Ohio
Dream of that Spanish citadel?
But we still have Florence, Alabama
We don't have Paris, and we don't have Rome

 

[fox69]

"Tommy's Coming Home"

"Tommy's Coming Home"



She was counting out the window of the outbound train
All the poles of the telegraph
And the rock-a-bye rhythm in the song of the rails
Couldn't make the sweeper laugh

Down down down so deep
Down down drowning in his sleep
Tommy's coming home again

And a hawk hovered high above a skinny jackrabbit
Pursued by a hungry fox
And a broker awoke her from a fitful slumber
Then consulted his shares and his stocks

Down down down they go
Down down how he'll never know
Tommy's coming home again
And it's almost April Fools' Day

As he glanced on his paper looking through the veil (?)
He could see she was really upset
As she tucked back the ribbon in a velvet box
As he offered her a cigarette

Down down down she took a drag
Now he's covered in a flag
Tommy's coming home again
And it's almost April Fools' Day

Almost April Fools' Day
And the joke's on everyone
He had that premonition
Only dead men dwell upon

But how could he know that only twelve months later
She would wear her skirt up over her knee
And in the very same carriage she'd be flattened with roses
And forget the tears of bigotry (?)

Down down down they flow
Now now now it just don't matter anymore
Tommy made it home again
When it was almost April Fools' Day

Almost April Fools' Day
And the joke's on everyone
He had that premonition
Only dead men dwell upon

Tommy's coming home again
Tommy's coming home again
Tommy's coming home

 

[fox69]

"Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down"

"Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down"



Tonight the bottle let me down
It let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down
I've always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I've been turnin' every day
But the wine don't take effect the way it used to
And I'm hurtin' in old familiar ways

Tonight the bottle let me down
It let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down

Each night I leave the bar room when it's over
Not feeling any pain at closing time
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
I can't drink enough to keep you off my mind

Tonight the bottle let me down
It let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down

 

[fox69]

"Too Blue"

"Too Blue"



There may be a break in the road
The future looks drab and dreary
But if you were here with me, dear
I'd spin you a line that's far from cheer
There's always some scribe
Who's taken the bribe
Describing some Gentleman Jim
Who says he's in love with a beautiful girl
But she don't care about him

Say what you do
That sky is much to blue
You'll know sorrow
That's deeper than the ocean
It's a pitiful chain of events
You'd think that I might have more sense
He says
"The birds in the braches may whistle and croon
"But they're singing out of tune"

There may be bend in the track
But if you come back to see me
I'll be waiting patiently here
And if you believe that then I fear
There's always some clown
Who's bringing me down
By humming a tragic refrain
He says he's in love with a beautiful girl
But he doesn't know her name

 

[fox69]

"Too Far Gone"

"Too Far Gone"



I can tell somewhere there's someone you love more than me
Someone you love more than me
And it hurts to say it that you have a right to be free
I know that's the way it should be
Oh but I'm too far gone
Too far gone
I know I've loved you too much for too long
And I'm too far gone

If ever your new love should hurt you or make you feel blue
Hurt you or make you feel blue
Just remember your old love will still be around loving you
I'll be around loving you

Oh 'cause I'm too far gone
Too far gone
I know I've loved you too much for too long
And I'm too far gone