Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"Unwanted Number"

"Unwanted Number"



You should hear the things that they say about me
They're saying "She's no better than she needed to be"
They don't know that he was kind and strong and tender
And now I'll never be another Unwanted Number
Unwanted Number
How can I tell them?
How can I express?
How it felt to step out of this life and into his embrace

How can I tell them?
How can I explain?
All the love that I never had I found in him

There may be a stain on the family name
And if my father was here I think I know who he'd blame
Mama says that he just doesn't care to remember
And all he thinks of me is another Unwanted Number
Unwanted Number

(How can I tell her?
How can I express?
How it felt when he came to my room
And helped me to undress
What can she tell me?
How can I believe
That she really didn't hear me cry
When he wouldn't leave?)

There's a local game where they whisper my shame
They say "He gave her his child
He wouldn't give her his name"

They will torture me from January till September
And soon there's going to be another Unwanted Number
Unwanted Number
Unwanted number

And I will give my love to another Unwanted Number
Unwanted Number
Unwanted Number

 

[fox69]

"Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue"

"Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue"



Upon a veil of midnight blue
There hung a crescent moon
To light the view
But I don't whisper the words
When the moment arose
I wonder how he knows
You say your tongue is tied
Your words escape and hide
But he's so patient and kind
He's prepared to read your mind
That's very well till you find
Because of the wine you drank
Your mind is still a blank

I wonder how he knows
I guess I will wonder until
I pluck up the courage to tell him
How I feel
So close I can feel his heart tremble
That look in his eyes as they close
I wonder how he knows

I wonder how he knows

 

[fox69]

"Viceroy's Row"
(with The Roots)

"Viceroy's Row"
(with The Roots)



Now there's a crank in every crowd
Sprinkling gunpowder
Seems that everything is about to blow
They lit the burning paper
With a waxen taper
Sitting up here on Viceroy's Row

And they're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
Watching the pipeline as it overflowed
Sitting pretty here on Viceroy's Row

He made a fortune out of barbed wire
In the last days of the Empire
Built a cast-iron curtain
Just to keep control

He was a tycoon, then a cheapskate
Went out looking for a keepsake
To tuck into his suitcase on Viceroy's Row

And they're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
Watching the pipeline as it overflowed
Sitting pretty here on Viceroy's Row

He had a satchel full of cash
And dishes full of ashes
He went from boom to bust
In the blinking of a lash

Heard the rat-a-tat of the late patrol
Shooting out the lights up on Viceroy's Row

And they're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
They're coming for him slowly
Now the war is over
Sitting up here on Viceroy's Row

The woman in a blindfold
She doesn't want her hand held
Walking through a minefield
Saying "How does this feel?"
Stepping on the quicksand
Going down slow
Hiding up here on Viceroy's Row

Nothing satisfies
The ruins of his blue eyes
Like blood stains on a diamond mine
And deep within you felt
Not one measure of his guilt
Staring in the dark up on Viceroy's Row

Yet her penitent lover
Took a ribbon of rubber
Tied her to the bed made of silken thread

But without an ounce of mercy
They denounced him with a curse
Hammering on the door upon Viceroy's Row

Now his little concubine in her cemetery drag
Her face all smeared with charcoal
Is leaving all her cares, so
Take 500 acres and see what you can sow
We came to overthrow those on Viceroy's Row

They're gathering flowers
In the crack of hours where all of the nightmares go
Watching the pipeline as it overflowed
Sitting up here on Viceroy's Row

 

[fox69]

"Waiting For The End Of The World"

"Waiting For The End Of The World"



The man from the television crawled into the train.
I wonder who he's gonna stick it in this time.
Everyone was looking for a little entertainment,
so they'll probably pull his hands off
when they find out his name.
And then they shut down the power all along the line,
and we got stuck in the tunnel where no lights shine.
They got to touching all the girls were to scared to call out.
Nobody was saying anything at all.
We were waiting for the end of the world,
waiting for the end of the world,
waiting for the end of the world.
Dear Lord I sincerely hope you're coming
'cause you really started something.

Things got back to normal as the train began to roll again.
We got to the station about twenty minutes later.
The legendary hitchhiker says that he knows where it's at.
Now he'd like to go to Spain or somewhere like that,
with his two-tone Bible and his funny cigarettes,
his suntan lotion and his castanets.

He was waiting for the end of the world,
waiting for the end of the world,
waiting for the end of the world.
Dear Lord I sincerely hope you're coming
'cause you really started something.

And then the bride, the groom, the congregation and the priest
all got onto the train when we were three stations east, yeah.
Hiding from a scandal in the national press,
they had been trying to get married since they stole the wedding dress.
You may see them drowning as you stroll along the beach,
but don't throw out the lifeline till they're clean out of reach.

 

[fox69]

"Wake Me Up"
(with The Roots)

"Wake Me Up"
(with The Roots)



I've got this phosphorescent portrait of gentle Jesus meek and mild
I've got this harlot that I'm stuck with carrying another man's child
The solitary star announcing vacancy burnt out as we arrived
They'd throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived
And they were surprised to see us
So they greeted us with palms
They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms

Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this

I've got this imaginary radio, and I'm punching up the dial
I've got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won't blow up in my eye
And everything that I thought fanciful or mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
And I'm practising my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
And if I hold my hand outstretched
A little bird comes to me

And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in Bedlam
Stepping on the fingers that were stretching through the bars
Wailing echoes down the corridors

Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this

They've got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a Mustang
They drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle
They dangled flags and other rags along a coloured thread of twine
They dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine

Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces
Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces

My thoughts returned to vengeance but I put up no resistance
Though I seemed a long way from my home
It really was no distance

Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this

And the player piano picks out "Life Goes On"
The Ringtone rang out "Jerusalem"
Into the pit of sadness
Where the wretched plunge
We've buried all the Innocents
We must bury revenge

Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this

In the name of the Father and the Son
In the name of Gasoline and a Gun
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up

 

[fox69]

"Walk Us Uptown"
(with The Roots)

"Walk Us Uptown"
(with The Roots)



[Elvis Costello]
Will you walk us uptown?
And wherever you go, you know we will follow
Will you walk us uptown? And we'll stand in the light
of your new killing ground, and we won't make a sound
...Except to sing our sorrow
Will you walk us uptown while our tears run in torrents
to suffer in silence or pray for some solace
Will you wash away our sins in the cross-fire and cross-currents?
As you uncross your fingers, and take out some insurance

No matter what the price
It's your own paradise
Will you walk us uptown?
Will you walk us uptown?

Some hearts are sinking and some hearts are a-flutter
Some scoop gold from the dirt in the gutter
Or swallow the earth, pouring into your mouth
As they bury us upright saying, "Everything's alright"
Will you walk us uptown like some said that you could
We will feast on your flesh and drink down your blood
Will you haul down that flag and dishonour that vow?
Cause we must not change its color now
Will you walk us uptown?

No matter what the price
Each crushed on the corner of their own paradise
Will you walk us uptown?

Will you walk us uptown? That's always assuming
that you're partly divine and partly human
You're the king of our hearts, you're the clown with the drum
Will you walk us uptown if we promise not to run?
Will you walk us uptown? Will you gather us near
as cowards flee and traitors sneer?
Keep a red flag flying, keep a blue flag as well
and a white flag in case it all goes to hell (hell!)

 

[fox69]

"Walking On Thin Ice"

"Walking On Thin Ice"



Walking on thin ice, I'm paying the price.
I'm throwing the dice in the air.
Why must we learn it the hard way
And play the game of life with our hearts?
I gave you my life, you gave me your life.
Like a gush of wind in my hair.
Why do we forget what's been said
And play the game of life with our hearts?

I may cry someday. A kiss will dry whichever way.
And when my heart returns to ashes, it will be just a story.
It will be just a story.

And you go and try to walk across the lake
Crossed it with winter and all of this is ice
A terrible thing to do. They say the lake is as thick as the ocean.
I wonder if she knew?

 

[fox69]

"Watch Your Step"

"Watch Your Step"



Don't say a word
Don't say anything
Don't say a word
I'm not even listening
I read in the paper about their escape
They're just two bit of kids from a bunch of sour grapes
You better watch your step
Watch who's knocking on your front door
Now you know that they're watching
What are you waiting for?
Think you're young and original
Get out before...
They get to watch your step

Ev'ry day is full of fun
And family spies
They're making heroes out of fall guys
They say it's good for business
From Singapore to Widnes
You better watch your step

Broken noses hung up on the wall
Back slapping drinkers cheer the heavy weight brawl
So punch drunk they don't understand at all
You better watch your step

Ev'ry night
Go out full of carnal (carnival) desires
End up in the closing time choirs

When you're kicking in the car chrome
And you're drinking down the Eau de Cologne
And you're spitting out the Kodachrome
You better watch your step

Bye
I send you all my regards
You're so tough
You're so hard
Listen to the hammers falling in the breaker's yard
You better watch your step
You better watch your step
Ooh, watch your step

 

[fox69]

"Watching The Detectives"

"Watching The Detectives"


Nice girls not one with a defect,
cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct.
Red dogs under illegal legs.
She looks so good that he gets down and begs.

[Chorus:]
She is watching the detectives.
"ooh, he's so cute!"
She is watching the detectives
when they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.
They beat him up until the teardrops start,
but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart.

Long shot of that jumping sign,
Visible shivers running down my spine.
Cut the baby taking off her clothes.
Close-up of the sign that says,"We never close"
You snatch a tune, you a match a cigarette,
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet.
I don't know how much more of this I can take.
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake.

[Chorus]

You think you're alone until you realize you're in it.
Now fear is here to stay. Love is here for a visit.
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit.
Someone's scratching at the window. I wonder who is it?
The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance.
Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay,
it only took my little fingers to blow you away.

Just like watching the detectives.
Don't get cute!"
It's just like watching the detectives.
I get so angry when the teardrops start,
but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart.
Watching the detectives.
It's just like watching the detectives.

 

[fox69]

"Wave A White Flag"

"Wave A White Flag"



Take off your shoes, hang up your wings
Stack up the chairs, roll up the rug
Savor the things that sobriety brings
Drain in the last from a jug
But when I hit the bottle, there's no tellin' what I'll do
'Cause something deep inside me wants to turn you black and blue
I can't resist you, I can't wait
To twist your loving arms till you capitulate

Beat me in the kitchen, and I'll beat you in the hall
There's nothing I love better than a free for all
To take your pretty neck and see which way it bends
But when it is all over we will still be friends

Wave a white flag, put away the pistol
Too many people just can't get kissed
But if there's nothin' I can do to make amends, baby
Hope you don't murder me

Oh, was it all right, or was it okay
I'll make it all up to you someday
Oh, but you didn't have to laugh that way
Oh, no, you didn't have to laugh that way

Wave a white flag, put away the pistol
Too many people just can't get kissed
But if there's nothin' I can do to make amends, baby
Hope you don't murder me
Gee, baby, hope you don't murder me