Elvis Costello

[fox69]

"Heathen Town"

"Heathen Town"


They used to call it Sin City
now it's gone way past that.
Painting the town
and then burning it down
now even that's old hat.
Now there's a choir of angels
at the fall of Rome
singing "Ave Maria"
or "Home Sweet Home"

[Chorus:]
It's just a heathen town
I hear only evil
as my tongue is tightened.
I used to be god-fearing
now I'm so frightened
'cause the devil will drag you under
by the sharp tailfin
of your checkered cab
And I can't sit down,
I'm going overboard
in this heathen town.

It starts as a flirtation
and ends up as an expensive habit.
With one eye on her place
in debtor's prison
And the other on a girl
dressed as a rabbit.
Now you can live forever
endure fits and starts
The only stake you cannot raise
Is the one driven through your heart.

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Hidden Charms"

"Hidden Charms"



Her lips are sweet
Her legs are big
Her looks can make you
Dance the jig
Her touch is so soft
Her heart is so warm
What knocks me out
Is your hidden charms
Her voice is so soft
Her love is so true
I think about her
That's all I do
She's weak and wanton
In my arms
What moves me darling
Is your hidden charms

When I hold you
In my arms
Brings out all of your
Hidden Charms

Her kiss is so pure
As the morning dew
A real gone love
Is exciting too
Her eyes that talk
They say "c'mon"
What kills me baby
Is your hidden charms

When I hold you
In my arms
Brings out all of your
Hidden Charms

 

[fox69]

"Hidden Shame"

"Hidden Shame"


I'm sorry to say that you don't know me
I'm sad in ways you never understood
Each time I try to tell the ugly truth
You always let it pass you by
You said I 'd never tell you a lie
Just because I could
Did you really think I was a bad man?
You always said that that should be my middle name
But you don't know the half of it
You don't know how that name fits
You don't know my hidden shame

[Chorus:]
Hidden shame, shame, shame
That I can't get free
From the blame and the torture
And the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me

Well, there's a different kind of prison
And it don't even have to look much like a cell
It's already on your mind
Boy, we can see it in your eyes
So, here's the bars and walls as well

Well, you know I'm never coming home, babe
You said you'd stand by me until I cleared my name
Sure it's easy to be strong
When you know the charge is wrong
But the days and weeks get long
When you've got a hidden shame

[Chorus]

I had a friend when I was just a boy
We were like brothers, we would run and hide
And we went walking on a high hillside
And I really don't how it happened
He turned to me and had this strange look in his eye
And not a single word was spoken
I must have pushed him, but I don't remember why
And all at once, he lay there broken
And I walked down without him and I didn't even sigh

CHORUS

They say you always hurt the one you love
And I'm not saying if I did or if I didn't
But like my shame, that kind of love is always hidden
They locked me up here for the ideas in my head
They never got me for the thing I really did

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"High Fidelity"

"High Fidelity"


Some things you never get used to
Even though you're feeling like another man
There's nothing that he can do for you
To shut me away as you walk through
Lovers laughing in their amateur hour
Holding hands in the corridors of power
Even though I'm with somebody else right now

[Chorus:]
High fidelity
Can you hear me?

There's a new kind of dedication
Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel
Maybe I got above my station
Maybe you're only changing channel

Even though you're nowhere near me
And I know you kiss him so sincerely now
Even though the signal's indistinct
And you worry what silly people think
Who just can't wait to feel so frozen out
I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions
I suppose he'll never know about

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head"

"Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head"


Here comes Mr. Misery
He's tearing out his hair again
He's crying over her again
He's standing in the super-market shouting at the customers
Here comes Mr. Misery
He'll never be any good with a mouth full of gold and blood
He's contemplating murder again
He must be in love

[Chorus:]
But you know she doesn't want you
But you can't seem to get it in your head
Oh and you can't sleep at night
And she haunts you when you go to bed
When you're tired of talking and you can't drink it down
So you hang around and drown instead
Home isn't where it used to be
Home is anywhere you hang your head

You hang your head
Home is anywhere
You hang your head
Home is anywhere
You hang your head
Home is anywhere you hang your head

Here comes Mr. Misery
Looking for a place for his mouth to shoot
Saying "You'd look cute in your birthday suit"
You tore him out and screwed him up
Like a bad page in a naughty picture book

They day ended as it began
As he was seconds older than the man he was this morning
And the world has wiped it's mouth since then
Or maybe it was yawning

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Home Truth"

"Home Truth"


I hung up the phone tonight
Just as you said I love you
Once this would have been coincidence
Now these things start to bother me
You still close your eyes when I kiss you
And I close mine too
But we didn't open them again
Quite as wide as we should

[Chorus:]
This is where the home truth ends
This is where the home truth ends

Does your touch feel the same as it should do
Or is it someone quite similar
Who killed me with kindness last night
Now do I look at all familiar?
But none of these things seem to matter
Since we've grown apart
I'd put back the pieces of what's shattered
But I don't know where to start

This is where the home truth ends
This is where the home truth ends

This is where the home truth ends
And I feel like a clown
It's tearing me up
It's tearing me down

You say which are the lies that you tell me
Well where do I begin?
So I turn on the TV again
And the world comes crashing in
Is it my shirt or my toothpaste
That is whiter than white?
Is it the lies that I tell you
Or the lies that I might?

This is where the home truth ends
This is where the home truth ends

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Honey Hush"

"Honey Hush"



Come into this house and stop that yakity yak
'Cause your sugar-daddy don't want no talkin' back
You keep on babblin', talkin' 'bout this and that
I got news for ya baby, you ain't nothin' but an alley cat
Turn off the waterworks baby, they don't move me no more
I'm leavin' this town, ain't comin' back no more
Honey hush

Come into this house and stop that yakity yak
You're makin' me nervous and I'm holdin' a baseball bat

Hi-ho, hi-ho silver
Hi-ho, hi-ho silver away

 

[fox69]

"Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?"

"Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?"


Who do you see when you turn your eyes down?
Who do you see when I'm not seeing you?
The news is out all over town and all these girls
Are taking turns at being you

[Chorus:]
Well, well, well
You'd better make up your mind
Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

She's coming in between us you know that she is
I'm not holding on to her but one of us is
My hands are in my pocket, my face is in a book
She could walk 'round naked and I wouldn't sneak a look

[Chorus]

Honey are you straight or are you blind?

She walked in and your eyes flew out the door
You squeezed my hand 'til the circulation ceases
She's just a doll like so many more
She's the kind of doll that you'd like to pull to pieces

[Chorus]

Well, well, well
You'd better make up your mind
Honey are you straight or are you blind?

 

[fox69]

"Hoover Factory"

"Hoover Factory"



Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue
Must have been a wonder when it was brand new
Talkin' 'bout the splendour of the Hoover factory
I know that you'd agree if you had seen it too
It's not a matter of life or death
But what is, what is ?
It doesn't matter if I take another breath
Who cares ? Who cares ?
Green for go, green for action
From Park Royal to North Acton
Past scrolls and inscriptions like those of the Egyptian age
And one of these days the Hoover factory
Is gonna be all the rage in those fashionable pages

Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue
Must have been a wonder when it was brand new
Talkin' 'bout the splendour of the Hoover factory
I know that you'd agree if you had seen it too
It's not a matter of life or death
But what is, what is ?
It doesn't matter if I take another breath
Who cares ? Who cares ?

 

[fox69]

"Hora Decubitus"

"Hora Decubitus"



Siren is bending, the radio humming,
Sun is breaking through and the storm is coming
The score is obscure, the melody fractured
It went by my window
Refused to be captured

I hope that I wake up in time

Good King Neptune came flipping up my street
He was a sad case tripping up the staircase
Friends and relations are laughing at my head
Gathered like crows at the end of my bed

I hope that I wake up in time

If you can't or can't quite
Think again
You can't fight
That you might
Not be smite
If it's wrong, it's not right
I say it once and I'll say it again
Now and forever and ever, amen

Siren is bending, the radio is humming,
Who do you love now and who are you damning?
The score is obscure and the melody fractured
The bird by my window refused to be captured

I hope I wake up in time

If you can or can't quite
Think again
You can't fight
That you might
Not be smite
If it's wrong, it's not right
I'll say it once and I'll say it again
Life is a beautiful thing

I've said it before
I can't say it much more
Life is a beautiful thing