Elvis Costello Album

In the not very distant future
When everything will be free
There won't be any cute secrets
Let alone any novelty

You can say anything you want to
In your fetching cloak of anonymity
Are you feeling out of breath now?
In your desperate pursuit of infamy

Two lovers rocking up and down
In an elevator
15 minutes later
They'll make a killing in the market
They knew how to work it
On that close circuit
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place

How proud are you
You have the knack
You're howling in a vacuum
Whatever I said about you
I didn't say it behind your back

I paid for my immortal sins
I know the enemy within you
As it seems these days
There is no hiding place

Next time someone wants to hurt you
Or set alight your effigy
Don't call on me to help you out
Don't come crying to me sympathy
You stay there with your daubs and scratches
While I summon up the red machine
I'll handing someone matches
And carrying a can of kerosene

Walk up to me
And say what you said
See how brave you are
When I'm about this far away

You sit in judgment and bitch
Well, baby that's rich
You're nothing but a snitch

My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place

Somewhere downtown a pretty girl kneels
Offers her soft of lips and a handful of pills
She peels off her dress and then the rest of her skills
It buys what she wants and the rest she just steals

He speaks between deep swallows of rum
While her head is beating like a big bass drum
And she wishes he were mute and not just dumb
When the trick asked her quick, “Did you come?”

It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time

He sits back and he starts to invent
All about some Saigon correspondent
“'Til the carbine fell silent and spent
I never knew it could be so eloquent”

Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin
For each harlot and each Puritan
Pull off their wings and stick them on pin
And just watch the money roll in

It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time

What have you got hidden up your sleeve?
The tracks of the train that were bidding you to leave
When they say you should flatter to deceive
Just don't count on any reprieve

The hands of the helpless are raised
Your dead little secrets are praised
The people stand dumbstruck and dazed
By the inches that you have erased

It's a drag
Saluting that starry rag
I'd rather go blind
For speaking my mind
Or use it just like a gag
So raise it in anger
Just let it hang
American Gangster Time
Committing the perfect crime
In American Gangster Time

American Gangster Time

I can't tell if this is real or if I am sleeping
I'll embroider the truth
And that's so I shall reap
I took things that didn't belong to me
I didn't mean to do you wrong

Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it

And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of chemistry

You did everything to me but stopped short of murder
Couldn't move me much closer to keeping my word
While the crowd threw stones at the hangman
The sky fell down
The bells rang

Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it

And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of history

Airless shaft of an underground railway
Effete assassin with a hawk in a sack
The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail
As it swallowed the river running under the track

I can't tell if I'm dreaming or if I'll awaken
With a song in my heart that is longing to break
Let it out and let it fly high
Up where the spires scrape the sky

Looking back on all that stolen time
Back when I was drinking turpentine
Don't blame me
I only took you in
It takes time to do the poisoning
So let's close the door on this and lock it

And that's all that it will ever be
Just an accident of history

Airless shaft of an underground railway
Cute assassin with a hawk in a sack
The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail
Swallowed the river running under the track
That's right

I met them first on their wedding night
Faces were flushed by promises plighted
We passed in the hall and I met them well
But as their carriage arrived, I found that I couldn't quite tell them

It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not moments that capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
(She'll never know)

He walked on the wet sands of summertime
Rain beat the window in drummertime
He was cruel with his humour
She was quick with her tongue
But though a year had passed
The honeymoon didn't last
Somehow they didn't seem young

It's not very far from tears to mirth
There are not moments that capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth
(She'll never know)

They're on their holiday
But they still find a reason to fight
Now matter how long they say
Can't put the rest of the year right

Five had passed when I happened along
He said, “Do you hear that noise? Well, that once was our song”
I looked in her eyes and saw barely a spark
He laughed too loud and then drank until dark

It's not very far from tears to mirth
It's not moments that will capture your breath
It's not very long that you spend on this earth
She'd never know just what Harry was worth

(She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
no She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth
She'll never know what Harry was worth)

Maybe we're nothing but skin and bone
Blare and rubber
Eyes that blubber
Teeth that bite
Hands that slight

Still I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man

Maybe we're nothing but skin and bone
Nerves that shatter
Tongues that flatter
Lips that mutter
Lashes that flutter

Mouths of dust and lips of ripe
Twice as vicious
As the words I type
Under a ribbon
Of every stripe

There's a grip that tightens
A dark that frightens
A wise that crackles
A fear that shackles

Yet I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man

And then that kinder creation
Becomes a fine fixation
All of sudden
With the parts we've hidden
Because they are forbidden

Beneath hide of pain
You'll find a soul of stain
While fists still beat
At heart's deceit

And I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man

Maybe this is nothing but a drum and drone
I want to beat it 'til I get unknown

Pig some skin
Stretch it tight
Make myself up overnight

Maybe I need nothing but a drum and bone
Going to beat it 'til I get unknown

Or dig my pin
Kick up some stink
Find myself a brand new kink

Prick that berry
And squeeze this ink
Scratch out all of the words I think
Before your very eyes can blink

Yes, I'm trying to do the best I can
But I'm a limited, primitive kind of man

Last rays of sunlight die
Full moon begins to rise
Reflected in your eyes

I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow

The crowd was gathering
The clock struck five, then ten
My happy tears are descending

I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow

Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow

The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
I'm pushing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night

My voice got stuck in my throat
Pulled my hand up into the sleeve of my coat
So you'd never know how it was shaking

I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow

Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow

You make the motor in me
Start up and stop again
When I am spluttering
You make the motor in me
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and Wow
Flutter and now to the bridge

The incident tape across the bed
Threading it to the reel to the head
I'm planting this thought in a magnetic field
I'm pressing the button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night

You should wear your red galoshes
Walking o'er the city pride
Streets are paved with heaven's pennies
Gutters full of suicides

Teddy steadily fell from graceful
Somewhere near Arcadia
Once she overheard a voice
That she didn't hear on the radio

Velvet gloves and country clubs
Were never going to hold her
Ringing the necks of silly
Southern belles
Who wanted to scold her

Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?

Teddy soon dropped out of sight
Turned up in another town
Changed her name for the spotlight
Singing like a blue bird in a sequin gown

She finally fell and married well
But she knew it wouldn't last
Reversing back into the limelight
No one ever saw her even half-plastered

Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?

Then she saw those soldier boys
Throw their bonnets in the air
Self-made men would pledge their fortunes
And dream of her
And dream of her

Generals in the commissary opened up a case of wine
Checked the perfume of the cork
Said “Made in 1929”

They used her up, to raise morale and money
For Old Glory
Her voice was shot beyond repair
But that is not the last act of this story

The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until a needle drags her through the static

Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?

They looked at her this way every since she was a girl
Mr. Feathers, Mr. Feathers
The echo in every smile that would curl into a leer, oh my dear!
(Oh my dear)
Mr. Feathers is near
(Oh my dear)
The counter is foreign, something is spoiling
It’s really appalling
You pleased and you promised
You never saw it through
Nobody knows, the damage that we do
Do you carry it with you?

She passed him out in the street
He suddenly seems so frail as her fast heart beat
She should kick him anyway, sharpen her nails
For eyes that stray, where hands should never stray

She thought she was wanted, ever since she was a girl
Mr. Feathers, Mr. Feathers
The kindness in every smile that would curl into a sneer, oh my dear!
Mr. Feathers is near
Her lover is calling
Something is spoiling
It’s really appalling
You pleased and you promised,
You never saw it through
Nobody knows the damage that we do
The damage that we do.

Day is dawning
Almost sounded like a warning
Wind was rushing through the trees almost falling
I never thought that I’d become
The proud father of my three sons

Years of fragment
Between the shame and the sentiment
For all the years that I might have been absent
I can’t do what can’t be undone
Oh no, my three songs

I love you more than I can say
What I give to one, the other cannot take away
I bless the day you came to be
With everything that is left to me
Here’s your pillow
Go to sleep and I will follow
May you never have anymore sorrows
That’s not something that you can count upon
Still I want it for my three sons
My, my, my three sons

Deep in the night I turn cold and sick
But I only curse arithmetic
I bless the day that you came to be
With everything that is left to me

Day is closing
Old men and infants are dosing
That’s the kind of life I’ve chosen
To see what I’ve become
The humble father of my three sons
The humbled father of my three sons

Between last breaths and first regrets
Days dragged on like cigarettes
In distance martyrs and martinets
Dally, dancing with the empty silhouettes of threats

So, where but heaven does love end
And where on earth does it begin
It's not the kind of love that is pinned
Like a medal
Or presses pennies in a tin

There is hope, and after that, there is only faith
Love like a wraith
Never made me afraid
Consoled as I was by that shade

Here lie the roses in the ashes
Deep as the barnacles that cling
Just like a lace that runs through everyone and everything

In that other still forever
In that time before the past
I told myself we'd be together
Can you promise me that it will be eternally?

There is hope and after that, there is only faith
And love like a wraith
Never made me afraid
Consoled as I was
Consoled as I was
Consoled as I was by that shade

Pardon me Madam, my name is Eve
I think it's time for you to leave
I don't believe that we have met
That's one thing you would not forget

In another time or life
When I was his only wife
When I was his only bride
Before I was torn out from his side

In the orchard apples are withering
In the shadows something is slithering
So go along there if you must
Try to do as I suggest
He's just a gathering of dust

And if he can‘t recall my name
Tell him to take his time, it's worth recovering
Look at me, and what I'm covered in
I'm covered in shame

I came back looking for my man
I wandered everywhere and then
I stood outside and gazed upon
A beautiful garden, a shimmering pond

See the sunlight on the leaves that dapple
Did you see my little teeth marks on the apple?
Don't close the door on the hand I'm offering
There is someone outside doing all the suffering

In the orchard, apples are withering
In the shadows, something is slithering
But in another time and life
When I was his only wife
When I was his only bride
Until I was torn out
Until I was torn out
Until I was torn out
From his side

Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
Pardon me, Madam, my name is Eve
I think it's time for one of us to leave

Here in our little spy movie
With my garter and dagger
And my gag and my cuff
And my gunslinger swagger

You used to be my hand-painted villain
You used to be so thrilling

It's a switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing

You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

Budapest intrigue
Three hours of black and white
Squinting at subtitles
Through a telescopic sight

Hungarian melody
Repeating endlessly
Is this the end I see?
Approaching in front of me

It's a switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing

You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

In this hysterical epic
Secret passage of the palace
Powder from a hollow ring
Into a poisonous chalice

Unfrocked fondler
In a half moonlit gondola
Pampered hog in a ringlet wig
Gamboled a merry jig

You're always pursuing
But she won't need possessing
Just undoing and undressing
Please don't stop me guessing

You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

In my mystery caper
As I lower the lamp
On a fey little gunsel
Who dreamed drilling that that vamp

I'm walking the shade
Of this silent parade
With my pepper and mace
And my heartbroken face

Rainy railway station
Drowns out the tearful parting
The last canister rolling
On our little melodrama

Is this one-horse opera
Or a screwball comedy?
Or just mistaken identity
Well, who do you want to be?

It's a switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing

You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?

Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?