Elvis Costello Album

Now that your picture's in the paper being rhythmically admired
and you can have anyone that you have ever desired,
all you gotta tell me now is why, why, why, why.
Welcome to the workin' week.
Oh I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you.
Welcome to the workin' week.
You gotta do it till you're through it so you better get to it.

All of your family had to kill to survive,
and they're still waitin' for their big day to arrive.
But if they knew how I felt they'd bury me alive.

Welcome to the workin' week.
Oh I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you.
Welcome to the workin' week.
You gotta do it till you're through it so you better get to it.

I hear you sayin', "Hey, the city's all right
when you only read about it in books.
Spend all your money gettin' so convinced
that you never even bother to look.
Sometimes I wonder if we're livin' in the same land,
Why d'you wanna be my friend when I feel like a juggler
running out of hands?

Welcome to the workin' week, oh, welcome to the working week.

You never asked me what I wanted. You only asked me why.
I never thought that so much trouble was restin' on my reply,
I could say it was the nights when I was lonely
and you were the only one who'd come.
I could tell you that I like your sensitivity,
when you know it's the way that you walk.
Why do you have to say that there's always someone
who can do it better than I can?
But don't you think that I know that walking on the water
won't make me a miracle man?

Baby's gotta have the things she wants.
You know she's gotta have the things she loves.
She's got a ten-inch bamboo cigarette holder
and her black patent leather gloves.
And I'm doing everything just tryin' to please her,
even crawling around on all fours.
Oh, I thought by now that it was gonna be easy,
but she still seems to want for more.

(chorus)

I hear they're givin' you a bad reputation
just because you've never been denied.
You try to say you've done it all before.
Baby, you know that you just get tired.
Yet everybody loves you so much, girl.
I just don't know how you stand the strain.
Oh, I, I'm the one who's here tonight,
and I don't wanna do it all in vain.

(chorus)

Oh I know that she
Has made a fool of him
Like girls have done so many nights before
Time and time again
Life is so strange
I don't know why
But somebody, somebody has to cry
There's gonna be no dancing when they get home
There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing when they get home

Now he's telling her
Every little thing he's done
Once he glanced at the jackets of some paperbacks
Now he's read every one
He's such a drag
He's not insane
It's just that everybody
Has to feel his pain
There's gonna be no dancing when they get home

He's getting down on his knees
He finds that the girl is not so easy to please
Oh oh, after all, his nights were just a paper striptease
She's caught it like some disease

If he says no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing on my own

She can't even speak to him
He can't face her now
He says "Even though I wanna shake your hand
All I ever do is bow.
So now you see
How can it be.
Why can't you give me anythin' but sympathy?"

There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing
There's gonna be no dancing on my own

Once upon a time, I had a little money.
Government burglars took it long
before I could mail it to you.
Still, you are the only one.
Now I can't let it slip away.
So if the man with the ticker tape,
he tries to take it,
well this is what I'm gonna say.
Blame it on Cain.
Don't blame it on me.
Oh, oh, it's nobody's fault,
but we need somebody to burn.

Well if I was a saint with
a silver cup
and the money got low
we could always heat it up
or trade it in.
But then the radio that heaven will be wired to your purse.
And then you can run down the wave band,
coast to coast, hand in hand.
Bad to worse, curse for curse,
don't be dissatisfied.
So you're not satisfied.

chorus

I think I've lived a little too long
on the outskirts of town
I think I'm going insane
from talking to myself for so long.
Oh but I've never been accused.
When they step on your face,
you wear that good look grin.
I gotta break out one weekend
if I do somebody in.
But every single time
I feel a little stronger,
they tell me it's a crime.
Well how much longer?

chorus

Oh, it's so funny to be seein' ya after so long girl
and with the way you look I understand that you are not impressed
But I heard you let that little friend of mine
take off your party dress

I'm not gonna get too sentimental
like those other sticker Valentines
'cause I don't know if you are lovin' somebody
I only know it isn't mine

Chorus
Alison,
I know this world is killin' you oh--
Alison,
my aim is true

Well I see you got a husband now
did you leave your pretty fingers flying in the wedding cake?
you used to hold him right in your hand
I bet it took all he could take

Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talkin'
when I hear the silly things that you say
I think somebody better put out the big light
'cause I can't stand to see you this way

Chorus

Now everybody's breakin' up somebody else's home,
before somebody else starts breaking up their own.
I get you in my dreams.
You should hear the things you say.
I's not that it's so much fun,
but it's safer that way.
Sneaky feeling, sneaky feelings,
you can't let those kind of feeling show.
I'd like to get right through the way I feel for you,
but I've still got a long way to go.
Why don't we call it a day, and we can both confess.
You can force me to use a little tenderness.
White lies, alibis, anything but say that it's true.
Now we could sit like lovers, staring in each other's eyes,
but the magic of the moment might become too much for you.
Sneaky feeling, sneaky feelings,
you can't let those kind of feeling show.
I'd like to get right through the way I feel for you.

Oh I used to be disgusted
and now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted,
you know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
But when they told me 'bout their side of the bargain,
that's when I knew that I could not refuse.
And I won't get any older, now the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
I was watching while you're dancing away.
Our love got fractured in the echo and sway.
How come everybody wants to be your friend?
You know that it still hurts me just to say it.

Oh, I know that she's disgusted (oh why's that)
Cause she's feeling so abused. (oh that's too bad)
She gets tired of the lust, (oh I'm so sad)
but it's so hard to refuse.
How can you say that I'm too old,
when the angels have stolen my red shoes.

Oh, I said "I'm so happy, I could die."
She said "Drop dead," then left with another guy.
That's what you get if you go chasing after vengeance.
Ever since you got me punctured this has been my sentence.
Oh I used to be disgusted
and now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted,
you know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
Red shoes, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.

Calling Mr Oswald with the swastika tattoo
There is a vacancy waiting in the English voodoo
Varving 'V' for vandal on the guilty boy's head
When he's had enough of that maybe you can take him to bed
To teach him he's alive before he wishes he was dead

Turn up the TV no one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it
So your father won't know
They think that i've got no respect
But everything means less than zero
Hey
Oooh hey
Hey
Oooh hey

Oswald and his sister are doing it again
They've got the finest home movies that you have ever seen
They've got a thousand variations: every service with a smile
They're gonna take a little break and they'll be back after a while
Well, I hear that South America is coming into style

Turn up the TV no one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it
So your father won't know
They think that i've got no respect
But everything means less than zero
Hey
Oooh hey
Hey
Oooh hey

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor
Mr Oswald said he had an understanding with the law
He said he'd hear about a couple in the USA
He said they'd traded thier baby for a Chevrolet
Let's talk about the future now we've put the past away

Turn up the TV no one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it
So your father won't know
They think that i've got no respect
But everything means less than zero
Hey
Oooh hey
Hey
Oooh hey
Hey
Oooh hey
[repeat last 2 lines to fadeout]

Romeo was restless, he was ready to kill.
He jumped out the window cause he couldn't sit still.
Juliet was waiting with a safety net.
He said "Don't bury me cause I'm not dead yet".
Why don't you tell me 'bout the mystery dance.
I wanna know about the mystery dance.
Why don't you show me,
'cause I've tried and I've tried,
and I'm still mystified.
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied.
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied.

Well I remember when the lights went out
and I was tryin' to make it look like it was never in doubt.
She thought that I knew, and I thought that she knew,
so both of us were willing, but we didn't know how to do it.

chorus

Well I was down under the covers in the middle of the night,
tryin' to discover my left foot from my right.
You can see those pictures in any magazine.
But what's the use of looking when you don't know what they mean.

chorus

Stop thief; you're gonna come to grief
if you don't take a little more care.
You're gonna get more than the family plan
from this one shoestring affair.
I may be crazy but I can't contemplate
being trapped between the doctor and the magistrate.
One of these days I'm gonna pay it back, pay it back,
one of these days.
One of these days I'm gonna pay it back, pay it back,
one of these days.

And then they told me I could be somebody
if I didn't let too much get in my way.
And I tried so hard just to be myself,
but I keep on fading away.
Until the lights went out, I didn't know what to do.
If I could fool myself, then maybe I'd fool you too.

chorus

I wouldn't say that I was raised on romance.
Let's not get stuck in the past.
I love you more than everything in the world.
I don't expect that will last.
They told me everything was guaranteed.
Somebody somewhere must've lied to me.

chorus

You're upstairs with the boyfriend while i'm left her to listen
i hear you calling his name, i hear teh stutter of ignition
i could hear you whispering as i crept by your door
so you found some other joker who would please you more

i'm not angry
i'm not angry anymore
i'm not angry
i'm not angry anymore
ooh i know what you're doin'
i know where you've been
i know where but i don't don't care
cos there's no such thing as an original sin

i've got this camera click, click, clicking in my head
i got you talking with you hands, smiling with your legs
spent all my time working in a vanity factory
wonderin' when they're gonna come to take it all back

i'm not angry
i'm not angry anymore
i'm not angry
i'm not angry anymore
ooh i know what you're doin'
i know where you've been
i know where but i don't don't care
cos there's no such thing as an original sin

You're upstairs with the boyfriend while i'm left her to listen
i hear you calling his name, i hear teh stutter of ignition
i could hear you whispering as i crept by your door
so you found some other joker who would please you more

i'm not angry
i'm not angry anymore
i'm not angry
i'm not angry anymore
ooh i know what you're doin'
i know where you've been
i know where but i don't don't care
cos there's no such thing as an original sin

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.

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

she is watching the detectives
"oooh it's so cute!"
she is watching the detectvies
when they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot

they beat him up until the teardrops start
but he can't be wounded 'cos he's got no heart

long shot of that jumping sign
invisible shivers running down my spine
cut to baby taking off her clothes
close up of the sign that says 'we never close'

you snatch a chill, you match a cigarette
she pulls your 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

she is watching the detectives
"oooh it'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 'cos he's got no heart

you think you're alone until you realise you're in it
now baby's 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 finger 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 cos he's got no heart

watching the detectives
it's just like watching the detectives
(fade)

My head is spinning and my legs are weak
Goose step dancing, can't hear myself speak
Hope in the eyes of the ugly girls
That settle for the lies of the last chancers
When slow motion drunks pick wallflower dancers
You come here looking for the ride to glory
Go back home with a hard luck story
I can hardly wait around until the weekend comes to town

Play one more for my radio sweetheart
Hide your love, hide your love
Though we are so far apart
You've got to hide your love
'Cause that's the way the whole thing started
I wish we had never parted

When it's late and the night gets colder
Don't lay your head on any other shoulder
Some hire themselves out for a good time
But you and I, we have been sold
So I keep on saying...

Play one more for my radio sweetheart
Hide your love, hide your love
Though we are so far apart
You've got to hide your love
'Cause that's the way the whole thing started
I wish we had never parted

Play one more for my radio sweetheart

This never was one of the great romances
But I thought you'd always have those young girl's eyes
But now they look in tired and bitter glances
At the ghost of a man who walks 'round in my disguise
I get the feeling that I don't belong here
But there's no welcome in the window anyway
And I look down for a number on my keychain
'Cause it feels more like a hotel everyday

There's a stranger in the house; nobody's seen his face
But everybody says he's taken my place
There's a stranger in the house no one will ever see
But everybody says he looks like me

And now you say you've got no expectations
But I know you also miss those carefree days
And for all the angry words that passed between us
You still don't understand me when I say

There's a stranger in the house; nobody's seen his face
But everybody says he's taken my place
There's a stranger in the house no one will ever see
But everybody says he looks like me

The night we met
The night that I won't forget
You've seen what I've been waiting for
But baby, I've been wrong before
You held me tight
And everything seemed just right
I couldn't ask for more
But baby, I've been wrong before

She used to smile at me
And hold my hand like you do
Then she left me
And broke my heart in two

See her face
And feel your warm embrace
You're all that I adore
But baby, I've been wrong before
Oh baby, I've been wrong before

Oh, well, I feel so loose tonight I might fall to pieces
So be prepared to sweep me out the door
And I might be horizontal by the time the music ceases
So I think I'll get acquainted with the floor
Oh, I was trying to get away from the things that I always do
Hello, floorboards once again--how are you?

Lip Service--well, that's all you'll ever get from me
Well, how could you believe I'll take you seriously?
With your cheap rewards, your blackmail, and your comical rage
Just remember you'll only be the boss so long as you pay my wage

All the sign posts on this road that point one way
Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes
I'll turn the light out now 'cause there's nothing more to say
And it's all been lost before so there's nothing to lose

Oh, but you could say that you love me very painlessly
I would've done the same for you, oh, but you said to me:

Lip service--well, that's all you'll ever get from me
Well, how could you believe I'd take you seriously?
With your cheap rewards, your blackmail, and your comical rage
Just remember you'll only be the boss so long as you pay my wage

Just remember you'll only be the boss so long as you pay my wage

Everybody's talking like they can't sit down
And looking like they can't stand up
It must be the lastest style
And they've seen a lot of things that you never see
Back on the mile up to the hanging tree
Some people can't keep their fingers clean
Just clicking their heels to the beat of the scene
Trying to keep careen until the first edition of last night's obituries
Jump up--hold on tight
Can't trust the promise or a guarantee
'Cause the man 'round the curve says that he's never heard
Of you or me

No tombstone would ever surprise me
When I'm locked in a room about half the size of a matchbox
Got holes in my socks
They match the ones that I got in my feet
I put my feet in the holes in the street and somebody paved me over
I was a statue standing on the corner
Tell me, how else can a boy get to see those pretty pleats?

Candidate talkin' on the radio from the "Cheaters Jamboree"
It must be their lastest fool
'Cause it's a two-horse race and he changed his bets
Like it was just another brand of cigarettes

Some people judge and they just guess the rest
They can't understand that don't mean that you're blessed
They ought to catch the Express Next Stop No Where
That way you can forget

Jump up--hold on tight
Can't trust the promise or a guarantee
'Cause the man 'round the curve says that he's never heard
Of you or me

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

Cut loose in a nightmare, cast off in my dreams
If home is anywhere that I can hang my hat
Then it's coming apart at the seams
My luck is hanging upside down
I try to hold on tight
But money's rolling out of town
And love slips right out of sight
And these bones, they don't look so good to me
Jokers talk and they all disagree
One day soon, I will laugh right in the face of the poison moon

You look in the mirror
I'm sorry, but it can't be replaced
You're thrown straight out in that cruel parade
Buttoned down and laced
It starts like fascination, it ends up like a trance
You've gotta use your imagination on some of that magazine romance

And these bones--they don't look so good to me
Jokers talk and they all disagree
One day soon, I will laugh right in the face of the poison moon
One day soon, I will laugh right in the face of the poison moon