Elvis Costello

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

Inch By Inch

You can take a powder
You can take a drink
You can keep the shrink
And the kitchen sink
Write my name in heaven
in invisible ink
I just woke up from dreaming, I think

You can take me over
You can give me a lip
You can take me under
You can give me the slip
Take off everything or tear me off a strip
Like a lady in the chamber
And another in the clip

Chorus:
Don’t move a muscle baby
Don’t even flinch
You can miss me by a mile
Or just inch by inch
Inch by inch
Inch by inch
Inch by inch
You can pull me up again
Inch by inch
Inch by inch
As pulses race
I long to see that look upon your face

You can take me outside
You can take me apart
You can take me upstairs
You can take me to heart
You made me love you when
You thought you were so smart
Don’t try to stop me when
You told me to start

Chorus

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

I Wanna Be Loved

Why must I be so lonely?
When so many people pass me by
I’ve been waiting for oh so long now
And yet I’m unable to answer why
I can’t be made to give up now
Can you find room for me
in your heart somehow?
I wanna be loved
I just wanna be loved

I guess I’m a victim of loneliness
But why should this be my destiny?
A foolish man for a lot of my life
Shouldn’t there be someone
Someone for me?
I hope and I pray some happy day
That I’ll be around to hear you say
I wanna be loved
I just wanna be loved

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

I Want To Vanish

Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet

I want to vanish
This is my fondest wish
To go where I cannot be captured
Laid on a decorated dish
Even in splendor this curious fate
Is more than I care to surrender
Now it’s too late

Whether in wonder or indecent haste
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste

If you should stumble upon my last remark
I’m crying in the wilderness
I’m trying my best to make it dark
How can I tell you I’m rarer than most
I’m certain as a lost dog
Pondering a sign post

Chorus

I want to vanish
This is my last request
I’ve given you the awful truth
Now give me my rest

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

You Belong To Me

What are you girls gonna tell your mother?
I don’t want to hear another word about young lovers
or hiding your boyfriend in the cupboard.
She’s been to see the doctor, so you hope that she recovers.

You act dumb.
You say you’re so numb.
You say you don’t come
under his thumb.

Don’t wanna be a goody-goody.
I don’t want just anybody.
No, I don’t want anybody
saying ‘You belong to me. You belong to me.’

Your eyes are absent, your mouth is silent;
pumping like a fire hydrant.
Things you see are getting hard to swallow.
You’re easily led, but you’re much too scared to follow.

You’ve been warned.
You’re going to get torn.
No uniform is gonna keep you warm.

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

Worthless Thing

How many times can you jump out of the cupboard
Before someone gets suspicious or someone gets discovered
You can live forever in a split second of fame
Come on down the price is right what’s your name
While a crocodile makes good shoes and a dog may change his coat
I can’t change what’s written on your face tonight and I quote

Chorus:
Oh I wish you could see
Quite how much you could mean to me
You worthless thing
If you were ten feet taller and almost handsome
I might pay this king’s ransom
You worthless thing

They commit blue murder along Union Avenue
Then they sell you souvenir matches
Nightclubs full of grave robbers from Memphis, Tennessee
And Las Vegas body snatchers
And he’s carrying a warning can’t you see how his eyes glint
Keep your bloody hands off my life your affectionate fingerprint

Chorus

All the cars and pills and girls who tore his shirt to tatters
Do you know how tall he was ‘cos that is all that really matters?
Do you know his mother’s last name do you think that he’s divine?
You’ve seen the film you’ve read the book
you’re drinking vintage Elvis Presley wine

Bored out of your tiny mind while life is twice as large
They’ll cut her down to size on television
She’s available and beautiful, but with more time to devote
They’re going to take this cable now and stick it down your throat
So this is an obituary which should be right and fitting
For every clockwork cat and conceivable kitten

Chorus

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

Why Don’t You Love Me (like you used to do)?

Why don’t you love me like you used to do?
How come you treat me like a worn out shoe?
My hair is still curly and my eyes are still blue
Why don’t you love me like you used to do?

Ain’t had no lovin’ like a-huggin’ and a-kissin’ in a long, long while
We don’t get nearer, further, closer than a country mile

Why don’t you be the sort you used to be?
How come you find so many faults with me?
I’m the same old trouble that you’ve always been through
Why don’t you love me like you used to do?

Ain’t had no lovin’ like a-huggin’ and a-kissin’ in a long, long while
We don’t get nearer, further, closer than a country mile

Why don’t you spark me like you used to do?
Say sweet nothings like you used to coo
Somebody’s changed, so let me give you a clue
Why don’t you love me like you used to do?

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

Lovable

Chorus:
It’s going round the town
It’s going round the town
It’s going round the town
You’re so lovable

My baby gave me notice to quit
I just can’t get used to it
She broke my little heart in two
Now somebody else is being the same old you

Chorus

My baby has Egyptian eyes
And a wicked look beyond compare
If you thought I was a fool for you
Then I must be a bigger fool for her

Chorus

He’d turn the flowers of springtime into a wreath
He says he’d love you eternally
I say please please can’t you keep it brief

They say they’re going to bury you
Because you’re so lovable
Put your money where your mouth was
You’re so lovable
Each tender mumble brings us closer to bedlam
You’re so lovable
The toast of the town and the talk of the bedroom
You’re so lovable

You’re so sweet
You’re so honest
You say `I’ll be true to you boy’
But I won’t promise
Then you say you love me
Then you show me
As you lie there so lifelike below me

Chorus

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

The Birds Will Still Be Singing

Summertime withers as the sun descends
He wants to kiss you. Will you condescend?
Before you wake and find a chill within your bones
Under a fine canopy of lover’s dust and humourous bones
Banish all dismay
Extinguish every sorrow
Eternity stinks, my darling. That’s no joke
Don’t waste your precious time pretending you’re
heartbroken
There will be tears and candles
Pretty words to say
Spare me lily-white lillies
With the awful perfume of decay
Banish all dismay
Extinguish every sorrow
If I’m lost or I’m forgiven
The birds will still be singing

It’s so hard to tear myself away
Even when you know it’s over
It’s too much to say.
Banish all dismay
Extinguish every sorrow
If I’m lost or I’m forgiven
The birds will still be singing

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

Temptation

Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo
Living in air-conditioned limbo
Though they treat him just like a guest
He’s living under threat of arrest
Now that he’s finally trying to make some sense
He drinks in self-defense
Give me temptation

The subtle touch of authority will
Take you anytime down to the station
You say that it’s alright by me
Now you’re living with the curse of sophistication
Now that you’re shackled up to the rigmarole
With absolute control

I see you lying so wide awake
After I’ve given you all that you can take
So for heaven’s sake
Give me temptation

Still you want to succeed so badly
Finding your life will not be deadly
You tell me you can take it or leave it
Sometimes I think that you really believe it
You’re just itching to break her secret laws
As you go from claws to clause
Give me temptation

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

The Beat

We’re all going on a summer holiday
Vigilante’s coming out to follow me.
Heard somebody say they’re out to collar me.
Anybody wanna swallow me?

It takes two to tumble. It takes two to tango.
Speak up; don’t mumble if you’re in the combo.

On the beat, on the beat.
Till a man comes along and he says,
‘Have you been a good boy, never played with your toy?
Though you never enjoy, such pleasure to employ.’

See your friends in the state their in.
See your friends getting under their skin.
See your friends getting taken in.

Well, if you only knew the things you do to me.
I’d do anything to confuse the enemy.
There’s only one thing wrong with you befriending me.
Take it easy. I think you’re bending me.

I’ve been a bad boy with the standard leader.
My neighbor’s revving up his Vauxhall Viva.

On the beat, on the upbeat.
Till a man comes along and he says,
‘Have you been a good boy, never played with your toy?
Though you never enjoy, such pleasure to employ.’

See your friends walking down the street.
See your friends never quite complete.
See your friends getting under their feet.

Oh, I don’t want to disease you,
but I’m no good with machinery.
Oh, I don’t wanna freeze you.
Stop looking at the scen’ry.
I keep thinking about your mother.
Oh, I don’t wanna lick them.
I don’t wanna be a lover.
I just wanna be your victim.
I don’t go out much at night.
I don’t go out much at all.
Did you think you were the only one
who was waiting for a call

On the beat, on the upbeat.
Till a man comes along and he says,
‘Have you been a good boy, never played with your toy?
Though you never enjoy, such pleasure to employ.’

See your friends treat me like a stranger.
See your friends despite all the arrangements.
See your friends Nothing here has changed.
Just the beat.

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

Night Time

Wait until the light goes out,
I don’t want to be seen about,
maybe we could find a place to go.
Find a crowded place where they don’t care about your face,
or if your name is even Santa Claus or Joe.
I’ll be right at home if they leave me alone.
That’s why I only operate at night time.
Wait until the clock strikes ten,
it’ll all start happening then.
Baby, just you wait and see.
We can have a little party, laugh and sing and everything,
I know you’ll like it, just you wait and see.
Maybe first we’ll dig a movie,
then we’ll hit they high spots feelin’ groovy.
That’s why I only operate at night time.
The right time is the night time.
I wait `til it’s late and I can concentrate,
making love by the light of the moon.
So when it’s way past nine, get ready for a swinging time,
`cause I don’t know where to draw the line.
We can have a little party, laugh and sing and everything,
I know you’ll like it just you wait and see.
Maybe first we’ll dig a movie,
then we’ll hit the high spots feelin’ groovy.
That’s why I only operate at night time.
Night time.
(repeat 5 more times and fade)

aquarius2006 · Iskusni član

New

Bad lovers face to face in the morning
Shy apologies and polite regrets
Slow dances that left lace sleeves no warning of
Outraged glances and indiscreet yawning
Good manners and bad breath get you nowhere
Even presidents have newspaper lovers
Ministers go crawling under covers
She’s no angel
He’s no saint
They’re all covered up with white washed grease paint
And you say...

Chorus:
The teacher never told you anything but white lies
But you never see the lies
And you believe
Oh you know you have been captured
You feel so civilized
And you look so pretty in your new lace sleeves

The salty lips of the socialite sisters
With their continental fingers that have
Never seen working blisters
Oh I know they’ve got their problems
I wish I was one of them
They say daddy’s coming home soon
With his sergeant stripes and his Empire mug and spoon

No more fast buck
And when are they gonna learn their lesson
When are they gonna stop all of these victory processions
And you say...

Chorus