Elvis Costello & The Attractions

You turned to me
And all at once
I knew I was betrayed
My eyes met yours just down the darkened path
Where both of us had strayed
Nothing good can come out of this
I know it may not be
But just then you turned to me

And I thought for a moment
Like the fool that I've become
I might be the one
To turn these lights back on
Just as I began to say
It's never worth the price you pay
I was going there anyway

You turned to me
And all at once
I knew that you had seen
How I was lost in something quite like love
When all I did was dream
Now as evening becomes the dawn
I wonder where you'll be
And just why you turned to me

See how the elements obey?
Eyes are blue
Skies are grey
Nothing I do can make you stay
I'm glad it will rain today

You left me standing alone
Although I thought that we could not be parted
But if I'd only known
That this would be the last loving remark
You left me in the dark

Then I awoke to my dismay
I thought we'd make it all the way
Allowing myself one more clich
The last hurrah, the first bouquet

You left me standing alone although
I thought that we could not be parted
But if I'd only known
That this would be the last loving remark
You left me in the dark

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 want to 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 it like a fire hydrant
Things you say 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

All the words you say to me
Have music in them
All the sorrows and the joys like magnetism
And a selfish boy looks through a prism
And says what is
But never asks what isn't

But a voice contains many precious things
It laughs
And then it sings
And all the lies that we can tell
To our foolish selves

Maybe this is the love song that I refused to
Write her when I loved her like I used to
And I fear my heart may spin and fracture
Like tears of stone falling from a statue

But a voice contains all that's true and false
Then cries for someone else
And for some honest tenderness
So I must confess

All the words you say to me
Have music in them
All the sorrows and the joys like magnetism
And a selfish boy looks through a prism
And says what is
But never asks what isn't

Every single time
It becomes too much
There's nothing I can say
Or I can touch
But the glory is, as it comes passing through,
I know I will be there
When green eyes turn blue

It's the same for me
Time appears to teach
There is nothing quite beyond our reach
Wits may sharpen up
Their cuts and clever flays
Let them squander all of them
You brighten up my darkest gaze

And as a consequence I can see out of the gloom
That I gathered about myself
That I thought would flatter me
What the hell was the matter with me

Every single time I approached despair
I thought of your name and you were there
I won't burden you
As promises will do
But I know I will be there
When green eyes turn blue.

You appeared when I was lost in reverie
If this is not a dream, it's my mistake
And now I lie in wait for dawn to break
I'm fairly sure I'm wide awake

Pardon me, if I seem distant and strange
Just tell me when did I stop dreaming?
Let me get this straight
Did I hallucinate?
This fine and helpless feeling
Tell me when did I stop dreaming?

Let me know if you can help me explain
I didn't recognise the danger
But people will talk
Was I just sleepwalking?
Footprints left on the ceiling
Tell me when did I stop dreaming?

Then why should you care?
This is my nightmare
Was this one dream too deep?
Now if I could only sleep

Answer me, if you see the end in sight
I'm just a soul who's lost in limbo
Neither bad or good
I'd spare you now if I could
One more teardrop
Then I'll wake up
Tell me when did I stop dreaming?

I've got troubled thoughts
And self esteem to match
What a catch
What a catch whoa oh

You'll never catch us
So just let me be
Instead I'll be fine
Till the hospital
Or american embasy
Miss Flack
Said I still want you back
Yeah
Miss flack said
I still want you back
I've got troubled thoughts
And self esteem to match
What a catch
What a catch
And all I can think of
Is the way
I'm the one who charmed
The one who gave up on you
Who gave up on you

They say the captain
goes down with the ship
So when the world ends
Will God go down with it
Miss flack said
I still want you back
Yeah
Miss flack said
I still want you ba a ack
I've got troubled thoughts
And Self esteem to match
What a catch
What a catch
And all I can think of is the way
I'm the one who charmed
The one who gave up on you
Who gave up on you
Na na nanana na na nanana
Na na nanana na na
What a catch
what a catch what a catch

I will never end up like him
Behind my back I already am
Keep a calender
This way you will always know
I've got troubled thoughts
and self esteem to match
What a catch what a catch
And all I can think of is the way
I'm the one who charmed
The one who gave up on you
Who gave up on you
Where is your boy tonight
I hope he is a gentleman
maybe he wont
Down down in an
earlier round sugar
Dance dance we're
falling apart to half time
dance dance these
This aint a scene
it's a goddamn arms race
this aint a scene it's a
One more night and one more time
thanks for the memories even
Growing up growing up

I've got troubled thoughts and
Self esteem to match
What a catch
What a catch

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

I hear you saying, "Hey, the city's alright"
When you only read about it in books
Spend all your money getting so convinced
That you never even bother to look

Sometimes I wonder if we're living in the same land
Why do you wanna be my friend
When I feel like a juggler running out of hands?

Welcome to the working week
Oh, welcome to the working week

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 at 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"
He snatches at you and you match his 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
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives...

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 who were too 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 'til they're clean out of reach

Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
...

Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark?
Well I used to know a girl and I would have
sworn that her name was Veronica
Well she used to have a carefree mind of her
own and a delicate look in her eye
These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her
name is Veronica
Chorus:
Do you suppose, that waiting hands on eyes,
Veronica has gone to hide?
And all the time she laughs at those who shout
her name and steal her clothes
Veronica
Veronica
Did the days drag by? Did the favours wane?
Did he roam down the town all the time?
Will you wake from your dream, with a wolf at
the door, reaching out for Veronica
Well it was all of sixty-five years ago
When the world was the street where she lived
And a young man sailed on a ship in the sea
With a picture of Veronica
On the "Empress of India"
And as she closed her eyes upon the world and
picked upon the bones of last week's news
She spoke his name outloud again
Chorus
Veronica sits in her favourite chair and she sits
very quiet and still
And they call her a name that they never get
right and if they don't then nobody else will
But she used to have a carefree mind of her
own, with devilish look in her eye
Saying "You can call me anything you like, but
my name is Veronica"
Chorus

I saw a newspaper picture from the political
campaign
A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously
in pain
She spills with compassion, as that young child's
face in her hands she grips
Can you imagine all that greed and avarice
coming down on that child's lips
Well I hope I don't die too soon
I pray the Lord my soul to save
Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave
Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live
long enough to savour
That's when they finally put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down

When England was the whore of the world
Margeret [sic] was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as
the black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't
haunted by every tiny detail
'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
all she thought of was betrayal

And now the cynical ones say that it all ends
the same in the long run
Try telling that to the desperate father who just
squeezed the life from his only son
And how it's only voices in your head and
dreams you never dreamt
Try telling him the subtle difference between
justice and contempt
Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful
discontent
When they flaunt it in your face as you line up
for punishment
And then expect you to say "Thank you"
straighten up, look proud and pleased
Because you've only got the symptoms, you
haven't got the whole disease
Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can
filled up with dreams then poured down
the drain
Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being
blown to bits o