Favorite Elvis Costello line?

[PopTodd]

I said, "I'm so happy I could die."

She said, "Drop dead," then left with another guy...

-"The Angels Want To Wear My Red Shoes"

[Somnambulist]

She's got a chemistry class

I want a piece of her ... mind

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

He thought he was the king of america

Where they pour coca cola just like vintage wine

 

Actually, I think Elvis Costello does the best verses in the business.

 

 

Shes been a bad girl.

Shes like a chemical.

Though you try to stop it,

Shes like a narcotic.

You wanna torture her.

You wanna talk to her.

All the things you bought for her,

Putting up your temprature.

[mchchef1]

You said you'd stand by me in the middle of Chapter Three

But you were up to your old tricks in

Chapters Four, Five and Six

 

 

She's doin her nails

while there draggin' the lake

[mchchef1]

and

I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick

On the cigarettes there in the ashtray

Lyin' cold the way you left 'em,

But at least your lips caressed them

While you packed

Or the lip-print on a half-filled cup of coffee

That you poured and didn't drink

But at least you thought you wanted it,

Tat's so much more than I can say for me

[MattZ]

There are gems in virtually every song. Every single one.

 

You make him sound like frozen food

His love will last forever.

 

and

 

The entrance hall was arranged with hostesses and ushers

Who turned out to be the younger wives nursing schoolgirl crushes

Parting the waves of those few feint friends

Fingers once offered are now too heavy to extend

[So Long]

there are really too many songs to choose from.

 

I have 36 Elvis Records on my IPod.

 

But this is the first one that comes to mind:

 

Man goes beyond his own decision

Gets caught up in the mechanism

Of swindlers who act like kings

And brokers who break everything

The dark of night was swiftly fading

Close to the dawn of the day

Why would I want him

Just to lose him again

 

 

Off of the Scarlet Tide

[cryptique]

I'm a major Costello fanboy, so it would be impossible for me to choose favorites, but here are a few that spring to mind ... these aren't even necessarily my favorites, but they're ones I've listened to lately:

 

Falling for you without a second look

Falling out of your open pocketbook

Giving you away like motel matches

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

It's just a rumour that was spread around town

A telegram or a picture postcard

Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyard

And notifying the next of kin

Once again

It's all we're skilled in

We will be shipbuilding

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

She said that she was working for the ABC News

It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

And the doors swing back and forward from the past into the present

And the bedside crucifixion turns from wood to phosphorescent

And they're moving problem families from the South up to the North

Mother's crying over some soft soap opera divorce

And you say you didn't do it but you know you did of course

And they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces

[markosis]

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,

But I've still got a long way to go.

[JUDE]

Not quite aside, they snide, "She's number four"

"There's number three just by the door"

Those in the know, don't even flatter her, they go one better

"She was selling speedboats in a tradeshow when he met her"

[boywiththorninside]

I think this is an obvious one. I could have included the entire lyrics, but I limited myself to the highlights:

 

History repeats the old conceits

The glib replies the same defeats

Keep your finger on important issues

With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

 

Charged with insults and flattery

Her body moves with malice

Do you have to be so cruel to be callous

 

My hands were clammy and cunning

She's been suitably stunning

But I know theres not a hope in Hades

All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle

So-called gentlemen and ladies

Dog fight like rose and thistle

 

I've got a feeling

I'm going to get a lot of grief

Once this seemed so appealing

Now I am beyond belief

[boywiththorninside]

Why can't a man stand alone?

Must he be burdened by all that he's taught to consider his own?

His skin and his station, his kin and his crown, his flag and his nation

They just weigh him down

You know pride is a sin that we tend to forgive

But it gets hard to live

When you don't have the love in her heart to begin with

Why can't a man stand alone?

 

When beauty meets ignorance they shout in the street

Repeating their offer to each girl they meet

[MattZ]

 

A couple from Trust:

 

The long arm of the law slides up the outskirts of town

Meanwhile in Clubland they are ready to pull them down

 

and

 

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

[bobfrombob]

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

[boywiththorninside]

It's going to take a lot of self-restraint (which I have none of) to not add about 50 posts to this thread. Here's another:

 

Almost blue

Almost doing things we used to do

There's a girl here and she's almost you

[bobfrombob]

Sometimes I think that love is just a tumour

You've got to cut it out

[lizish]

The dark down road of his approach in constant rain was drenched

The tenant's boy said "How d'ya do" then swore in French

 

 

____________________

 

 

I want you

Its the stupid details that my heart is breaking for

Its the way your shoulders shake and what theyre shaking for

Its knowing that he knows you now after only guessing

[Degenerex]

I'll have to narrow this down later, but can I just say that I love these threads? Nothing better than a good lyricist, at least not anthing you can say in a PG movie.

[boywiththorninside]

Love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning

You drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning

[MattZ]

The social circle have these cardiac complaints

Their hearts are empty when their hands are full

All these new found fond acquaintances

Turn out to be the red rag to my bull

 

(jeez this thread should be pinned)

[MattZ]

Don't put your heart out on your sleeve

When your remarks are off the cuff

[boywiththorninside]

It's time to tell the truth

These things have to be faced

My fuse is burning out

And all that powder's gone to waste

Don't think for a moment dear that we'll ever be through

I'll build a bonfire of my dreams

And burn a broken effigy of me and you

 

 

No one ever told young Declan to let it go. He's got a lot of lyrics about obsessive love, and I seem to like them all.

[Niall G. Pendry]

and

I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick

On the cigarettes there in the ashtray

Lyin' cold the way you left 'em,

But at least your lips caressed them

While you packed

Or the lip-print on a half-filled cup of coffee

That you poured and didn't drink

But at least you thought you wanted it,

Tat's so much more than I can say for me

 

Just as an aside to mchchef, the song above was written by Jerry Chestnut and made famous by the legendary George Jones. It certainly is a great song.

[MattZ]

Just as an aside to mchchef, the song above was written by Jerry Chestnut and made famous by the legendary George Jones. It certainly is a great song.

 

Fair point Niall. But Elvis could have written that line if he felt like it. He just didnt feel like it.

[cryptique]

It's time to tell the truth

These things have to be faced

My fuse is burning out

And all that powder's gone to waste

Don't think for a moment dear that we'll ever be through

I'll build a bonfire of my dreams

And burn a broken effigy of me and you

Yeah, that's another favorite of mine.