Elvis Costello Album

I don't wanna kiss you. I don't wanna touch.
I don't wanna see you 'cause I don't miss you that much.
I'm not a telephone junkie.
I told you that we were just good friends.
But when I hold you like I hold that bakelite in my hands,
there's no action,
there's no action,
there's no action.
Ev'ry time I phone you, I just wanna put you down.

He's got the keys to the car.
They are the keys to the kingdom.
He's got ev'rything you need.
It's a shame that he didn't bring them.
I'm not a telephone junkie.
If I'm inserting my coin I'm doing just fine.
And the things in my head start hurtin' my mind.
And I think about the way things used to be,
knowing you with him is driving me crazy.
Sometimes I phone you when I know you're not lonely,
but I always disconnect it in time.

See her picture in a thousand places
'Cause she's this year's girl
You think you all own little pieces
Of this year's girl
Forget your fancy manners
Forget your English grammar
'Cause you don't really give a damn
About this year's girl

Still you're hoping that she's well spoken
'Cause she's this year's girl
You want her broken with her mouth wide open
'Cause she's this year's girl
Never knowing it's a real attraction
All these promises of satisfaction
While she's being bored to distraction
Being this year's girl

Time's running out
She's not happy with the cost
There'd be no doubt
Only she's forgotten much more than she's lost

A bright spark might corner the market
In this year's girl
You see yourself rolling on the carpet
With this year's girl
Those disco synthesizers
Those daily tranquilizers
Those body building prizes
Those bedroom alibis
All this, but no surprises for this year's girl
All this, but no surprises for this year's girl
All this, but no surprises for this year's girl

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 a 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 a 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 scenery.
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 a 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.

I've been on tenterhooks
ending in dirty looks,
list'ning to the Muzak,
thinking 'bout this 'n' that.
She said that's that.
I don't wanna chitter-chat.
Turn it down a little bit
or turn it down flat.

Pump it up when you don't really need it.
Pump it up until you can feel it.

Down in the pleasure centre,
hell bent or heaven sent,
listen to the propaganda,
listen to the latest slander.
There's nothing underhand
that she wouldn't understand.

Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it.

She's been a bad girl.
She's like a chemical.
Though you try to stop it,
she's like a narcotic.
You wanna torture her.
You wanna talk to her.
All the things you bought for her,
putting up your temp'rature.

Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it.

Out in the fashion show,
down in the bargain bin,
you put your passion out
under the pressure pin.
Fall into submission,
hit-and-run transmission.
No use wishing now for any other sin.

Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it.

Little triggers that you pull with your tongue.
Little triggers. I don't wanna be hung up, strung up,
when you don't call up.
Little sniggers on your lips.
Little triggers in your grip.
Little triggers. My hand on your hip.

Thinkin' all about those censored sequences,
worryin' about the consequences,
waiting until I come to my senses.
Better put it all in present tenses.

Worryin' about the common decency
when it is only a question of frequency
when you say O.K. But I gotta cheek to be
sayin' you're tired of me when you don't even weaken these

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.

No, don't ask me to apologize.
I won't ask you to forgive me.
If I'm gonna go down,
you're gonna come with me
You say 'Why don't you be a man about it,
like they do in the grown-up movies?'
But when it comes to the other way around,
you say you just wanna use me. Oh,
you sit and you wonder whether
it's gonna be syndicated.
You sit with your knees together.
All the time your breath is baited.

Hand in Hand.
No, don't ask me to apologize.
I won't ask you to forgive me.
If I'm gonna go down,
you're gonna come with me

Don't you know I got the bully boys out
changing someone's facial design,
sitting with my toy room lout,
polishing my precious china
Don't you know I'm an animal?
But don't you know I can't stand up steady?
But you can't show me any kind of hell
that I don't know already.

Hand in Hand.
No, don't ask me to apologize.
I won't ask you to forgive me.
If I'm gonna go down,
you're gonna come with me
Hand in hand, hand in hand, hand in hand...

Photographs of fancy tricks
Go get your kicks at sixty-six
he thinks of all the lips that he licks
and all the girls he is going to fix

She gave a little flirt, gave herself a little cuddle
But there's no place here for the miniskirt waddle
Captial punishment she's last year's model
They call her natasha when she looks like Elsie
I don't want to go to Chelsea
oh no, it does not move me
even though I seen the movie
I don't want to check your pulse
I don't want nobody else
I don't want to go to Chelsea

Everybody's got new orders
be a nice girl and kiss the warders
now the teacher is away
all the kids begin to play

men come screaming dressed in white coats
shake you very gently by the throat
One's named Gus, one's named Alfie
I don't want to go to Chelsea
oh no, it does not move me
even though I seen the movie
I don't want to check your pulse
I don't want nobody else
I don't want to go to Chelsea

Photographs of fancy tricks
To get your kicks at sixty-six
he thinks of all the lips that he licks
and all the girls he's going to fix

She gave a little flirt gave herself a little cuddle
But there's no place here for the miniskirt waddle
Captial punishment she's last year's model
They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie
I don't want to go to Chelsea
oh no, it does not move me
even though I seen the movie
I don't want to check your pulse
I don't want nobody else
I don't want to go to Chelsea

You left the motor running.
But I know you're so attractive.
Getting in some sharp practice.
You better not do anything reckless.
But everybody is going through the motions.
Everybody is going through the motions.
Are you really only going through the motions?

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me

Don't make any sudden movements.
These are dangerous amusements.
When did you become so choosy?
Don't act like you're above me;
just look at your shoes.

[Repeat bridge and chorus]

But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me
But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me
But if you change your mind
you can send a little letter to me

I don't like those other guys looking at your curves
I don't like you walking round with physical jerks
Everything they say and do is getting on my nerves
Soon they will be lucky to be picking up the perks
'Cause when they pull the shutters down
and throw up in the dark,
they'll find that all the dogs outside
bite much worse than they bark.

Here we are living in paradise,
living in luxury.
Oh, the thrill is here but it won't last long
You better have your fun before it moves along
And you're already looking for another,
fool like me.

I call you Betty Felon 'cause you are a pretty villain
And I think that I should tell them that you'd
make a pretty killing
'Cause meanwhile up in heaven they are waiting at the gate
saying 'We'd always knew you'd make it,
didn't think you'd come this late'.

And now it's much too dangerous to stop what you've begun
When everyone in paradise carries a gun

[Chorus]

Later in the evening when arrangements are made,
I'll be at the keyhole outside your bedroom door.
'Cause I'm the first to know whenever the plans are laid
that never go further than floor to floor.

You think that I don't know the boy that you're touching,
but I'll be at the video and I will be watching

[Chorus]

Don't say you love me when it's just a rumour
Don't say a word if there is any doubt.
Sometimes I think that love is just a tumour;
you've got to cut it out.
You say you're sorry for the things that you've done.
You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it.
I wouldn't worry. I had so much fun.
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being

It's you
not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
It's you
not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
oh yeah.

Get to the slot machine almost dead on arrival
Just hit me one more time with that live wire
Maybe they told you you were only a girl in a million
You say I've got not feelings;
this is a good way to kill them.

Select the control and then insert the token
You wanna throw me away but I'm not broken.
You've got a lot to say. Well I'm not joking.
There are some words they don't allow to be spoken.
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being

It's you
not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue

I would send out for assistance but there's someone on the signal wire
And the corporation logo is flashing on and off in the sky
They're putting all your names in the forbidden book
I know what they're doing but I don't want to look
You think they're so dumb, you think they're so funny
Wait until they've got you running to the
Night rally, night rally, night rally

Everybody's singing with their hand on their heart
About deeds done in the darkest hours
That's just the sort of catchy little melody
To get you singing in the showers

Oh, I know that I'm ungrateful
I've got it lying on a plate
And I'm not buying my share of souvenirs
You can stand to attention
You can pray to your uncle
Only get that chicken out of here
Everyone gets armbands and 3-D glasses
Some are in the back room
And they're taking those night classes

You think they're so dumb, you think they're so funny
Wait until they've got you running to the
Night rally, night rally, night rally

I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial
Doing anything my radio advised
With every one of those late night stations
Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes
I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver
When the switch broke 'cause it's old
They're saying things that I can hardly believe
They really think we're getting out of control

Radio is a sound salvation
Radio is cleaning up the nation
They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason
So you had better do as you are told
You better listen to the radio

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me
I wanna bite that hand so badly
I want to make them wish they'd never seen me

Some of my friends sit around every evening
And they worry about the times ahead
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference
And the promise of an early bed
You either shut up or get cut up, they don't wanna hear about it
It's only inches on the reel-to-reel
And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools
Tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel

Wonderful radio
Marvelous radio
Wonderful radio
Radio, radio

Everyone is busy with the regular routine
The sniper just takes his aim
Everyone is window shopping, no one is amazed
Even if he hit you, you'd still think it's just a graze
You go to a movie, you go to a show
You think that you're living, you don't really know
Big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When you're lying in your coffin
Tell me who's been taken in

Oh, you talk about the new boss automatic clause
But of course they make it all up for you
Always fascinated by the weird edge of town
Come home disappointed every time they put you down
Laughing with the old boys, saying that it's all noise

I suppose big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When you're lying in your coffin
Tell me who's been taken in

All the buttons of my overcoat
They have fallen off one by one
You wouldn't even like me if you'd never had a drink
You wouldn't even like me if you never stopped to think
Standing in the shadow, turning wives to widows

Don't you know big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When you're lying in your coffin
Tell me who's been taken in
Tell me, me or yous been taken in
Tell me, tell me, tell me

I thought I would go to the sea and shrink down very tiny
And slide inside the telephone wire that runs under the briny
Till I found there is a way of crawling to the U.S.A.
You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

Saw it late one night on a secret channel
It's farther on along the tunnel
It's way beyond the final station
That's the one they never mention

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

You don't have to pay them that much
You had better bring your lunch
It's undercover, around the houses
Up your skirt and down your trousers

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

She said, "I catch you taking liberties and they do not impress me
Attach me to your credit card and then you can undress me
Everybody is on their knees except the Russians and the Chinese

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

They say they're running out of angels
They say I'm running out of time
Oh you don't have to be lucky
It is easier than trying, now they're bringing down a
Hammer on anything that sells
I suppose you're a winner
Because they're running out of angels
And all the lies upon the tongues of all the girls upon the rails
Will ruin any man who moved too soon
All except the one who seems to know more than she tells
You know she looks just like an angel
but she sings so out of tune

They say they're running out of angels
They say I'm running out of time
Oh you don't have to be lucky
It is easier than trying, now they're bringing down a
Hammer on anything that sells
I suppose you're a winner
Because they're running out of angels
Oh

There's a smart young woman on a light blue screen
Who comes into my house every night.
And she takes all the red, yellow, orange and green
And she turns them into black and white.
But you tease, and you flirt
And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt
You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

Better cut off all identifying labels
Before they put you on the torture table

'Cause somewhere in the "Quizling Clinic"
There's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes
She's listening in to the Venus line
She's picking out names
I hope none of them are mine

But you tease, and you flirt...

Never said I was a stool pigeon
I never said I was a diplomat
Everybody is under suspicion
But you don't wanna hear about that

'Cause you tease, and you flirt...

Better send a begging letter to the big investigation
Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?

You tease, and you flirt...

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it
You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

I am starting to function
In the usual way
Everything is so provocative
Very very, temporary
I shall walk (I shall walk)
Out of this place (out of this place)
I shall walk
Out on you
'Cause you go silly
If she's willing
Trying so hard to be like the big boys

So you take her to the pictures
Trying to become a fixture
Inch by inch trying to reach her
All the way through the second feature
Worrying about your physical fitness
Tell me how you got this sickness, Oh ohhhh..

I was caught in the suction
By a face like a truncheon
I was down upon one knee
Stroking her vanity

I was stuck on a hammerhead
I came alive and left for dead
As my face returned to red
Choking on my pride and pity

We can talk (we can talk)
Until your face is blue (till your face is blue)
We can talk but she'll get to you
After you've been loved and hated
By the ones you've watched and waited
Found that they were overrated

She'll be the one - when the party's over
She'll be the one - when the girls have gone home
She'll be the one - that you'll wish you'd held onto
She'll be the one - but it's too late for you to
She'll be the one - who knows all your history
She'll be the one -

So you can cross her off your list
And you try so hard
And you try so hard
And you try so hard
To be like the big boys, oh.