Bespoke Songs Lost Dogs

Elvis Costello Bespoke Songs Lost Dogs Lyrics
1.All Grown Up

'i'm trouble' she said
Spread out on the floor of her father's house
Her promise was almost undone
Under her tongue, dissolving her responsibilities
To finally deny everyone with unflattering comparison

Chorus
All grown up
And you don't care anymore
And you hate all the people that you used to adore
And you despise all the rumors and lies of the life you led
before

Did i hear you right?
You're feeling hounded and pushed around
You want to just lay down and die
If all of this life has been such a big disappointment to you
Why don't you stop blaming some guy
And go give the next one a try

Chorus

But look at yourself
You'll see you're still so young
You haven't earned the weariness
That sounds so jaded on your tongue

'i'm weak' she says
And blesses herself and gets into bed
Clutching the covers to her throat
'so punish me now and let me go back to the sham of my life'
'this night is the perfect antidote for all of the poison that
You wrote'

Chorus


2.Almost Blue

Almost blue
Almost doing things we used to do
There's a girl here and she's almost you
Almost all the things that your eyes once promised
I see in hers too
Now your eyes are red from crying

Almost blue
Flirting with this disaster became me
It named me as the fool who only aimed to be

Almost blue
It's almost touching it will almost do
There's a part of me that's always true...always
Not all good things come to an end now it is only a chosen few
I've seen such an unhappy couple

Almost me
Almost you
Almost blue


3.Deep Dead Blue

Deep dead blue
Deep dead blue
Deep dead blue that nightly shades
I'm lost in deep dead blue
Deep dead blue
Beyond the deep dead blue


4.Dirty Rotten Shame

I recall the good old days
But thankfully, they've gone
Now the ponies all are broken nags
That stumble as they groan
And throw the jockeys from their throne
When there are pitches left to dodge
And lions left to tame
But it's nothing but a dirty rotten shame
It's a dirty rotten shame
That when you're frivolous and strong
It isn't youth, its fearlessness
That has been wasted on the young
The cruel are in the cradle
And the bishop's in the bag
It's nothing but a dirty rotten shame

Now i find life a millionaire
That brags for rags and jewels
A snarling pup is wild enough
But as his anger proves
He's left to sharpen useless tools
That tear and graze and finer phrase
But few are worth the name
It's nothing but a dirty rotten shame

It's a dirty rotten shame
And that is not an idle boast
When all your courage and your strength
Will leave you as you need it most
When there are lamps to dampen
And cauliflowers to flip
It's nothing but a dirty rotten shame


5.Girls Talk

There are some things you can't cover up with lipstick and
powder
I thought i heard you mention my name, can't you talk any louder

Don't come any closer, don't come any nearer
My vision of you can't get any clearer
Oh, i just want to hear girls talk
I got a loaded imagination being fired by girls talk
But i can't say the words you want to hear
I suppose you're going to have to play it by ear
Right here and now

Girls talk and they want to know how
Girls talk and they say it's not allowed
Girls talk, if they say that it's so
Don't you think that i know by now

That the word up on everyone's lips
Stick that you're dedicated
Though you may not be an old fashioned girl
You're still going to get dated
Was it really murder ?
Were you just pretending ?
Lately i have heard you are the living end

Girls talk and they wanna know about her
Girls talk, they wanna know if i care
Girls talk and they wanna know where
Girls talk girls talk


6.Hidden Shame

I'm sorry to say that you don't know me
I'm sad in ways you never understood
Each time i try to tell the ugly truth
You always let it pass you by
You said i 'd never tell you a lie
Just because i could
Did you really think i was a bad man?
You always said that that should be my middle name
But you don't know the half of it
You don't know how that name fits
You don't know my hidden shame

Hidden shame, shame, shame
That i can't get free
From the blame and the torture
And the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me

Well, there's a different kind of prison
And it don't even have to look much like a cell
It's already on your mind
Boy, we can see it in your eyes
So, here's the bars and walls as well

Well, you know i'm never coming home, babe
You said you'd stand by me until i cleared my name
Sure it's easy to be strong
When you know the charge is wrong
But the days and weeks get long
When you've got a hidden shame

Chorus

I had a friend when i was just a boy
We were like brothers, we would run and hide
And we went walking on a high hillside
And i really don't how it happened
He turned to me and had this strange look in his eye
And not a single word was spoken
I must have pushed him, but i don't remember why
And all at once, he lay there broken
And i walked down without him and i didn't even sigh

Chorus

They say you always hurt the one you love
And i'm not saying if i did or if i didn't
But like my shame, that kind of love is always hidden
They locked me up here for the ideas in my head
They never got me for the thing i really did

Chorus


7.Indoor Fireworks

We play these parlour games
We play at make believe
When we get to the part where i say that i'm going to leave
Everybody loves a happy ending but we don't even try
We go straight past pretending
To the part where everybody loves to cry

(chorus)
Indoor fireworks
Can still burn your fingers
Indoor fireworks
We swore we were safe as houses
They're not so spectacular
They don't burn up in the sky
But they can dazzle or delight
Or bring a tear
When the smoke gets in your eyes

You were the spice of life
The gin in my vermouth
And though the sparks would fly
I thought our love was fireproof
Sometimes we'd fight in public darling
With very little cause
But different kinds of sparks would fly
When we got on our own behind closed doors

(chorus)
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

(chorus)


8.I Want To Vanish

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


9.Miss Mary

Angels announce with trumpets
Crown you with jewels and stars
Hercules lives
Next door to venus and mars
Beside your pretty blue shoulder
Something may trouble jerome
Now that you're up with your friends
I know you'll never come home
Singing so babe, i know this song
Miss mary i'm nothing without you
Everything i've done is wrong
Miss mary i try not to doubt you

I walk in their brilliant parade
Banish the primitive gloom
Now i know where i can find you
Hung up in some frenchman's room
Pitiful magdalena for all to see
Must have been beautiful
So just show a little mercy to me

Hey babe, i sing this song
Miss mary i'm nothing without you
Everything i've done is wrong
Miss mary i try not to doubt you

There at the foot of your staircase
I stood to take in the scene
All the ashes of roses
The veined steps of marble
Purple, gold and green
Oh i wish you were my queen

They only want to possess you
Lock you away in a vault
Such a heavenly vision
And dress you up in blue
I guess it's not their fault

I know this song
Miss mary i'm nothing without you
Everything i've done is wrong
Miss mary i try not to doubt you

So babe, i sing this song
Miss mary i'm nothing without you
Everything i've done is wrong
Miss mary i try not to doubt you


10.My Brave Face

(mccartney/macmanus)
My brave, my brave, my brave face

I've been living in style
Unaccustomed as i am
To the luxury life
I've been hitting the town
And it didn't hit back
I've been doing the rounds
Unaccustomed as i am
To the time on my hands
Now i don't have to tell anybody
When i'm gonna get back
Ever since you went away i've had the sentimental inclination
not to change a single thing
As i pull the sheet back on the bed i want to go bury my head in
your pillow

Now that i'm alone again
I can't stop breaking down again
The simplest things set me off again
Take me to that place
Where i can find my brave face
Where i can find my brave face
My brave, my brave, my brave face

I've been living a lie
Unaccustomed as i am
To the work of a housewife
I been breaking up dirty dishes
And been throwing them away
Ever since you left i have been trying to compose a 'baby, would
you please come home' note meant for you
As i clear away another untouched tv dinner from the table i
made for two

Now that i'm alone again
I can't stop breaking down again
The simplest things set me off again
Take me to that place
Where i can find my brave face
Where i can find my brave face
My brave, my brave, my brave face


11.Punishing Kiss

(words macmanus/o'riordan,
music:costello)
I favour a good punishing kiss
It helps pass the lonely afternoon
Another stiff drink, wipe off that lipstick
For when you reach a certain age
All the most villainous men can be found on channel ten
I make them dance in attendance
'we will be back in a minute or two'
And he will punish that girl
Oh forget the reason
Just look at me i'm lost in a social whirl
She was never so witty
Always struggling to be full of fun
'on weekdays
From mid-day to one'
In a little black cocktail dress everyone hates
She'll be saving the world inbetween fashion plates
I know what she gets up to in the back of that blacked out
limousine
And i catch myself shouting at the screen
I think that it's time to turn over
They say it's harmless i know
A hundred and ten percent certain
Virtually real
If you need something to feel
Then favour a punishing kiss
It helps chase the wasted afternoons
The flowers and pearls
The long lost relations
That love sick tom-boy comes in bloom
The pointless heartache
That seems to belong in my blue room
Can't stand the suspense
The endless embraces
Each episode lends the silly pretence
Say i can look away when i will never miss it
Starts with a joke
And ends with a punishing kiss


12.Shadow And Jimmy

Shadow and jimmy were always yesterday's news
Jimmy's a bowler, shadow rents out his green bowling shoes
Late friday night when the bars are all shuttered and dark
He shadows back jimmy to the lot in the lost trailer park
For shadow and jimmy all the weekends end up the same
If it's saturday night, then it must be the hockey game
After cold beer and barbecued ribs the night is complete
With wrestling stories and elegant bones
That are tired of walking and on their way home

Chorus
And they talk about the women
And they look at the girls
They'll never know the ways of the world
They've got a mouthful of much obliged
And a handful of gimme
And the love for each other
Of shadow and jimmy

For shadow and jimmy now the story is told
There's nothing to hold on to and no one to hold
Men without women are like fish without
Water to swim in
With their eyes bugging out
They flop on the beach
And look up at the girls
Who are just out of reach


13.Shamed Into Love

written:elvis costello
submitted:craig ciccone

I fear, my dear
We've forgotten the things strangers do
If we could look back
To the terrible thrill that we knew
Am i imagining a world without you?
Must we be shamed into love?

What can i say?
Will you pardon my stupid embrace?
Sometimes i'm desperate
While you're wiping the smile from your face
Am i surrendering, or am i replaced?
Must we be shamed into love?

Shamed into love
You're once a fool for having it
Twice for letting it go
Somewhere, my love, there's a feeling deep inside of me
That i can't let go
Oh, you'll never know

But then, my darling
I've forbidden myself to confess
I've looked around now
But i always return to your face
In a world where everything
I once cursed, i bless
It must be you who shamed me into love

Must we be shamed into love?


14.Shatterproof

I see those newly weds
Their eyes wide and believing
They bill and coo at the mention of chez nous
Appearances can be deceiving

It's just a door and a window
Four walls and a roof
But a home of your own would be shatterproof
A door and a window
Four walls and a roof
But a home of your own would be shatterproof

We papered over all the cracks
And painted a cat's lick and a promise
The landlord was a man of few words
And most of them were ominous

It's just a door and a window
Four walls and a roof
But a home of your own would be shatterproof
A door and a window
Four walls and a roof
But a home of your own would be shatterproof

It was nothing really to write home about
Then one day it all appears too much
Here comes my little hammer and its shatterproof touch

He said, 'be practical,
These are most unreasonable demands.
Forget about the broken spectacles
And the damage to your hand.'

It's just a door and a window
Four walls and a roof
And the doctors say i'm almost shatterproof


15.Shipbuilding

Is it worth it
A new winter coat and shoes for the wife
And a bicycle on the boy's birthday
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
By the women and children
Soon we'll be shipbuilding
Well i ask you
The boy said 'dad they're going to take me to task
But i'll be back by christmas'
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The result of this shipbuilding
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
A telegram or a picture postcard
Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards
And notifying the next of kin
Once again
It's all we're skilled in
We will be shipbuilding
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls


16.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


17.The Comedians

I fell under such gentle persuasion
You can't refuse it's like a home from home
Meanwhile in the motor car kingdom
They're finding that all that glitters is not chrome
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

Chorus
And i'm up while the dawn is breaking
Even though my heart is aching
I should be drinking a toast to absent friends
Instead of these comedians

I've looked into these eyes upon reflection
They've seen the face of love, they've seen a few
What kind of love is this upon inspection
You'll be the last to know who's fooling who

Chorus


18.The Deportees Club

The demo of 'deportee' has essentially the same lyrics as this
earlier version of the song
In the arrivederci roma nightclub, bar and grill
Standing in the fibreglass ruins watching time stand still
All your troubles you confess
To another faceless backless dress
Schnapps chianti porter and ouzo
Pernod vodka sambuca i love you so
Deportee

Tatty beauty talking in riddles
Rome burns down everybody's on the fiddle
Two thousand dollars for wife and some class
A thousand years drowned in a chaser glass
How i wish that she was mine
I could have been a king in six eight time
Schnapps chianti porter and ouzo
Pernod vodka sambuca i love you so
Deportee

It's a brittle charm but she's had enough
Still she wrote her number on his paper cuff
You don't know where to start or where to stop
All this pillow talk is nothing more than talking shop

When i came here tonight my pockets were overflowing
They took my return ticket without me even knowing
I pray to the saints and all the martyrs
For the secret life of frank sinatra
But none of these things have come to pass
In america the law is a piece of ass
I'm a deportee


19.The Other End(Of The Telescope)

Shall we agree that just this once
I'm gonna change my life
Until it's just as tiny or important as you like?

And in time we won't even recall that we spoke
Words that turned out to be as big as smoke
As smoke that disappears in the air
There's always something that's smoldering somewhere

I know it don't make a difference to you
But oh! it sure made a difference to me
You'll see me off in the distance, i hope
At the other end
At the other end of the telescope.

The promise of indulgence in my confidential voice
Approached immortal danger but you'll never know how close
Then down the hall i overheard such a heavenly choir
They interrupted my evil designs
One day you are up in the clouds
The next thing you're down with the sweet adelines

(chorus)

Lie down baby now don't say a word
There there baby your vision is blurred
Your head is so sore from all of that thinking
I don't want to hurt you now
But i think you're shrinking

You're half-naked ambition and you're half out of your wits
Or several tiny fractions that this portrait still omits
And it's so hard to pick the receiver up when i call
I never noticed you could be so small
The answer was under your nose but the question never arose

I know it don't make a difference to you
But oh! it sure made a difference to me
'cause late in the evening as i sit here moping
With a bamboo needle on a shellac of chopin
And the cast-iron heart that you failed to tear open
At the other end
At the other end of the telescope


20.Unwanted Number

You should hear the things that they say about me
They're saying 'she's no better than she needed to be'
They don't know that he was kind and strong and tender
And now i'll never be another unwanted number
Unwanted number
How can i tell them?
How can i express?
How it felt to step out of this life and into his embrace

How can i tell them?
How can i explain?
All the love that i never had i found in him

There may be a stain on the family name
And if my father was here i think i know who he'd blame
Mama says that he just doesn't care to remember
And all he thinks of me is another unwanted number
Unwanted number

(how can i tell her?
How can i express?
How it felt when he came to my room
And helped me to undress
What can she tell me?
How can i believe
That she really didn't hear me cry
When he wouldn't leave?)

There's a local game where they whisper my shame
They say 'he gave her his child
He wouldn't give her his name'

They will torture me from january till september
And soon there's going to be another unwanted number
Unwanted number
Unwanted number

And i will give my love to another unwanted number
Unwanted number
Unwanted number


21.Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue

Upon a veil of midnight blue
There hung a crescent moon
To light the view
But i don't whisper the words
When the moment arose
I wonder how he knows
You say your tongue is tied
Your words escape and hide
But he's so patient and kind
He's prepared to read your mind
That's very well till you find
Because of the wine you drank
Your mind is still a blank

I wonder how he knows
I guess i will wonder until
I pluck up the courage to tell him
How i feel
So close i can feel his heart tremble
That look in his eyes as they close
I wonder how he knows

I wonder how he knows