Elvis Costello Quotes

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused...

Once I had recognized that it was not my vocation to write a happy ending, I did my damnedest to avoid one entirely. I once referred to this process as “Messing up my life, so I could write stupid little songs about it,” and I can’t improve on that description here, but then songs are never exactly taken from life.

If I am frightened then I can hide it
If I am crying, I'll call it laughter
If I am haunted, I'll call it my imaginary friend
If I am bleeding I'll call it wine
But if you leave me then I am broken
And if I'm broken then only death remains

Such petty provocations became routine, but we no longer had the benefit of surprise. We played a lot of good shows back then, but the more complacent a crowd seemed, the harder we pushed, and I probably ended up appearing faintly ridiculous at times. I felt like a clockwork toy running around in green light, pulling pantomime faces in vain or in spite. I’d wind people up and then let them down. We would either thrill and amaze or disappoint and disgrace and then get out of town.

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.<p>She is watching the detectives.
"Ooh, it's so cute."
She's 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.

What's so funny about peace, love and understanding

"Was it a millionaire who said, "Imagine no possessions"?"

"I wish you luck with a capital "F"."

It's a dangerous game that comedy plays. Sometimes it tells you the truth; sometimes it delays it.

I was watching while you're dancing away,
our love got fractured in the echo and sway.
How come everybody wants to be your friend?
You know that it still hurts me just to say it.

Then I became an altar boy because of the solemn face, but I got thrown out at fourteen for laughing, because the priest used to mumble everything except the church plate takings.

I used to be disgusted. Now, I'm just amused...

I could say it was the nights when I was lonely
and you were the only one who'd talk.
I could tell you that I like your sensitivity,
when you know it's the way that you walk.

Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?

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?