Elvis Costello - Church Underground Lyrics
She stood spotlit in a plain print dressCame howling out of the wildernessThere beat a cunning and murderous heartBeneath that calm exterior"You know my nameYou don't know my mindDon't doubt my eyesThey betray the pastAnd I've already forgottenMuch more than you will ever know"And every word that I have spoken is trueExcept for those that were broken in twoI'm trying to make peace after a long night of pretendI need a pawnbroker or moneylenderWhy do you do me down, Mister?Sing "Hallelujah," SisterTurn up the volume, just to turn it downThe trivial secrets buried with profoundIt's enough to put a Church UndergroundDeflowered young and then ever sinceShe's tried to wash off his fingerprintsSo every charlatan and princeWas made to feel inferiorShe worked for tips in a 10-cent danceSaid moving pictures might pay perchance10,000 one-way tickets to the sparkling coastFrom the blank interiorEverybody's either talking in codeOr getting ready to explodeThen she was singing with five-piece bandBut seems that no-one wants this soundWhy do you do me down, Mister?Sing "Hallelujah," SisterTurn up the volume, just to turn it downThe trivial secrets buried with profoundIt's enough to put a Church UndergroundThe shaft of fanlight streaked with rainPoured through the glass, punched through the painA holy picture hidden in the midden of that poisoned stitchHer lonely voice was just a ruin in these richesMust have been dreaming this all alongCould she be redeeming herself in song?"I'm no-one's martyred, plaster saintBelow the grease, beneath the paint"I'm rolling like barrelSwinging like a gallowsI'm rising up fast like all hell and all hallowsWhy do you do me down, Mister?Sing "Hallelujah," SisterI'll be damned or purgatory boundBefore those jokers ever understandIt's enough to put a Church Underground
