Elvis Costello - ...Dust Lyrics

If only dust could talk what would we hear it say?
Before it's brushed aside, just as it's swept away
It's just the evidence, it's of no consequence
It's only flesh and bone, why don't we leave it alone?

If only dust could gather into lines of chalk
Around a silhouette detective fiction walks
For it's the only witness that can testify
Can I spit out the truth or would you rather just swallow a lie?

Why did they dam the land, why did they flood the plain?
Did they erase the name and wipe away the stain?
You kept your mouth well shut, appeared to turn your coat
Now there's a name for you but it's stuck in my throat

If dust could only mutter or in laughter trill
If it could warn and whisper from the windowsill
But it's the only witness that can testify
Can I spit out the truth or would you rather just swallow a lie?

Here comes the juggernaut, here come The Poisoners
They choke the life and land and rob the joy from us
Why do they taste of sugar when they're made of money?
Here come the Lamb of God and the butcher's boy, Sonny

If dust could only gather in the needle track
Then it would skip a beat and it would jump right back
If dust could only gather in a needle track
Then it would skip a beat and all the sense I lack