Elvis Costello - Clown Strike Lyrics

She'll fix you with an iron cross and cover you up with petals
And hang you up with some amber beads and four or five precious metals
And in that black flamingo chair, you'll sit among her trophies
And pray to be abandoned till you don't know what hope is

But there's one thing that I'd had to keep inside
Because I was shaking, why don't you get some pride?
There was a clown strike and the clowns threw down their tools
But you don't have to play so hard and I'm nobody's fool
You don't have to go so far 'cause I love you as you are

The big top is deserted now and the circus girl rehearses
She knows how to turn their heads and not fall between two horses
But all that seems a simple step if only I were able
To love you like I wanna do and not by some times table

But there's one thing that I'd have to keep inside
Because I was shaking, why don't you get some pride?
There was a clown strike and the clowns threw down their tools
But you don't have to play so hard and I'm nobody's fool
You don't have to go so far 'cause I love you as you are

And it's pandemonium for the humble and the mighty
You don't have to tumble for me, even a clown knows when to strike

Tell me, what you want of me or are you terrified of failure?
You put on a superstitious face behind all this paraphernalia
We're not living in a masquerade where you only have three wishes
It isn't easy to see in a lifetime of mistaken kisses

But there's one thing that I'd have to keep inside
Because I was shaking, why don't you get some pride?
There was a clown strike and the clowns threw down their tools
But you don't have to play so hard and I'm nobody's fool
You don't have to go so far 'cause I love you as you are

And it's pandemonium for the humble and the mighty
You don't have to tumble for me, even a clown knows when to strike