Elvis Costello - Clown Strike (Bonaparte Rooms version) 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 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 want to do And not by some times table But there's one thing that I 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 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 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 In this pandemonium For the humble and the mighty You don't have to tumble for me Even a clown knows when to strike