Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Bedlam
I’ve got this phosphorescent portrait of gentle Jesus meek and mild
I’ve got this harlot that I’m stuck with carrying another man’s child
The solitary star announcing vacancy burnt out as we arrived
They’d throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived
And they were surprised to see us
So they greeted us with palms
They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms
I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
Found myself in bedlam
I wish that I could take something for drowning out the noise
Wailing echoes down the corridors
I’ve got this imaginary radio, and I’m punching up the dial
I’ve got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won’t blow up in my eye
And everything that I thought fanciful and mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
Now I’m practicing my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
For if I hold my hand outstretched
A little bird comes to me
I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
Found myself in bedlam
Escaping from the fingers that were stretching through the bars
Wailing echoes down the corridors
The player piano picks out “Life Goes On”
The ring tone rang out “Jerusalem”
And in this pit of sadness
Where the rank of wretched plunge
We’ve buried all the innocents
Now we must bury revenge
They’ve got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a mustang
And then they drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle
They dangled flags and other rags along a coloured thread of twine
And then they dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine
Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces
Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces
Then my thoughts returned to vengeance, but I put up no resistance
Though I seemed a long way from my home
It really was no distance
And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
Found myself in bedlam
Bowing like an actor acknowledging applause
Playing the Crusader who was conquering the Moors
And he knew the consequences, but he won’t accept the cause
Wailing echoes down the corridors
Bedlam, Bedlam, Bedlam
Duration : 0:5:28
[youtube H-vi_y8w4Jk]
September 25th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Oh, OK.
Oh, OK.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Well well he is a …
Well well he is a great gitar player too
groovy:)
September 25th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Every time I hear …
Every time I hear his guitar it sound better and better, this guy is awesome!
September 25th, 2009 at 7:04 am
The best …
The best performance of this song is on his DVD “Live from the Hitone in Memphis”. Actually all the songs from The Delieveryman sound 10x better live on that DVD. In this video the Big box Gibson sounds sick (like not well) and Nieve is getting way to into himself with the Thetemine.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:04 am
great song. …
great song. amazing lyrics as usual.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:04 am
I’ve been listening …
I’ve been listening to Elvis Costello for over 30yrs,,, never gets old.