Elvis Costello - All This Useless Beauty lyrics

It's at times such as this she'd be tempted to spit<br>If she wasn't so ladylike<br>She imagines how she might have lived<br>Back when legends and history collide<br>So she looks to her prince finding he's so charmingly<br>Slumped at her side<br>Those days are recalled on the gallery wall<br>And she's waiting for passion or humour to strike<br><br>What shall we do, what shall we do with all this useless beauty? <br>All this useless beauty<br><br>Good friday arrived, the sky darkened on time<br>'til he almost began to negotiate<br>She held his head like a baby and said it's okay if you cry<br>Now he wants her to dress as if you couldn't guess<br>He desires to impress his associates<br>But he's part ugly beast and hellenic deceased<br>So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny<br><br>Chorus<br><br>She won't practice the looks from the great tragic books<br>That were later disgraced to face celluloid<br>It won't even make sense but you can bet<br>If she isn't a sweetheart or plaything or pet<br>The film turns her into an unveiled threat<br><br>Nonsense prevails, modesty fails<br>Grace and virtue turn into stupidity<br>While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise<br>And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts<br>They still think they're the gods of antiquity<br>If something you missed didn't even exist<br>It was just an ideal -- is it such a surprise? <br><br>Chorus [x2]