Elvis Costello - This Is Hell lyrics

This Is Hell

CHORUS:

This is hell, this is hell

I am sorry to tell you

It never gets better or worse

But you get used to it after a spell

For heaven is hell in reverse

The bruiser spun a hula hoop

As all the barmen preen and pout

The neon "i" of nightclub flickers on and off

And finally blew out

The irritating jingle

Of the belly-dancing phony Turkish girls

The eerie glare of ultra violet

Perfect dental work

CHORUS

The failed Don Juan in the big bow-tie

Is very sorry that he spoke

For he's mislaid his punch line

More than halfway through a very tasteless joke

The fré‹Ÿlein caught him peeking down her gown

He's yelling in her ear

And all at once the music stopped

As he was intimately bellowing "My dear . . ."

CHORUS

The shirt you wore with courage

And the violent nylon suit

Reappear upon your back

And undermine the polished line you try to shoot

It's not the torment of the flames

That finally see your flesh corrupted

It's the small humiliations that your memory piles up

This is hell, this is hell, this is hell.

"My Favourite Things" are playing

Again and again

But it's by Julie Andrews

And not by John Coltrane

Endless balmy breezes and perfect sunsets framed

Vintage wine for breakfast

And naked starlets floating in Champagne

All the passions of your youth

Are tranquillized and tamed

You may think it looks familiar

Though you may know it by another name

CHORUS

This is hell, this is hell.