Elvis Costello There's a Story In Your Voice lyrics

Once upon another time
If you had the need
I'd step right in the shoes
That you've been walking

'Cos someone put the hurt in you
For everyone to see
And you only have to speak
To tell your fortune

'Cos there's a story in your voice
Both by damage and by choice
It tells of promises and pleasure
And another tale of wine and woe
The uneasy time to come
And the long way 'round we go to get there

Once you told me fairytales
Everybody knows
But I didn't care
For their prediction

Now you say you're leaving me
And packing up your clothes
I finally see you were
A work of fiction

There's a story in your walk
Then you crumble just like chalk
And I could say that I was sorry

But I wouldn't mean it much
There are pages I can't touch
And something that's been torn out of this chapter

Far away, not far enough
'Cause I can still recall
How it felt when I read
That last sentence

Now I go inside some rooms
With Gideon in them all
And hide myself
From all hope of repentance

There's a story in your eyes
Cheap sunglasses might disguise
But when the bedroom light reveals
All that bravado and that fright
That you cover up in spite
Attempts to strip away this fabrication

There's a story in your voice
Both by damage and by choice
It tells of promises and pleasure
And a tale of wine and woe
The uneasy time to come
And the long way 'round we go to get there