Elvis Costello Beyond Belief lyrics

History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

I'm just a oily slick
In a windup world with a nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel
I hang around dying to be tortured
You'll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel

So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass you see your Alice
You know she has no sense for all your jealousy
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly

Charged with insults and flattery, her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous?
And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You say you have no secrets then leave discreetly

I make California's fault

Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
I come to you beyond belief

My hands were clammy and cunning
She's been suitably stunning
But I know there's not a hope in Hades
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
So-called gentlemen and ladies
Dog-fight like rose and thistle

I got a feeling I'm gonna get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing, now I am beyond belief
I got a feeling I'm gonna get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing, now I am beyond belief

I got a feeling I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing, now I am beyond belief
I've got a feeling I'm going to get a lot of grief