Human Hands

Lyrics

I've been talking to the wall and it's been answering me

Oh darling, how I miss you

I'm just the mere shadow of my former selfishness

I crave the silhouette of your kiss

With only the blue light of the TV on

Lip-reading threats and false alarms

There's a boy somewhere holding hands with himself

And a girl in a window on the Reeperbahn

Chorus:

Whenever I put my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt

That it's you that I'm dreaming about

Do I have to draw you a diagram?

All I ever want is just to fall into your human hands

With the kings and queens of the dance hall craze

Checkmate in three moves in your heyday

But the girls don't listen to your line anymore

Now you're part of someone else

On the factory floor you still say "Wheres the action?"

Now you manufacture happiness

And get sold on the cheap for someone's satisfaction

(Chorus)

All you toy soldiers and scaremongers

Are you living in this world, sometimes I wonder

In between saying you've seen too much

And saying you've seen it all before

Tighter and tighter, I hold you tightly

You know I love you more than slightly

Although I've never said it like this before

(Chorus)

Credits

• Written by: Elvis Costello
• Produced by: Geoff Emerick
• Musicians:

Elvis Costello - vocals and guitar

Steve Nieve - keyboards

Bruce Thomas - bass

Pete Thomas - drums

Discography

Albums:

• Imperial Bedroom, 1982
• Imperial Bedroom (reissue), Rykodisc/Demon, 1994
• Imperial Bedroom (Deluxe Edition), Rhino, 2002
• This section may be incomplete.

Singles:

• This section may be incomplete.

Collections:

• Album Name, Year
• This section may be incomplete.

Soundtracks:

• none

Various Artists collections:

• none

Covers

Recorded by:

• Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet
• This section may be incomplete.

Performed by:

• none
• This section may be incomplete.

Bootlegs

• This section is incomplete.