Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)

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The man in the corner of this picture has a sinister purpose
In the teeming Temple of the Railroad Kings
He's planting a trashy paperback book for accidental purchase
Containing all the secrets of life and other useless things
But I can't bring myself to look
Wake up Zombie, write yourself another book
You want to scream and shout, my little flaxen lout
Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over

She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer
Stretched out on her poor jealous husband's pillow
In time you can turn these obsessions into careers
While the parents of those kidnapped children start the bidding for their tears
But I can't bring myself to look
Wake up Zombie, get yourself off the hook
You want to scream and shout, my little waxen lout
Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over

Forget about Beethoven, Rembrandt and rock and roll
Forget about Mickey Mouse, Marlboro and Coca Cola
Forget about Cadillac, Mercedes and Toyota
Forget about Buddha, Allah, Jesus and Jehovah
Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over

Any day now a giant insect mutation
Will swoop down and devour the white man's burden
Starting out with all of the sensitive ones
Better make like a fly if you don't want to die
Look out! There goes Gordon!

But I can't bring myself to think
Wake up Zombie, kick up a big stink
You want to scream and shout, my little Saxon lout
Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over

Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)
Written byElvis Costello & Jim Keltner
Performed byElvis Costello
Produced byMitchell Froom, Kevin Killen & D.P.A. MacManus
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocals, main figure & rhythm guitar
Jim Keltner - all drums loops & beaten things, Maestrodellavolta
James Burton - guitar solos
Nick Lowe - bass
Marc Ribot - giant insect mutation & bug attack
Recordedlate 1990-early 1991, Ocean Way, Hollywood & Westside Studios, London
ReleasedMay 10, 1991
AlbumsMighty Like A Rose, 1991
CollectionsExtreme Honey: The Very Best Of The Warner Bros. Years, 1997
PromosMalice And Magic (US), 1995
Length4:00

First known performance:
October 26, 1990, Mountain View, CA
Last known performance:
February 19, 2023, New York, NY
     (93 known performances, 7 as a snippet)


Alternate versions

Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over) (Unplugged Version)
Performed byElvis Costello & The Rude 5
Produced byBiff Dawes
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocal, acoustic guitar
Marc Ribot - guitar
Jerry Scheff - bass
Larry Knechtel - keyboards
Pete Thomas - drums
RecordedJune 3, 1991, MTV Unplugged, Warner Hollywood Studios
ReleasedOctober 1991
AlbumsMighty Like A Rose (Rhino reissue), 2002
SinglesSo Like Candy, 1991
Length4:16
Mighty Like A RoseMLAR album cover large.jpg

Single: So Like CandySo Like Candy UK CD single front insert.jpg

Extreme Honey: The Very Best Of The Warner Bros. YearsEH album cover 500.jpg

Covers

Patrik Tanner A Tribute To Elvis Costello 2004 AllmusicAmazonAmazon.uk
Erich Sellheim home studio production, sung in German 2019 YouTube

Internal links

External links