Lesson In Cruelty

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Here's a thought to dwell upon
Daddy's girl is almost gone
Now there's just a vain princess
'Her Ruthlessness'
Tearing up the nursery
Stars more used to glittering
Pictured in the guttering
Faces caught about to laugh
Torn in half
Slipping through your fingers

See them scatter
Maybe it doesn't matter
But I still really want to pick the pieces up
You can't fool me
With this lesson in cruelty
It's not as if I was asking time to stop

In violent blue
Like roses red
She smiled as she tore off his head
The hours she gazed on her former champion
Now there's just a frame of sellotape and torn wallpaper
As she tears his pretty face to bits

See them scatter
Maybe it doesn't matter
But I still really want to pick the pieces up
You can't fool me
With this lesson in cruelty
It's not as if I was asking time to stop

It's much too soon or so it seems
To put away these childish dreams
You'll find out soon enough that worship can be tough
Love is just a name to celebrate a vision
Or confetti littered with regrets

See them scatter
Maybe it doesn't matter
But I still really want to pick the pieces up
You can't fool me
With this lesson in cruelty
It's not as if I was asking time to stop

Dear heart too good to waste
But if some hot-head should claim it
Don't rush to his embrace
And it remains to say
I'll love you just the same whatever your decision
As you put the paper to the flame

Lesson In Cruelty (unreleased song)
Words byElvis Costello
Music bySteve Nieve
Performed byElvis Costello & Steve Nieve

Background:
 Intended for Steve Nieve's song cycle "Correspondence."
First known performance:
June 25, 1995, London, England
Last known performance:
December 18, 2001, Paris, France
     (6 known performances)


Category:Unreleased songs1999-00-00 live.jpg


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