Miss Macbeth

Lyrics

All the children testified that Miss Macbeth had a fishbone slide in her cobweb tresses

Her eyes were black as first foot coal, clutched as white as chalk-dust

Her fingers sweated India-ink and poison-pen letters

There is a hungry hanging tree just below your bedroom window

You can hear her take a broom to beat out a tattoo on the ceiling

Her bloodless face ran red inside but was she really evil, was she only pantomime?

Now the chalk on the wall says that somebody saves

That somebody's face has just been washed off the pavement

Into a puzzle where petrol will be poisoned by rain

Miss Macbeth saw her reflection as confetti bled it's colours down the drain

(Chorus:)

And everyday she lives out another love song

It's a tearful lament of somebody done wrong

But how can you miss what you've never possessed, Miss Macbeth?

Well we all should have known when the children paraded

They portrayed her in their fairytales, sprinkling Deadly Nightshade

And as they tormented her, she rose to the bait

Even a scapegoat must have someone to hate

And everyday she lives out another love song

"You're up there enjoying yourself, but I know it's wrong"

But how can you miss what you've never possessed, Miss Macbeth?

Miss Macbeth

Sometimes people are just what they appear to be

With no redemption at all

We try to walk upright when we can't even crawl

Miss Macbeth has a gollywog she chucks under the chin

And she whispers to it tenderly, then sticks it on a pin

And it might be coincidence, but a boy down the lane

That she said "went white as he could do," then doubled over in pain

(Repeat Chorus)

Alternate Lyrics

Alternate first verse from demo version on Spike (Deluxe Edition):

Miss Macbeth has a frightened face that all the children know
She must have been something else a long time ago
You can’t look her in the eye or else your face will crack
She talks to statues on the shelf, although they never answer back

Credits

• Written by: D.P.A. MacManus
• Produced by: Elvis Costello, Kevin Killen and T Bone Burnett
• Musicians:

Elvis Costello - vocals, mandolin, guitars

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Gregory Davis - trumpet

Efrem Towns - trumpet

Kevin Harris - tenor saxophone

Roger Lewis - baritone saxophone

Charles Joseph - trombone

Kirk Joseph - Sousaphone

Dónal Lunny - bouzouki, bodhran

Steve Wickham - fiddle

Davy Spillane - Uilleann pipes

Mitchell Froom - Chamberlain, Wurlitzer electric piano, organ

Pete Thomas - drums

Jerry Marotta - snare drum

Michael Blair - crash-box, glockenspiel, tambourine, temple bells, snare drum

Discography

Albums:

• Spike, 1989
• Spike (Deluxe Edition), Rhino, 2001
• This section may be incomplete.

Singles:

• This section may be incomplete.

Collections:

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

Alternate Versions:

• Miss Macbeth (demo)

Spike (Deluxe Edition), Rhino, 2001

• This section may be incomplete.

Soundtracks:

• none

Various Artists collections:

• none

Covers

Recorded by:

• none
• This section may be incomplete.

Performed by:

• none
• This section may be incomplete.

Bootlegs

• This section is incomplete.