Pills And Soap

Lyrics

They talked to the sister, the father and the mother

With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other

And the camera noses in to the tears on her face

The tears on her face

The tears on her face

You can put them back together with your paper and paste

But you can't put them back together

You can't put them back together

Chorus:

What would you say?

What would you do?

Children and animals two by two

Give me the needle

Give me the rope

We're going to melt them down for pills and soap

Four and twenty crowbars jemmy your desire

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

The king is in the counting house

Some folk have all the luck

And all we get is pictures of Lord and Lady Muck

They come from lovely people with a hard line in hypocrisy

There are ashtrays of emotion for the fag ends of the aristocracy

(Chorus)

Give me the needle

Give me the rope

The sugar-coated pill is getting bitterer still

You think your country needs you, but you know it never will

So pack up your troubles in a stolen handbag

Don't dilly-dally boys, rally 'round the flag

Give us our daily bread in individual slices

And something in the daily rag to cancel any crisis

(Chorus)

Give me the needle, give me the rope

We're going to melt them down for pills and soap

Credits

• Written by: Elvis Costello
• Produced by: Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley
• Musicians:

Elvis Costello - vocals and guitar

Steve Nieve - keyboards

Bruce Thomas - bass

Pete Thomas - drums

This section is incomplete.

Discography

Albums:

• Punch The Clock, 1983
• Punch The Clock (reissue), Rykodisc/Demon, 1994
• Punch The Clock (Deluxe Edition), Rhino, 2003
• This section may be incomplete.

Singles:

• The Imposter - Pills and Soap, 1983
• This section may be incomplete.

Collections:

• Singles, Volume 2, 2003
• This section may be incomplete.

Alternate Versions:

• Pills and Soap [extended version]

The Imposter - Pills and Soap, 1983

Singles, Volume 2, 2003

• Pills And Soap (live at Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 1995-06-28) with The Brodsky Quartet

The Juliet Letters (Deluxe Edition), Rhino, 2006

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.