She Handed Me A Mirror

From The Elvis Costello Wiki

Andersen:
She handed me a mirror
That she had gazed upon
The glass still held an image
The glass still held an image
But it was of a man
I turned from the reflection
To see who it might be
Is that poor vanity quite how she pictures me?

She handed me a mirror
Rather than tell me “no”
She let slip her handkerchief
Gentle laughter flowed
Just as her lips bestowed
The dashing word like “brother”
The crushing word like “friend”
If there was no beginning
How could this be the end?

She handed me mirror
So I could recognise
The distance from my heart to hers
The distance from my heart to hers
The pity in her eyes
She liked my pretty story
I thanked her for her song
And then I wrote a tale not very long to tell
"You are much more than pretty. You are beautiful."

She handed me mirror and I saw her instead
She handed me a mirror
She handed me a mirror
And that is all she did…

She Handed Me A Mirror
Written by	Elvis Costello
Performed by	Elvis Costello
Produced by	T Bone Burnett
Musicians	Elvis Costello - vocal, Martin OM-45 acoustic guitar Dennis Crouch - double bass Stuart Duncan - fiddle Jerry Douglas - dobro Mike Compton - mandolin Jim Lauderdale - harmony vocal
Recorded	March 31-April 2, 2008, Sound Emporium Studio, Nashville
Released	June 2, 2009
Albums	Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, 2009

Background:
Written for Elvis' unfinished chamber opera The Secret Songs.
First known performance:
October 8, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark

“Andersen fell in love frequently. He was a Romantic fellow of the first water. Although he was besotted with Lind and they were even friends, the tale is told that when he asked why she could not return his love, Lind handed a mirror to the strange and repulsive looking author.

‘She Handed Me A Mirror’ is [a] song for any misfit in love with an unattainable woman.” — elviscostello.com, March 23, 2009.