The Long Division

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Did somebody try to catch your eye
And almost change your sad expression?
Did somebody's hand linger too long?
Must I now make my confession?
But you'll never know what suspicion is
Until you lie awake

And every night you ask yourself "What am I to do?"
Can it be so hard to calculate?
When three goes into two, there's nothing left over

How's it gonna feel? This time it's real
It's not a temporary fracture
This is what you get, the stage is set
For you and your attempted rapture
Is he gonna smile that indulgent smile
When you come running home?

And every night you ask yourself, "What am I to do?"
Can it be so hard to calculate?
When three goes into two, there's nothing left over

What am I gonna say? You turn away
And you leave me here despairing
What am I going to do? I look at you
You seem to be so long past caring
Did somebody say, "Can we still be friends?"
Only to find out now that it's a joke
So ask yourself, "What am I to do?"
Can it be so hard to calculate?
When three goes into two
There's nothing left over

Did somebody say,
"Can we still be friends?"
Did somebody say,
"Can we still be friends?"

Did somebody say,
"Can we still be friends?"
Did somebody say,
"Can we still be friends?"

Did somebody say,
"Can we still be friends?"
Did somebody say,
"Can we still be friends?"

The Long Division
Written byBurt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
Performed byElvis Costello with Burt Bacharach
Produced byBurt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
Arranged byBurt Bacharach
MusiciansElvis Costello - voice
Burt Bacharach - piano, conductor
Steve Nieve - keyboards
Jim Keltner - drums
Greg Cohen - bass
Dean Parks - guitar
Greg Phillinganes - keyboard, Moog solo
Earle Dumler - oboe solo
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
Donna Taylor, Lisa Taylor, Sue-Ann Carwell - vocal group
plus additional musicians
RecordedJune-July 1998, Ocean Way, Los Angeles
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1998
AlbumsPainted From Memory, 1998
The Songs Of Bacharach & Costello, 2023
Various Artists collectionsLaunch #23, 1999
Length4:11

First known performance:
October 13, 1998, New York, NY
Last known performance:
October 29, 1998, London, England
     (5 known performances)


Painted From MemoryPFM album cover large.jpg

The Songs Of Bacharach & Costello album cover.jpg

Covers

Cole Fortier and band performed live, August 2021, The Space, SUNY Potsdam, New York. 2021 YouTube
Bill Frisell The Sweetest Punch 1999 AllMusicWikipediaAmazon
Steve Nieve performed live, 2020-12-10, The Immobile Tour, France 2020 Facebook

Internal links

External links