The Only Flame In Town

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I know a girl got my mind in a mess
I never heard her say goodnight and God bless
She's not the only flame in town

And when we're alone, we never quarrel
I'm miles away, now here's the moral
She's not the only flame in town

She's not the only flame in town
She's got to stop thinking that I'm carrying this torch around

He struck a match and it lit up her face
We should have struck a match, girl
To burn down the whole place
Now you're not the only flame in town

But you blew hot and cold
Turned my heart to a cinder
And with each passing day
You're less tender and more tinder
Now you're not the only flame in town

She's not the only flame in town
She's got to stop thinking that I'm carrying this torch around
You're not the only flame
You're not the only flame

Thought I saw your face in the fire
But it's so hard to remember
Even an inferno can cool down to an ember
Now you're not the only flame
You're not the only flame
You're not the only flame in town



Alternate lyrics

Alternate lyrics for verses one and two from the demo version on the 2001 Rhino reissue of All This Useless Beauty

I know a girl got my mind in a mess
I'll never hear her say goodnight and God bless
She's not the only flame in town

It's a love that I lost that I'll always regret
It's so easy to fall and so hard to forget
That she's not the only flame in town

The Only Flame In Town
Written byElvis Costello
Performed byElvis Costello & The Attractions
Produced byClive Langer & Alan Winstanley
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocals, guitar
Maurice Worm (a.k.a. Steve Nieve) - keyboards
Bruce Thomas - bass
Pete Thomas - drums
Gary Barnacle - saxophone
Daryl Hall - vocals
see Goodbye Cruel World credits for possible additional musicians
RecordedFebruary 1984, SARM West Studios, London
ReleasedJune 18, 1984
AlbumsGoodbye Cruel World, 1984
SinglesThe Only Flame In Town, 1984 (edit on at least some 7" singles)
CollectionsThe Best Of Elvis Costello & The Attractions, 1985 (edit)
Singles, Volume 3, 2003 (edit)
PromosColumbia Retail In-Store Sampler, 1984
Save The Children, 1985 (excerpt)
Punch The World, 1995
Visa Sampler, 2007
VideosThe Right Spectacle: The Very Best Of Elvis Costello - The Videos, 2005
Length4:01 (album version)
3:35 (single edit)

First known performance:
February 13, 1984, Strasbourg, France
Last known performance:
March 9, 2017, Bochum, Germany
     (131 known performances, 5 as a snippet)


Alternate versions

The Only Flame In Town (Version Discotheque)
Performed byElvis Costello & The Attractions
Produced byClive Langer & Alan Winstanley
ReleasedAugust 1984
SinglesThe Only Flame In Town, 1984
CollectionsSingles, Volume 3, 2003
Length4:38
NoteThis remix is also known as the "Special Mix" and "Long Version".

The Only Flame In Town (Alternate Version)
Performed byElvis Costello & The Attractions
Produced byClive Langer & Alan Winstanley
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocal, guitar
Steve Nieve - keyboards
Bruce Thomas - bass
Pete Thomas - drums
RecordedFebruary 1984, SARM West Studios, London
ReleasedJuly 26, 2004
AlbumsGoodbye Cruel World (Rhino/Edsel reissue), 2004
Length4:04

The Only Flame In Town (Live 1984)
Performed byElvis Costello
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocal, guitar
RecordedApril 28, 1984, San Francisco, CA
ReleasedFebruary 28, 1995
AlbumsGoodbye Cruel World (Rykodisc/Demon reissue), 1995
Goodbye Cruel World (Rhino/Edsel reissue), 2004
Length4:12

The Only Flame In Town (Demo)
Performed byElvis Costello
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocal, all instruments
Recordedpossibly late 1980s-early 1990s, unknown location
ReleasedAugust 21, 2001
AlbumsAll This Useless Beauty (Rhino reissue), 2001
Length4:11
Goodbye Cruel WorldGCW album cover large.jpg

The Only Flame In Town UK 7" single front sleeve.jpg

The Only Flame In Town US 7" single front sleeve.jpg

The Best Of Elvis Costello & The AttractionsBOEC album cover 200.jpg

All This Useless BeautyATUB album cover large.jpg

Singles, Volume 3Singles Volume 3 album cover.jpg

The Right Spectacle: The Very Best Of Elvis Costello - The VideosTRS dvd cover.jpg

Columbia Retail In-Store SamplerRetail In-Store Sampler label.jpg

Visa SamplerVisa Sampler front.jpg

Covers

Jafrosax Tribute To Elvis Costello 2007 AmazonAmazon.co.jp
Frank Royster Beyond Belief: A Tribute To Elvis Costello 2014 Amazon
Erich Sellheim home studio production, sung in German 2019 YouTube

Chords

C#m G#m F#m (4 times)

E              F#m     
 I know a girl, got my mind in a mess
G#m                   A             G#m    F#m
 I never heard her say goodnight and God bless
B                    E
She's not the only flame in town

E F#m G#m A G#m F#m E

And when we're alone, we never quarrel
I'm miles away, now here's the moral
                                E
She's not the only flame in town

*E G#m F#m A G#m B A
 
Chorus:
A      B            G#m          C#m
She's not the only flame in town
D         E            
 She's got to stop thinking that I'm
A    G#m       F#m        B                        
Carrying this torch around

He struck a match and it lit up her face
We should have struck a match, girl 
To burn down the whole place
Now you're not the only flame in town

But you blew hot and cold
Turn my heart to a cinder
And with each passing day
You're less tender and more tinder
Now you're not the only flame in the town

Chorus

C#m G#m F#m (4 times)

Thought I saw your face in the fire
But it's so hard to remember
Even an inferno can cool down to an ember
B                    G#m
 Now you're not the only flame
       C#m
You're not the only flame
C               B        
 You're not the only flame
C#m G#m F#m
   ... in town

C#m G#m F#m (repeat and fade)


*The keyboard, the only instrument actually making chords,
cuts out here and the bass and saxophone play the root notes
of these chords. The easier, and possibly better sounding, 
alternative for playing on guitar is an E F#m G#m A walkup, 
as is used on the alternate versions on the Goodbye Cruel World
reissues.

Internal links

External links