The People's Limousine

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It's a chilly Florentine evening, two men in evening hats
Telling tales of the underground and fishing for rats
Policemen armed with Uzis stand guard but they don't speak
Ain't seen no Michelangelo, he'll be here next week

The girl in shoes with crystal heels is chaperoned by her brother
They raise a glass of amber wine, take pictures of each other
Of the policemen in the fountains and the sickle and the hammer
And they came with Uncle Romulus with his walking cane and camera

She looked like someone's girlfriend
She looked like a dream
She looked as unlikely
As the people's limousine

Come and sit by me, girl, before I breathe the breath out of you
Hush your mouth and cover your eyes 'for I tell your father of you
He paid to have you painted in the company of angels
Only to find you flirting anew with Chico Marx and perverted Engels

She looked like someone's girlfriend
She looked like a dream
She looked as unlikely
As the people's limousine

The patron saint of television smiles down from the shelf
Romulus can't criticize but he can't bless himself
He has a tin of pea-green paint and a big roll of black tape
To vandalize these obscenities then make his escape

She walked up to the nice policeman and asked him for a match
He saw Romulus approaching and slipped off the safety catch
Then cut down her uncle, he was painted red and green
Just as she was kidnapped in the people's limousine

She looked like someone's girlfriend
She looked like a dream
She looked so unlikely
In the people's limousine

The People's Limousine
Written byHenry Coward & Howard Coward
Performed byThe Coward Brothers
Produced byThe Coward Brothers
MusiciansHoward Coward - vocal, electric guitar
Henry Coward - vocal, acoustic & electric guitars
David Miner - bass
Ron Tutt - drums
RecordedFebruary 1985, The Sound Factory & Sunset Sound, Los Angeles
ReleasedJuly 20, 1985
AlbumsKing Of America (Rykodisc/Demon reissue), 1995
King Of America (Rhino/Edsel reissue), 2005
SinglesThe People's Limousine, 1987
CollectionsOut Of Our Idiot, 1987
Singles, Volume 3, 2003
T Bone Burnett - Twenty Twenty: The Essential T Bone Burnett, 2006
Length3:38

First known performance:
November 30, 1984, Stockholm, Sweden
Last known performance:
October 8, 2006, San Francisco, CA
     (15 known performances)


The People's Limousine UK 7" single front sleeve.jpg

Out Of Our IdiotOut Of Our Idiot album cover thumbnail.jpg

King Of America1986 King Of America Album.jpg

Singles, Volume 3Singles Volume 3 album cover.jpg

Twenty Twenty The Essential T Bone Burnett album cover.jpg

Covers

Erich Sellheim home studio production, sung in German 2019 YouTube

Internal links

External links