Threnody

Lyrics

Gone are the hours that I once would wish away

Night was just the darker alternative to day

Looking for someone to love and then betray

Although I still knelt down to pray

Gone is the spirit that was reaching for the stars

Free are all the prisoners that holler at the bars

Just as the glasses were drained the cheer died down

That when you could still say that it lived in this town

Gone are the breezes that could rustle all the leaves

Spent at snow as it settles on the eves

Sullen at the hangman when he hears the reprieve

God give me someone I can bereave

Gone are the statesmen who utter words I could believe

Now there is just a salesman who tugs upon my sleeve

And there is no one left to impress

Enough

I'm not following down to the lowering

I'm not buying anything I don't already own

Credits

• Words by: Elvis Costello
  Music by: Marian McPartland

Performances

Elvis wrote lyrics for this Marian McPartland instrumental, and the duo performed it 2006-09-02 at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. A version with Elvis' lyrics has yet to receive an official release.

Recordings

As an instrumental:

• Marian McPartland, on Marian McPartland Plays The Music Of Mary Lou Williams, 1994; re-recorded with strings on Silent Pool, 1996; re-recorded with John Medeski on Piano Jazz: McPartland/Medeski, 2006

As "Sepia Wing" with lyrics by Nnenna Freelon:

• Nnenna Freelon, on Maiden Voyage, 1998

Bootlegs

• This section is incomplete.