Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4

The man in the corner of this picture has a sinister purpose In the teeming Temple of the Railroad Kings He's planting a trashy paperback book for accidental purchase Containing all the secrets of life and other useless things But I can't bring myself to look Wake up Zombie, write yourself another book You want to scream and shout, my little flaxen lout Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer Stretched out on her poor jealous husband's pillow In time you can turn these obsessions into careers While the parents of those kidnapped children start the bidding for their tears But I can't bring myself to look Wake up Zombie, get yourself off the hook You want to scream and shout, my little waxen lout Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over Forget about Beethoven, Rembrandt and rock and roll Forget about Mickey Mouse, Marlboro and Coca Cola Forget about Cadillac, Mercedes and Toyota Forget about Buddha, Allah, Jesus and Jehovah Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over Any day now a giant insect mutation Will swoop down and devour the white man's burden Starting out with all of the sensitive ones Better make like a fly if you don't want to die Look out! There goes Gordon! But I can't bring myself to think Wake up Zombie, kick up a big stink You want to scream and shout, my little Saxon lout Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over

Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4 Written by D.P.A. MacManus Performed by Elvis Costello Produced by Mitchell Froom, Kevin Killen & D.P.A. MacManus Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, celeste, toy piano Larry Knechtel - upright piano Benmont Tench - harmonium, calliope Mitchell Froom - Chamberlain Marc Ribot - banjo, cornet, Eb horn Jerry Scheff - tuba, Ampeg upright electric bass Jim Keltner - drums Recorded late 1990-early 1991, Ocean Way, Hollywood & Westside Studios, London Released April 1991 Albums Mighty Like A Rose, 1991 Singles The Other Side Of Summer, 1991 Collections Extreme Honey: The Very Best Of The Warner Bros. Years, 1997 Promos Georgie And Her Rival (Germany), 1991 Malice And Magic (Japan), 1994 A Taste Of Extreme Honey, 1997 Length 3:49 First known performance:  October 26, 1990, Mountain View, CA      (208 known performances) Alternate versions Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4 (Live 1991) Performed by Elvis Costello & The Rude 5 Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, piano Marc Ribot - guitar Jerry Scheff - bass Larry Knechtel - keyboards Pete Thomas - drums Recorded June 21, 1991, Mansfield, MA Released October 1991 Albums Mighty Like A Rose (Rhino reissue), 2002 Singles So Like Candy, 1991 Length 4:32 (single, includes spoken intro) 4:17 (MLAR reissue, omits intro)

• Elvis Costello Home Page: Mighty Like A Rose | lyrics | chords | MLAR info page 1 | So Like Candy CD single info page
• Lyrics

External links

• Elvis Costello Reissues: Mighty Like A Rose