Crawling To The USA

I thought I would go to the sea and shrink down very tiny And slide inside the telephone wire that runs under the briny Till I found there is a way of crawling to the U.S.A. You had better not go too far There's one way out, there's only one way Leave your mother and your father Crawling to the U.S.A. Saw it late one night on a secret channel It's farther on along the tunnel It's way beyond the final station That's the one they never mention You had better not go too far There's one way out, there's only one way Leave your mother and your father Crawling to the U.S.A. You don't have to pay them that much You had better bring your lunch It's undercover, around the houses Up your skirt and down your trousers You had better not go too far There's one way out, there's only one way Leave your mother and your father Crawling to the U.S.A. She said, "I catch you taking liberties and they do not impress me Attach me to your credit card and then you can undress me Everybody is on their knees except the Russians and the Chinese You had better not go too far There's one way out, there's only one way Leave your mother and your father Crawling to the U.S.A.

Crawling To The USA Written by Elvis Costello Performed by Elvis Costello & The Attractions Produced by Nick Lowe Musicians Elvis Costello - vocals, guitar Steve Nieve - keyboards Bruce Thomas - bass Pete Thomas - drums Recorded December 1978, Waterloo Studios, Sydney, Australia Released October 1979 Albums This Year's Model (Rykodisc/Demon reissue), 1993 This Year's Model (Rhino/Edsel reissue), 2002 This Year's Model: Deluxe Edition, 2008 Collections Taking Liberties, 1980 Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers, 1980 2½ Years, 1993 Soundtracks Americathon, 1979 Length 2:52 First known performance:  July 21, 1977, Manchester, England Last known performance:  July 27, 1977, London, England      (10 known performances) Alternate versions Crawling To The USA (Soundcheck 1977) Performed by Elvis Costello & The Attractions Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, guitar Steve Nieve - keyboards Bruce Thomas - bass Pete Thomas - drums Recorded August 7, 1977, London, England Released September 11, 2007 Albums My Aim Is True: Deluxe Edition, 2007 Length 3:00

Chords

• Transcribed by Marika Whaley (whaley.24@osu.edu). Thanks to Bill Nemec for his suggestion on the opening chords.

Opening chords: G (two beats) G7 (four beats)

    C                Am              C               F  C
I thought I would go to the sea and shrink down very tiny
     C                Am                  C              F  C
And slide inside the telephone wire that runs under the briny
F                  Bb    F                     Bb  G
Till I found there is a way of crawling to the U.S.A.

C                  Bb     C
You had better not go too far
F                            Bb    F
There's one way out, there's only one way
C                 Bb        C
Leave your mother and your father
F               Bb  G
Crawling to the U.S.A.

C               Am
Saw it late one night on a secret channel
C                Am
(Crawling to the U.S.A.)
C                 Am
It's farther on along the tunnel
C                Am
(Crawling to the U.S.A.)
F                    Bb     F
It's way beyond the final station
F                    Bb
That's the one they never mention

(same as above)
You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

(same as "Saw it late one night..." above)
You don't have to pay them that much
You had better bring your lunch
It's undercover, around the houses
Up your skirt and down your trousers

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A.

(same as first verse above)
She said, "I catch you taking liberties and they do not impress me
Attach me to your credit card and then you can undress me
Everybody is on their knees except the Russians and the Chinese

You had better not go too far
There's one way out, there's only one way
Leave your mother and your father
Crawling to the U.S.A. 

fade out
C               Am
Crawling to the U.S.A.

Translation

• Crawling To The USA (français)

Internal links

• Elvis Costello Home Page: This Year's Model  •  lyrics  •  chords  •  TYM info page  •  Rykodisc/Demon TYM reissue info page
• Lyrics  •  Covers

External links

• Elvis Costello Reissues: This Year's Model