Cruel To Be Kind

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Oh, I can't take another heartache,
Though you say you're my friend, I'm at my wits' end!
You say you're love is bona fide,
But that don't coincide with the things that you do
And when I ask you to be nice, you say

You've gotta be
Cruel to be kind in the right measure,
Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign,
Cruel to be kind means that I love you,
Baby, you've gotta be cruel to be kind.

Well I do my best to understand dear,
But you still mystify, and I want to know why.
I pick myself up off the ground
To have you knock me back down again and again!
And when I ask you to explain, you say

You've gotta be
Cruel to be kind in the right measure,
Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign,
Cruel to be kind means that I love you,
Baby, you've gotta be cruel to be kind.

Well I do my best to understand dear,
But you still mystify, and I want to know why.
I pick myself up off the ground
To have you knock me back down again and again!
And when I ask you to explain, you say

You've gotta be
Cruel to be kind in the right measure,
Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign,
Cruel to be kind means that I love you,
Baby, you've gotta be cruel to be kind...

Cruel To Be Kind (unreleased cover)
Written byNick Lowe & Ian Gomm
Performed byElvis Costello with Nick Lowe, Austin de Lone, Bill Kirchen, Bob Andrews, Derek Huston, Ruth Davies & Paul Revelli


Category:Unreleased covers1999-00-00 live.jpg


Recordings by other artists

 Artist  Year  Release  Links
Nick Lowe  1978  B-side of Little Hitler
Nick Lowe  1979 Labour Of Lust (re-recording)
Ian Gomm  1998 Crazy For You
 Letters To Cleo  1999 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack
 Marshall Crenshaw with Christine Ohlman  2001 Labour Of Love: The Music Of Nick Lowe
 Lazlo Bane  2007 Guilty Pleasures

Internal links

External links