Just Another Mystery

Starting out from the mortuary platform While the band played a lachrymose refrain They hung two green flags on the engine They swore it was a solid gold train The people lined up by the side of the tracks As the carriage rolled away in the dark Through the long hours of uncertainty He was the hammer who beat out the spark Hammer and anvil, tears and pain Stoke up the coals and rattle the chains Don't cry anymore It's just another mystery They packed away his manuscript and metronome His jackdaw quill pen was lost His pocket watch was closed The eviction notice was secretly burned While they threw dice for the rest of his clothes The train left the Grand Central Station Bound for Washington, D.C. But instead flew straight 'cross the ocean For Vienna, Stockholm and Paris Kings, queens, the pashas and potentates Assembled to wish him god speed But when you've been resting as long as him It's not really something you need Everywhere he went they had a word for him On his way back to where he belonged They stood him up, they gathered around and took photographs While a ventriloquist sang all of his songs They said that we're sending a free man From his long-lost country of birth Now that we've had the best of him They can put him in their loving earth When they heard they were sending the body back They gathered from near and from far Another flag, another band, another banner Saying "Welcome home, whoever you are" There was a joke, but nobody spoke The graveyard decidedly odd Where all the dead people turn into big trees Like hands pointing fingers at God Hammer and anvil, tears and pain Stoke up the coals and rattle the chains Don't cry anymore It's just another mystery train All aboard!

Just Another Mystery Written by Declan MacManus Performed by Elvis Costello Produced by Mitchell Froom, Kevin Killen & D.P.A. MacManus Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal additional musicians unknown Recorded late 1990-early 1991, Ocean Way, Los Angeles, and Westside Studios, London Released November 18, 2002 Albums Mighty Like A Rose (Rhino reissue), 2002 Length 4:13 First known performance:      (1 known performances) Just Another Mystery (Home Demo) Performed by Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - vocals, all instruments Recorded ca. 1990, Elvis' home Released November 18, 2002 Albums Mighty Like A Rose (Rhino reissue), 2002 Length 3:41

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• Elvis Costello Home Page: Mighty Like A Rose | lyrics | chords | MLAR info page 1
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External links

• Elvis Costello Reissues: Mighty Like A Rose