Little Palaces

In Chocolate Town all the trains are painted brown On the silver paper of the wrapper There's a dapper little man And he wears a wax moustache That he twists with nicotine fingers As he drops his cigarette ash And someone comes and sweeps it up And then he doffs his cap And there's a rat in someone's bedroom And they're shutting someone's trap And they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces And the doors swing back and forward, from the past into the present And the bedside crucifixion turns from wood to phosphorescent. And they're moving problem families from the South up to the North, Mother's crying over some soft soap opera divorce, And you say you didn't do it, but you know you did of course, And they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces. It's like shouting in a matchbox, filled with plasterboard and hope, Like a picture of Prince William in the arms of John the Pope. There's a world of good intentions, and pity in their eyes, The sedated homes of England, are theirs to vandalize. So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name, And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same. And they feel like knocking down the little palaces. You're the twinkle in your daddy's eye, a name you spray and scribble, You made the girls all turn their heads, and in turn they made you miserable. To be the heir apparent, to the kingdom of the invisible. So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name, And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same. And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.

Little Palaces Written by Declan MacManus Performed by The Costello Show Produced by J. Henry (T-Bone) Burnett & Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus with Larry Kalman Hirsch Musicians The Little Hands Of Concrete - vocal, acoustic guitar, mandolins Jerry Scheff - string bass Recorded ca. July 1985, Ocean Way, Hollywood possibly Sunset Sound and/or The Sound Factory Released February 21, 1986 Albums King Of America, 1986 Collections Girls Girls Girls, 1989 Length 3:48 First known performance:  June 20, 1985, Sydney, Australia      (67 known performances)

Internal links

• Elvis Costello Home Page: King Of America  •  lyrics  •  chords  •  KOA info page 1
• Lyrics

External links

• Elvis Costello Reissues: King Of America