Penelope Halfpenny

Penelope Halfpenny sat on the desk Then stretched and grinned She cracked her spine And so we sinned While Ruth in red and Beckett in blue Into the confessional flew And in that box, unlocked their dreams While lovers ran hands on nylon Penelope, Penelope, Penelope Halfpenny Penelope Halfpenny Asked a great deal Turned on her heel Through her squandered ambitions while marking time Taught lessons to all adjacent to crime From her days reporting to the Scotland Yard blotter Who got who and who got what But none of that mattered not one jot To Penelope, Penelope, Penelope, Penelope Halfpenny Ruth in red tumbled from her bed although, I know Beckett in blue, hung there bleeding from the springs below Penelope, Penelope Penelope she came and went We assumed that all her savings were spent Her style of drama and her shape of face Disappeared with the dot of a decimal place While Beckett in blue and Ruth in red Might for all I know be dead And to the church door both were driven Or could be somewhere, happily living Just in time to be forgiven Penelope, Penelope, Penelope, Penelope Halfpenny

Penelope Halfpenny Written by Elvis Costello Performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters Produced by Sebastian Krys & Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - vocals, Fender Jazzmaster, Gibson Kalamazoo Steve Nieve - Vox Continental, electronic keyboards Pete Thomas - drums, percussion Davey Faragher - bass, vocals Sebastian Krys - background vocals Released January 14, 2022 Albums The Boy Named If, 2022 Length 2:57 First known performance:  October 15, 2021, Louisville, KY Last known performance:  June 17, 2023, Las Vegas, NV      (47 known performances) Alternate versions Penelope Halfpenny Performed by Elvis Costello and The Imposters with Charlie Sexton Albums The Boy Named If (Alive At Memphis Magnetic), 2022

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