The Comedians

I fell under such gentle persuasion You can't refuse it's like a home from home Meanwhile in the motorcar kingdom They're finding that all that glitters is not chrome The social circle have these cardiac complaints Their hearts are empty when their hands are full All these new found fond acquaintances Turn out to be the red rag to my bull Chorus: And I'm up while the dawn is breaking Even though my heart is aching I should be drinking a toast to absent friends Instead of these comedians I've looked into these eyes upon reflection They've seen the face of love, they've seen a few What kind of love is this upon inspection You'll be the last to know who's fooling who (Chorus) Alternate Lyrics From the demo version on All This Useless Beauty (Rhino reissue) (2001) I sat there alone upon the Ferris wheel A pastel coloured carriage in the air I thought you'd leave me dangling for a minute or two A silly twist upon a childish dare Below I saw you whispering to another man Who held the lever that could bring me down He'd stop the world from turning at your command It's always something cruel that laughter drowns Chorus: And I'm up while the dawn is breaking Even though my heart is aching I should be drinking a toast to absent friends Instead of these comedians I can hardly hear the music from the carousel As the wind picks up the carriage starts to sway As one by one the lights go out, it's closing time I see you take his hand and walk away Walk away They say that you will always be the last to know They say that all that glitters is not gold It's not just that you're never coming back to me It's the bitter way that I was told (Repeat Chorus)

The Comedians Written by Elvis Costello Performed by Elvis Costello & The Attractions Produced by Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley Musicians Elvis Costello - vocals, guitar Maurice Worm (a.k.a. Steve Nieve) - keyboards Bruce Thomas - bass Pete Thomas - drums see Goodbye Cruel World credits for possible additional musicians Recorded February 1984, SARM West Studios, London Released June 18, 1984 Albums Goodbye Cruel World, 1984 Singles The Only Flame In Town, 1984 Collections Singles, Volume 3, 2003 Promos Peace In Our Time, 1984 (France) Length 2:32 First known performance:  December 27, 1982, London, England Last known performance:  November 23, 1987, Kyoto, Japan      (77 known performances, 1 as a snippet) Alternate versions The Comedians (Demo) (#1) Performed by Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, all instruments Recorded ca. 1982-1983, Elvis' home Released July 26, 2004 Albums Goodbye Cruel World (Rhino/Edsel reissue), 2004 Length 2:24 The Comedians (Demo) (#2) Performed by Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, all instruments Recorded ca. 1987, unknown location Released August 21, 2001 Albums All This Useless Beauty (Rhino reissue), 2001 Length 3:05

Internal links

• Elvis Costello Home Page: Goodbye Cruel World  •  lyrics  •  chords  •  GCW info page 1
• Lyrics  •  Alternate lyrics  •  Covers

External links

• Elvis Costello Reissues: Goodbye Cruel World