The Sweetest Punch (song)

You only saw red after I said, "How can we continue?"
Hidden from your view in the blue corner that I painted myself into
Then we started to fight and it changed everything
Here's the ring

You dropped the band, I can't understand it
Not after all we've been through
Words start to fly, my glass jaw and I
Will find one to walk right into
You knocked me out
It was the sweetest punch
The bell goes...

I can hear it ringing, but I didn't see it coming
We all say things we don't mean
You can't take it back
Now the room is spinning, but was I the last to notice?
I can see I'll never win
So if you're going, then you better go to him
Then you better go to him

I only saw stars, I dropped my guard, and that's how it ended
What was I to do in the blue corner where I seemed to hang suspended?
Then with seconds to go, you delivered the blow
Here I go

You dropped the band, I can't understand it
Not after all we've been through
Words start to fly, my glass jaw and I
Will find one to walk right into
You knocked me out
It was the sweetest punch
The bell goes...

I can hear it ringing, but I didn't see it coming
We all say things we don't mean
You can't take it back
Now the room is spinning, but was I the last to notice?
I can see I'll never win
So if you're going, then you better go to him
Then you better go to him

The Sweetest Punch
Written by	Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
Performed by	Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach
Produced by	Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
Arranged by	Burt Bacharach
Musicians	Elvis Costello - voice Burt Bacharach - piano, conductor Steve Nieve - keyboards Jim Keltner - drums Greg Cohen - bass Dean Parks - guitar Donna Taylor, Lisa Taylor, Sue-Ann Carwell - vocal group plus additional musicians
Recorded	June-July 1998, Ocean Way, Los Angeles
Released	September 28, 1998
Albums	Painted From Memory, 1998 The Songs Of Bacharach & Costello, 2023
Singles	This House Is Empty Now, 1998 She, 1999 The Sweetest Punch, 1999
Collections	Pomp & Pout: The Universal Years, 2010
Length	4:07