God's Comic

I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was a funny fella The crowd would hoot and holler for more I wore a drunk's red nose for applause Oh yes, I was a comical priest "With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece" Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar (Chorus:) Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead And I'm going on to meet my reward I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared He might of never heard God's comic So there he was on a waterbed, drinking a cola of a mystery brand Reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem" He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer the one about my son" "I've been wading through all of this unbelievable junk And wondering if I should have given the world to the monkeys" (Repeat Chorus) I'm gonna take a little trip down Paradise's endless shores They say that travel broadens the mind, till you can't get your head out of doors I'm sitting here on the top of the world, I hang around in the longest night Until each beast has gone to bed and then I say "God bless" and put out the light While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe And you beg and you promise and you bargain and you plead Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus It's the big white beard, I suppose I'm going up to the Pole, where you folks die of cold I might be gone for a while if you need me Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead And you're all going on to meet your reward Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? You might have never heard, but God's comic

God's Comic Written by Declan MacManus Performed by Elvis Costello Produced by Elvis Costello, Kevin Killen & T Bone Burnett Musicians Elvis Costello - vocals, Hofner bass Marc Ribot - Spanish guitar, banjo Mitchell Froom - Chamberlain, Indian harmonium Buell Niedlinger - double bass, cellos Jim Keltner - snare drum Michael Blair - xylophone, marimba, snare drum, Magic Table Recorded 1988, Ocean Way, Los Angeles Released February 6, 1989 Albums Spike, 1989 Promos Spike Album Sampler, 1989 Length 5:27 First known performance:  November 5, 1987, Atlanta, GA Last known performance:  September 11, 2007, Charlotte, NC      (334 known performances)

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• Elvis Costello Home Page: Spike  •  lyrics  •  chords  •  Spike info page 1
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• Elvis Costello Reissues: Spike