Poisoned Rose

The poisoned rose That you gave to me It left me half alive And half in ecstasy But if half of your love Is all I can win Give me just a fraction But no more medicine The poisoned rose On a Valentine card That you take straight to the heart That you call my junkyard But if all I can do Is save pieces of you The piece of your mind The piece of your heart Didn't tear me apart Like the poisoned rose I received from you I don't know How we came to grow Into this very sad affair Every time we do the decent thing Somebody spikes the drink And a single becomes a pair The poisoned rose That you wear at your best That I keep pressed between the white sheets Where you lie half undressed I threw away my shirt and shoes You looked and I dived in It's just you and me now 'Cause I threw away the gin I threw away your alibis And all your worn-out clothes I threw myself upon the floor But I couldn't throw away This poisoned rose This poisoned rose This poisoned rose

Poisoned Rose Written by Declan MacManus Performed by The Costello Show Produced by The Little Hands Of Concrete - vocals Ray Brown - string bass Earl Palmer - brushes & drums Tom Canning - piano Mitchell Froom - Hammond organ Recorded July-August 1985, Ocean Way and/or Sunset Sound and/or Sound Factory, Los Angeles Released February 21, 1986 Albums King Of America, 1986 Singles Baby Plays Around, 1989 Collections Girls Girls Girls, 1989 Length 4:05 First known performance:  April 25, 1985, London, England      (153 known performances) Alternate versions Poisoned Rose (Solo Demo) Performed by Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, guitar Recorded February 14, 1985, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles Released April 25, 2005 Albums King Of America (Rhino/Edsel reissue), 2005 Length 4:09 Poisoned Rose (Live 2006) Performed by Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint featuring The Imposters, Anthony "AB" Brown & The Crescent City Horns Horn arrangement Allen Toussaint Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, guitar Allen Toussaint - piano Steve Nieve - keyboards Davey Faragher - bass Pete Thomas - drums Anthony "AB" Brown - guitar Amadee Castenell - saxophone Brian "Breeze" Cayolle - saxophone Joe "Foxx" Smith - trumpet Sam "Big Sam" Williams - trombone Recorded July 3, 2006, Montreal, QC, Canada Released December 5, 2006 Videos Hot As A Pistol, Keen As A Blade, 2006

Internal links

• Elvis Costello Home Page: King Of America  •  lyrics  •  chords  •  KOA info page 1  •  Baby Plays Around single info page
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External links

• Elvis Costello Reissues: King Of America