Lesson In Cruelty Lyrics

Elvis Costello Lesson In Cruelty

Here's a thought to dwell upon,
Daddy's girl is almost gone
Now there's just a vain princess
'Her Ruthlessness'
Tearing up the nursery
Stars more used to glittering
Pictured in the guttering
Faces caught about to laugh
Torn in half
Slipping through your fingers
See them scatter
Maybe it doesn't matter
But I still really want to pick pieces up
You can't fool me
With this lesson in cruelty
It's not as if I was asking time to stop
In violent blue
Like roses red
She laughed as she tore off his head
The hours she gazed on her former champion
Now it's just a frame of sellotape and torn wallpaper
As she rips his pretty face to bits

[Chorus]

It's too much too soon or so it seems
To put away these childish dreams
You'll find out soon enough that worship can be tough
Love is just a name to celebrate a vision
Or confetti littered with regrets.
See it scatter...
Dear heart to good to waste
But if some hot-head should claim it
Don't rush to his embrace
And it remains to say...
I'll love you just the same, whatever your decision
As you put the paper to the flame
(It's a lesson in cruelty)