Elvis Costello There's a Story in Your Voice song lyrics

Once upon another time, if you had the need

I'd step right in the shoes that you've been walkin'

'Cos someone put the hurt in you, for every one to see

And you only have to speak to tell your fortune

'Cos there's a story in your voice

Both by damage and by choice

It tells of promises and pleasure

And a tale of wine and woe

The uneasy time to come

And the long way 'round we go to get there

Once you told me fairy tales, everybody knows

But I didn't care for their prediction

Now you say you're leavin' me and packin' up your clothes

I finally see you were a work of fiction

There's a story in your walk

Then you crumble just like chalk

I could say that I was sorry

But I wouldn't mean it much

There are pages I can't touch

And something that's been torn out of this chapter

Far away, not far enough 'cos I can still recall

How it felt when I read that last sentence

Now I go inside some rooms with Gideon in them all

And hide myself from all hope of repentance

There's a story in your eyes

Cheap sunglasses might disguise

But when the bedroom light reveals

All that bravado and that fright

That you cover up in spite

Attempts to strip away this fabrication

There's a story in your voice

Both by damage and by choice

It tells of promises and pleasure

And a tale of wine and woe

The uneasy time to come

And the long way 'round we go to get there