Harpies Bizarre lyrics by Elvis Costello, 1 meaning, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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Elvis Costello – Harpies Bizarre lyrics
He selects the plainest face form a spiteful row of girls
Elegant insulted women, a flaw of cultured pearls
He drops a name or two, she fails to catch
At last he's met his match
Unspoiled and unaffected, he wants her so much
She puts up half-hearted resistance, like she was taught to do
She's heard some of those small town playboys but this is
Something new
His promise seems dangerous, she'd like to believe
He says "You'd better leave"
"You've only got yourself to blame, shame, or deceive"

The waiting lines are long
They never get too far
Everyone wearing that medal with pride
Harpies Bizarre

I looked on but hesitated
I failed to interrupt
You're so hard to tell the truth to
So easy to corrupt
I'll memorize your face
Your tragic smile
The hurt look in your eyes
As you betrayed yourself to the part of him that dies

The waiting lines are long
They never get too far
They're shining up their shoes to kick a falling star
You think you should be somebody
But you don't know who you are
Everyone wearing that medal with pride
Harpies Bizarre
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Lyrics taken from /lyrics/e/elvis_costello/harpies_bizarre.html

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Songwriters: DECLAN MACMANUS
Harpies Bizarre lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

Harpies Bizarre meanings

  • y
    + 1
    yrussell
    I bought "Mighty Like A Rose" in the early 90's when I was 19 years old. Back then, I listened to it over and over again. I remember "Harpies Bizarre" but at the time, I didn't really understand it. I was distracted by the orchestral arrangement on the song (the flutes and whatnot) and it wasn't my favourite. Now... 29 years later (around my 48th birthday), I pop the tape back in (I recently bought a tape player -- something I haven't owned in years). Listening to "Harpies Bizarre" today, I suddenly grasped the real meaning of the song and it hit me hard emotionally. I think that once you've had some life experiences and have tasted the real pain of loneliness, romantic disillusion - and the frantic things we do to try to fill the gap - then you can really put yourself into the shoes of the people described in this song. On the face of it, the song appears to be about a one-night stand... but more widely it's about putting ourselves out there, desperate for connection. But it's also about people who have been out there for a while, still looking, but becoming veterans of the ever-lengthening string of empty encounters. After that one-night stand that you briefly hoped was something more, you put our public face back on and start looking again.
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    • y
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      yrussell
      I bought "Mighty Like A Rose" in the early 90's when I was 19 years old. Back then, I listened to... Read more →

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