Elvis Costello River In Reverse Lyrics

River In Reverse Lyrics

How long does a promise last?

How long can a lie be told?

What would I take in exchange for my soul?

Would I notice when it was sold?



Wake me up, wake me up

Wake me up with a slap or a kiss

There must be something better than this

'Cos I don't see how it can get much worse

What do we have to do to send the river in reverse?



Every man, a crawling king snake

Every girl, a half a heartbreak

Every woman sold into shame

To any son without a name



Are your arms too weak to lift?

Another shovel on the graveyard shift

Here comes the flood if you catch my drift

Where the things that they promised are not a gift



If man falls through the mirror of a lake

They fish him out quick and they call him a fake

Give him all the temptations he can take

Tie him up high till his bones break



Wake me up, wake me up

Wake me up with a slap or a kiss

There must be something better than this

'Cos I don't see how it can get much worse

What do we have to do to send the river in reverse



I thought I heard somebody laugh

Look out your window

They're chasing shadows in the dark

They're counting widows



I felt a sliver of glass

Saw a cross in splinters

I felt the truce of spring

Dig me out of the trench of winter



So count your blessings when they ask permission

To govern with money and superstition

They tell you it's all for your own protection

Till you fear your own reflection



But the times are passing from illumination

Like bodies falling from a constellation

An uncivil war divides the nation

So erase the tape on that final ape running down creation

Running down creation



Wake me up, wake me up

Wake me up with a slap or a kiss

There must be something better than this

Wake me up, wake me up with a slap or a kiss

There must be something better than this