All This Useless Beauty Lyrics - Elvis Costello

It's at times such as this, she'd be tempted to spit 

If she wasn't so ladylike 

She imagines how she might have lived 

Back when legends and history collide 

So she looks to her prince finding 

Since he's so charmingly slumped at her side 

Those days are recalled on the gallery wall 

And she's waiting for passion or humor to strike 

What shall we do? 

What shall we do with all this useless beauty? 

All this useless beauty 

Good Friday arrived, the sky darkened on time 

'Til he almost began to negotiate 

She held his head like a baby and said 

"It's okay if you cry" 

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Now he wants her to dress as if you couldn't guess 

He desires to impress his associates 

But he's part ugly beast and Hellenic deceased 

So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny 

What shall we do? 

What shall we do with all this useless beauty? 

All this useless beauty 

She won't practice the looks from the great tragic books 

That were later disgraced to face celluloid 

It won't even make sense but you can bet 

If she isn't a sweetheart or plaything or pet 

The film turns her into an unveiled threat 

Nonsense prevails, modesty fails 

Grace and virtue turn into stupidity 

While the calendar fades almost all barricades 

To a pale compromise 

Photos 

And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts 

They still think they're the Gods of antiquity 

If something you missed didn't even exist 

It was just an ideal, is it such a surprise? 

What shall we do? 

What shall we do with all this useless beauty? 

All this useless beauty 

What shall we do? 

What shall we do with all this useless beauty? 

All this useless beauty