Clown Strike Lyrics - Elvis Costello

She'll fix you with an iron cross 

And cover you up with petals 

And hang you up with some amber beads 

And four or five precious metals 

And in that black flamingo chair 

You'll sit among her trophies 

And pray to be abandoned 

Till you don't know what hope is 

But there's one thing that I had to keep inside 

Because I was shaking 

Why don't you get some pride 

There was a clown strike 

And the clowns threw down their tools 

But you don't have to play so hard 

And I'm nobody's fool 

You don't have to go so far 

'Cause I love you as you are 

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The big top is deserted now 

And the circus girl rehearses 

She knows how to turn their heads 

And not fall between two horses 

But all that seems a simple step 

If only I were able 

To love you like I want to do 

And not by some times table 

But there's one thing that I had to keep inside 

Because I was shaking 

Why don't you get some pride 

There was a clown strike 

And the clowns threw down their tools 

But you don't have to play so hard 

And I'm nobody's fool 

You don't have to go so far 

'Cause I love you as you are 

Photos 

And it's pandemonium 

For the humble and the mighty 

You don't have to tumble for me 

Even a clown knows when to strike 

Tell me what you want of me 

Or are you terrified of failure? 

You put on a superstitious face 

Behind all this paraphernalia 

We're not living in a masquerade 

Where you only have three wishes 

It isn't easy to see 

In a lifetime of mistaken kisses 

But there's one thing that I had to keep inside 

Because I was shaking 

Why don't you get some pride 

There was a clown strike 

And the clowns threw down their tools 

But you don't have to play so hard 

And I'm nobody's fool 

You don't have to go so far 

'Cause I love you as you are 

In this pandemonium 

For the humble and the mighty 

You don't have to tumble for me 

Even a clown knows when to strike