Miss Macbeth Lyrics - Elvis Costello

All the children testified 

That Miss Macbeth had a fishbone slide 

In her cobweb tresses 

Her eyes were black like first foot coal 

Clutched as white as chalk-dust 

Her fingers sweated india-ink and poison-pen letters 

There is a hungry hanging tree 

Just below your bedroom window 

You can hear her take a broom 

To beat out a tattoo on the ceiling 

Her bloodless face ran red inside 

But was she really evil? 

Was she only pantomime? 

Related 

15 Huge Stars Who Were Backup Singers First 

From MetroLyrics to You: Our Classic Christmas Playlist 

5 Totally Underrated Christmas Songs 

Now the chalk on the wall 

Says that somebody saves 

That somebody's face has just been 

Washed off the pavement 

Into a puzzle where petrol 

Will be poisoned by rain 

Miss Macbeth saw her reflection 

As confetti bled its colours down the drain 

And everyday she lives out another love song 

It's a tearful lament of somebody done wrong 

Well how can you miss what you've never possessed 

Miss Macbeth? 

Photos 

Well we all should have known 

When the children paraded 

They portrayed her in their fairytales 

Sprinkling deadly nightshade 

And as they tormented her 

She rose to the bait 

Even a scapegoat 

Must have someone to hate 

And everyday she lives out another love song 

"You're up there enjoying yourself, and I know it's wrong" 

But how can you miss what you've never possessed 

Miss Macbeth? 

Sometimes people are just what they appear to be 

With no redemption at all 

We try to walk upright 

When we can't even crawl 

Miss Macbeth has a gollywog 

She chucks under the chin 

And she whispers to it tenderly 

Then sticks it on a pin 

And it might be coincidence 

But a boy down the lane 

That she said went white as he could do 

Then doubled over in pain 

And everyday she lives out another love song 

It's a tearful lament of somebody done wrong 

And how can you miss what you've never possessed 

Miss Macbeth?