A Town Called Big Nothing (Really Big Nothing) [*]
Elvis Costello & the Attractions

Big nothing.
He stood in the road outside of town
With a broken clockwork toy in his hand.
A graveyard for childish dreams in his palm
A broken lifeline.

Big nothing.
The mechanical amusement sputtered to life in his fist.
As he clenched, it whirred and died again.
It was a cowboy who drew his gun,
But the pistol was welded to the holster
By age and careless children,
So it struggled and strained
And it unwound its own spring.

Big nothing.
He didn't need tattoos to show where he'd been
And who he'd loved.
It was the same thing that men had cried for;
That women had dyed their hair for.
The cellophane illusion of a starry sky
Stretched over an open sore.

Big nothing.
He thought about his lost daughter
The way her eyes would alight at the greedy circus barker's blackmail song
How he wanted to smash her skull in when she parroted back,
'Tell mommy; tell poppy; you need this little dolly.'

Big nothing.
Big nothing.
The smoky voice of the petaled girl woke him long enough.
There was too much light in the room, so he unscrewed the bulb.
She took him to bed like an adopted dog.

Big nothing.
She lit sickly incense, as he tried to tell himself
The resemblance were pure and coincidental.
He unleashed his grip on the toy and all it meant to him,
And it wound down forever.

Big nothing.
He woke up in a sweat, the next day.
With her smile still painted on his mouth
He walked out of a town called Big Nothing.

Big nothing. (repeat until fade)


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Lyrics by Elvis Costello & the Attractions

  (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes   5ive Gears in Reverse   A Good Year for the Roses   Accidents Will Happen   Accidents Will Happen [Live][*]   Alison   Alison [Live][*]   All These Things [*]   Almost Blue   Almost Ideal Eyes   Almost Ideal Eyes   Almost Ideal Eyes   And in Every Home   Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo   Basement Kiss   Beyond Belief   Big Boys   Big Boys   Big Sister   Big Sister's Clothes   Big Tears   Black & White World   Black & White World [*]   Black & White World [#]   Blame It on Cain   Blame It on Cain   Blue Chair   Boy With a Problem   Boy With a Problem [*]   Brilliant Mistake   Busy Bodies   Charm School   Chemistry Class   Clean Money   Clean Money [*]   Clowntime Is Over No. 2   Clubland   Clubland [Alternate Take]   Colour of the Blues   Crawling to the USA   Crawling to the USA [*]   Deportee [Alternate Take][#][*]   Different Finger   Everyday I Write the Book   Everyday I Write the Book [Live][*]   Fish ā€™nā€™ Chip Paper   Forgive Her Anything [*]   From a Whisper to a Scream   From Head to Toe   From Head to Toe [*]   Get Yourself Another Fool [*]   Gloomy Sunday [*]   Good Year for the Roses   Goon Squad   Green Shirt   Green Shirt   Hand in Hand   Heathen Town   Heathen Town [*]   High Fidelity   Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head   Honey Are You Straight or Are You Blind?   Honey Hush   How Much I Lied   Human Hands   I Stand Accused   I Turn Around   I Turn Around [*]   I Wanna Be Loved   I Want You   Indoor Fireworks   Jack of All Parades   Joe Porterhouse   Jump Up   Just a Memory   Kid About It   Kid About It [Alternate Version][*]   King of Thieves   Leave My Kitten Alone [*]   Less Than Zero   Less Than Zero (Dallas Version) [Live at the el Mo...   Let Them All Talk   Lip Service   Lip Service (Live)   Lip Service [Live at Hollywood High] [#]   Lip Service [Live at the el Mocambo]   Lipstick Vogue   Lipstick Vogue [Live at Hollywood High]   Lipstick Vogue [Live at the el Mocambo]   Little Goody Two Shoes (Alternate Version)   Little Savage   Little Triggers   Little Triggers [Live at the el Mocambo]   Living in Paradise   Lovable   Love Went Mad   Lovers Walk   Luxembourg   Men Called Uncle   Miracle Man   Miracle Man [Live at Hollywood High] [#]   Moods for Moderns   Mouth Almighty   My Funny Valentine [*]   Mystery Dance   Mystery Dance [Live at the el Mocambo]   New Amsterdam   New Lace Sleeves   Next Time Round   Night Rally   No Action   No Action [Live at Hollywood High] [#]   No Dancing   Only Flame in Town   Party Girl   Pay It Back   Pills and Soap   Poison Moon   Possession   Pouring Water on a Drowning Man [*]   Pretty Words   Psycho   Pump It Up   Pump It Up [Live at the el Mocambo]   Radio Radio [Live at the el Mocambo]   Radio, Radio   Radio, Radio [Live at Hollywood High] [#]   Running Out of Angels   Running Out of Fools [*]   Sad About Girls [*]   Secondary Modern   Senior Service   Shabby Doll   Shabby Doll [*]   Shatterproof   Shatterproof [*]   Shipbuilding   Shot With His Own Gun   Sneaky Feelings   So Like Candy   So Young   Step Inside Love   Sticks and Stones   Strict Time   Success   Sweet Dreams   Talking in the Dark [*]   Tears Before Bedtime   Temptation   Temptation [Alternate Version]   The Beat   The Beat [Live at the el Mocambo]   The Element Within Her   The Flirting Kind   The Flirting Kind [*]   The Greatest Thing   The Invisible Man   The Long Honeymoon   The Long Honeymoon [Instrumental]   The Only Flame in Town   The Only Flame in Town [Live][#][*]   The Stamping Ground [*]   The World and His Wife   The World and His Wife [Live][*]   Tiny Steps [*]   TKO (Boxing Day)   Tokyo Storm Warning   Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down   Too Far Gone   Town Cryer   Town Where Time Stood Still [*]   Twenty-Five to Twelve   Twenty-Five to Twelve [*]   Two Little Hitlers   Uncomplicated   Waiting for the End of the World   Waiting for the End of the World [Live at Hollywoo...   Waiting for the End of the World [Live at the el M...   Watch Your Step   Watching the Detectives   Watching the Detectives [Live][*]   Wave a White Flag   Wednesday Week [*]   Welcome to the Working Week   Welcome to the Working Week [Live at the el Mocamb...   White Knuckles   Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)?   Worthless Thing [Live][#][*]   You Belong to Me   You Belong to Me [Live at Hollywood High]   You Belong to Me [Live at the el Mocambo]   You Little Fool

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