Elvis Costello — New Lace Sleeves

[Verse 1] Bad lovers face to face in the morning Shy apologies and polite regrets Slow dances that left no one enough Outraged glances and indiscreet yawning Good manners and bad breath will get you nowhere Even presidents have newspaper lovers Ministers go crawling under covers She's no angel He's no saint They're all covered up with whitewash and grease paint And you say [Chorus] The teacher never told you anything but white lies But you never see the lies that you believe Oh you know you have been captured You feel so civilized And you look so pretty in your new lace sleeves [Verse 2] The salty lips of the socialite sisters With their continental fingers that have Never seen working blisters Oh I know they've got their problems I wish I was one of them They say daddy's coming home soon With his sergeant stripes and his Empire mug and spoon No more fast buck When are they going to learn their lesson When are they going to stop all of these victory processions And you say [Chorus] The teacher never told you anything but white lies But you never see the lies that you believe Oh you know you have been captured You feel so civilized And you look so pretty in your new lace sleeves [Outro] You look so pretty in your new lace sleeves You look so pretty in your new lace sleeves You look so pretty in your new lace sleeves You look so pretty in your new lace sleeves