Elvis Costello - Punishing Kiss

(words macmanus/o’riordan, music: costello)
I favour a good punishing kiss
It helps pass the lonely afternoon
Another stiff drink, wipe off that lipstick
For when you reach a certain age
All the most villainous men can be found on channel ten
I make them dance in attendance
’we will be back in a minute or two’
And he will punish that girl
Oh forget the reason
Just look at me I’m lost in a social whirl
She was never so witty
Always struggling to be full of fun
’on weekdays
From mid-day to one’
In a little black cocktail dress everyone hates
She’ll be saving the world inbetween fashion plates
I know what she gets up to in the back of that blacked out limousine
And I catch myself shouting at the screen
I think that it’s time to turn over
They say it’s harmless I know
A hundred and ten percent certain
Virtually real
If you need something to feel
Then favour a punishing kiss
It helps chase the wasted afternoons
The flowers and pearls
The long lost relations
That love sick tom-boy comes in bloom
The pointless heartache
That seems to belong in my blue room
Can’t stand the suspense
The endless embraces
Each episode lends the silly pretence
Say I can look away when I will never miss it
Starts with a joke
And ends with a punishing kiss