Stella Hurt
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
You should wear your red galoshes
Walking o'er the city pride
Streets are paved with heaven's pennies
Gutters full of suicides
Teddy steadily fell from grace
Somewhere near Arcadia
Once she overheard a voice
That she didn't hear on the radio
Velvet gloves and country clubs
Were never going to hold her
Ringing the necks of silly
Southern belles
Who wanted to scold her
[Chorus]
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
Teddy soon dropped out of sight
Turned up in another town
Changed her name for the spotlight
Singing like a blue bird in a sequin gown
She finally fell and married well
But I knew it wouldn't last
Reversing back into the limelight
No one ever saw her even half-plastered
[Chorus]
Then she saw those soldier boys
Throw their bonnets in the air
Self-made men would pledge their fortunes
And dream of her
And dream of her...
Generals in the commissary opened up a case of wine
Checked the perfume of the cork
Said "Made in 1929"...
They used her up, to raise morale for money
And Old Glory
Her voice was shot beyond repair
But this is not the last act of this story
The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until the needle drags her through the static
[Chorus]
Share
More from Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Country Darkness
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Either Side of the Same Town
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Bedlam
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Delivery Man
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Monkey to Man
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Nothing Clings Like Ivy
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Name of This Thing Is Not Love
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Heart Shaped Bruise
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Needle Time
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Judgement
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Scarlet Tide
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
No Hiding Place
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Harry Worth
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Drum & Bone
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Flutter & Wow
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
My Three Sons
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Pardon Me, Madam, My Name Is Eve
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Monkey
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Country Darkness [The Clarksdale Sessions]
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Scarlet Tide [The Clarksdale Sessions]
Elvis Costello & the Imposters