Elvis Costello – Punishing Kiss lyrics

(Words: MacManus/O'Riordan, music: Costello)

I favour a good punishing kiss
It helps pass the lonely afternoons
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
And I make them dance
In attendance
We will be back
In a minute or two
And he will punish that girl
Oh I 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 midday to one
In a little black cocktail dress everyone hates
She'll be saving the world in-between fashion plates
I know what she gets up to in the back of that black limousine
And I find 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 good punishing kiss
It helps chase the wasted afternoons
The flowers and the pearls
The long lost relations
That love sick tom boy comes in bloom
All the pointless heartache
That seems to belong in my blue bloom

Can't stand the suspense
The endless embraces
When each episode
Lends the silly pretence
Say I can turn away
When I will never miss
It starts with a joke
And ends with a punishing kiss