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Man Called Uncle Lyrics

Now there's newsprint all over your face
Well maybe that's why I can read you like a book
Just when I thought I was getting my taste to bite
I go and lose my appetite
Look at the men that you'd call uncle
They'd like to sink their teeth into you
For the pride and the pleasure
And the privilege of having you

If I say you're the one do you think that I'm serious
You get that kind of talk from older men
If I say I love you then I must be delirious
So why are you trying to put my temperature up again

Look at the men that you'd call uncle
Having a heart attack round your ankles

When you wake up with X-rated eyes
When you wake up still shaking
How can I apologize
As you check your effects and check your reflection
I'm so affected in the face of your affection

Look at the men that you'd call uncle
Having a heart attack round your ankles

I could swear, I could promise that I'll always be true to you
But we may not live to be so old
I could even say I'm going to do something new to you
Now the girls I see just leave me cold

Look at the men that you call uncle...
Song Info
Submitted by
mopnugget On Jul 01, 2002
2 Meanings

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Cover art for Man Called Uncle lyrics by Elvis Costello

Another song from Get Happy that no one has commented on! and a classic too!

This song is about large age differences in relationships. Particularly about a girl who throws herself at older men.

This guy is the master of lyrics. love the first two lines though. sound great when he sings them.

Cover art for Man Called Uncle lyrics by Elvis Costello

The song seems to be from the viewpoint of a guy who is in love with a woman that tends to date older men--old enough to be her "uncles." She uses them as sugar daddies to get money and gifts. Discovering this fact quells his desire for her.

This was the first EC song I ever heard, and was immediately taken with oddness and hilarity of the first two lines. What do they mean? I have long thought it might be about Bebe Buell and seeing her pictures in the papers. But I don't really know.

BTW, the correct title of the song is "Men Called Uncle." It was incorrectly spelled on first vinyl editions of Get Happy!

 
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