I've been talking to the wall and it's been answering me
Oh darling, how I miss you
I'm just the mere shadow of my former selfishness
I crave the silhouette of your kiss
With only the blue light of the TV on
Lip reading threats and false alarms
There's a boy somewhere holding hands with himself
And a girl in a window on the Reeperbahn

Whenever I put my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt
That it's you that I'm dreaming about
Do I have to draw you a diagram?
All I ever want is just to fall into your human hands

With the kings and queens of the dance hall craze
Checkmate in three moves in your heyday
But the girls don't listen to your line anymore
Now you're part of someone else

On the factory floor you still say: "Where's the action?"
Now you manufacture happiness
And get sold on the cheap for someone's satisfaction

Whenever I put my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt
That it's you that I'm dreaming about
Do I have to draw you a diagram?
All I ever want is just to fall into your human hands

All you toy soldiers and scaremongers
Are you living in this world? Sometimes, I wonder
In between saying you've seen too much and saying you've seen it all before

Tighter and tighter I hold you tightly
You know I love you more than slightly
Although I've never said it like this before

Whenever I put my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt
That it's you that I'm dreaming about
Do I have to draw you a diagram?
All I ever want is just to fall into your human hands
All I ever want is just to fall into your human hands


Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget

Human Hands Lyrics as written by Elvis Costello

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Human Hands song meanings
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4 Comments

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    General Comment

    Love this song its a little jem, OK its not EC best work but its so EC, tight clever lyrics, fantastic melody and run.

    Its a love song, from someone who finds it hard to say the words as they have been in a relationship for a long time and got out of the habit of expressing how much they care.

    pfcprcon September 28, 2014   Link

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