With a handful of backhanders and a bevy of beauty
Going off-limits, going off duty
Going off the rails, going off with booty
They tell tales of fiction found on all the criminal types
Lead to a higher-ranking man or a face with thin red stripes

The boys next door
The mums and dads
New-weds and nearly-deads
Have you ever been had in clubland?
In clubland

There's a piece in someone's pocket to do the dirty work
You've come to shoot the pony, they've come to do the jerk
They leave him halfway to paradise, they leave you halfway to bliss
The ladies' invitation never seemed like this

The boys next door
The mums and dads
New-weds and nearly-deads
Have you ever been had in clubland?
In clubland

The long arm of the law slides up the outskirts of town
Meanwhile in clubland they are ready to pull them down
Hey

The right to work is traded in for the right to refuse admission
Don't pass out now, there's no refund, did you find out what you were missing?
The crowd is taking forty winks minus ten percent
You barely get required sleep to go lingering with contemptment
Thursday to Saturday
Money's gone already
Some things come in common these days
Your hands and work aren't steady

The boys next door
The mums and dads
New-weds and nearly-deads
Have you ever been had in clubland?
In clubland
In clubland
In clubland, he-e-y


Lyrics submitted by planetearth

Clubland Lyrics as written by Elvis Costello

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Clubland song meanings
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5 Comments

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  • +1
    General Commentit's official. steve nieve is my favorite keyboarderist.
    pumkinhedon March 17, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThe long arm of the law slides up the outskirts of town
    Meanwhile in club land they are ready to pull them down

    Wow- for wordplay Elvis pretty much without peer. Hard to beat. The extended metaphors in this song remind me of Shakespeare. Only Dylan or Waits in his class.
    jewelsofpasteon August 21, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General CommentAn amazing song. Lyrically, it's scenes from a night club painted with EC's characteristic word play.

    Musically, it's based on the looping chord progression in "Message in a Bottle" by the Police. Doesn't sound anything like the Police though. The flourishes and accents are evocative of Tango Jalousie.
    Atmanon February 02, 2021   Link
  • 0
    General Commentyour spelling of "keyboardists" is off, but your taste in "keyboardists" is not. Some great piano accents in this tune
    tomautoon August 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General CommentReminds me all too vividly of wasted nights spent "on the town" partying for no reason except it seemed like the thing to do at the time.
    hangwire13on August 29, 2006   Link

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