Shadow and Jimmy
Were always yesterday's news
Jimmy's a bowler
Shadow rents out his green bowling shoes
Late Friday night
When the bars are all shuttered and dark
He shadows back Jimmy
To the lot in the lost trailer park

For Shadow and Jimmy
Every weekend ends up the same
If it's Saturday night
Then it must be the hockey game
After cold beer and barbecued ribs
The night is complete
With wrestling stories and elegant bones
That are tired of walking and on their way home

And they talk about the women
And they look at the girls
They'll never know the ways of the world
They've got a mouthful of much obliged
And a handful of gimme
And the love for each other
Oh Shadow and Jimmy

For Shadow and Jimmy
Now the story is told (Story is told)
There's nothing to hold on to
And no one to hold (No one to hold)
For men without women
Are like fish without water to swim in
(Water to swim in)
With their eyes bugging out
They flop on the beach
And look up at the girls
Who are just out of reach

And they talk about the women
(Talk about the women)
And they look at the girls (Look at the girls)
They'll never know the ways of the world
They've got a mouthful of much obliged
And a handful of gimme
And they love for each other
Oh Shadow and Jimmy
And they talk about the women
(Talk about the women)
And they look at the girls (Look at the girls)
They'll never know the ways of the world
They've got a mouthful of much obliged
And a handful of gimme
And they love for each other
Oh Shadow and Jimmy
And they love for each other
Oh Shadow and Jimmy

La la la la la la...Oh oh oh...[fade]


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

Shadow & Jimmy Lyrics as written by David Weiss Elvis Costello

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Shadow & Jimmy song meanings
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    Song Meaning

    To me this is one of the best songs from the 80s and is really dear to me as it reminds me of being young, care free and optimistic.\nI see this as the story of the one guy who just isn\'t attractive to the girls...his lonely existence, where he eventually stops caring about trying to meet a woman and just enjoys what he enjoys. \nTragic and heartbreakingly accurate telling if being lonely..

    randombob1on January 17, 2022   Link

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