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Pump It Up Lyrics

I've been on tenterhooks
ending in dirty looks,
list'ning to the Muzak,
thinking 'bout this 'n' that.
She said that's that.
I don't wanna chitter-chat.
Turn it down a little bit
or turn it down flat.

Pump it up when you don't really need it.
Pump it up until you can feel it.

Down in the pleasure centre,
hell bent or heaven sent,
listen to the propaganda,
listen to the latest slander.
There's nothing underhand
that she wouldn't understand.

Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it.

She's been a bad girl.
She's like a chemical.
Though you try to stop it,
she's like a narcotic.
You wanna torture her.
You wanna talk to her.
All the things you bought for her,
putting up your temp'rature.

Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it.

Out in the fashion show,
down in the bargain bin,
you put your passion out
under the pressure pin.
Fall into submission,
hit-and-run transmission.
No use wishing now for any other sin.

Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it.
24 Meanings

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Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

but in a way, aren't all songs about masturbation?

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

Pumpkinhed - only if you're Freud.

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

I've studied Freud, however briefly, and though some are fairly straightforward in naming, some can be twisted just enough to make them dirty by certain idiots.....like me.

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

THIS SONG IS NOT ABOUT MASTURBATION, YOU FUCTARD!!

Yes, it is

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

I'm fairly sure it's about having a wank, mate.

However, what's wrong with that? Self-love is the purest, and safest kind of love

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

Coming from a second-hand source, Elvis once said that the song's about a night out with a bit of "assisted insomnia"

(Best drug euphemism ever, by the by)

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

Ramones were great, so is Elvis C. ILoveLife full of hate for someone using Love in their name...and by the way, Ramones excelled at their instruments.

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello is more punk than anybody ive ever heard. And I still hate the Ramones, because they suck and cant play instruments. Costello is the most talented musician and song writer in punk music.

This song is pretty much just about giving in to the flow and having fun. He deems that hes just been on tender hooks and people look down on him, like his parents (turn it down flat!) and possibly his girlfriend (he bought things for her and tried to please her but she was too smug to give a shit). So, he just listens to music and partys all the goddam time.

I'm writing this to everyone who thinks that Elvis Costello is "punk," "pretty punk" or "very punk." First, EC is one of my all-time favorite artists. But, punk? Are you kidding me? Here are some of my other favorite artists that are PUNK: The Sex Pistols, The Clash, David Johanssen and the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, The Scientists, Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, etc.

Punk began in the mid 1970s in the U.K (protopunk began in the 1960s). It was very political and did not have a mainstream audience, though there was a subculture...

Punk actually started in the mid seventies in New York at CBGB's. Malcolm McClaren got the Idea for the Sex Pistols from Richard Hell when he saw their style.

It came out in England around 76 to 77 with the Sex Pistols and The Clash and like bands. When it came out in the UK it was much more political because of the climate their.

The Ramones predates Never Mind the Bullocks and the first Clash album. The New York Dolls predate the UK punk movement as well.

You are right, Shoshana, that Elvis Costello isn't really punk. He did ride the Coat tails of the new punk movement though to get his career going. He originally was on Stiff Records which was a DIY label for many punk artists.

Elvis is really a singer/songwriter.

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

HOW can you hate Ramones? I agree that Costello is pretty punk, but your sterotyping the ramones into the beginning of their career.

Cover art for Pump It Up lyrics by Elvis Costello

Well, I did once have a cello masterclass with Phillip Sheppard, who claimed that all music is about sex or death...

(more on that story later)

 
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