History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues
I'm just the oily slick
On the windup world of the nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel

I hang around dying to be tortured
You'll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel

So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your Alice

You know she has no sense
For all your jealousy
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly

Charged with insults and flattery
Her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous

And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You say you have no secrets
And then leave discreetly

I might make it California's fault
Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
I come to you beyond belief

My hands were clammy and cunning
She's been suitably stunning
But I know there's not a hope in Hades
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
So called gentlemen and ladies
Dog fight like rose and thistle

I got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief

I got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief

I got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief


Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget, edited by ghostbat

Beyond Belief Lyrics as written by Elvis Costello

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Beyond Belief song meanings
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  • +4
    General Comment

    I've enjoyed the lyrics to this song for years, even though I misheard some critical lyrics. I, too, thought the line was: " I'm just an oil slick in a wind-up world with a nervous tic." Also, I always thought this song was about a jaded, sleazy pickup artist. First stanza talks about his pickup routine, sometimes successful, sometimes not ("History repeats the old conceits, the glib replies, the same defeats'). Part of his arsenal was to feign interest in causes to get the attention of his target ("crocodile tears," etc)

    When he writes "Charged with insults...," my take is that he has aroused the interest of his "Alice" with a banter that mixes flattery and mild deprecation.

    He then is disgusted with himself for being the consummate empty pickup artist, and thus "beyond belief" ("And now you find you fit this identikit completely").

    Most of the rest of the song is a gauzy look at his post pickup encounter with "Alice." California's fault, Geneva's vault, Mars' canals = metaphors for female anatomy. Then the lyrics fan out more generally into romance and the battle of the sexes.

    My take anyway. Could be totally off.

    poolhallaceon August 26, 2008   Link

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