So you think that you have seen her
When you're lying in between her
And you tell me that you don't care
Busy bodies getting nowhere

Everybody's getting meaner
Busy bodies
Caught in the concertina

You check her outline
Break her regulations
You watch her legs through several
Service stations

Busy bodies
Very busy
Getting nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere

Now you're ready for the merger
With the company you're part of
And you do the dirty business
With your latest sleeping partner

You're becoming
Automatic
Busy bodies
Out playing with the traffic

You want attention
You try my patience
With the best intentions you are nothing but a nuisance

Busy bodies
Busy busy
Getting nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere

Now you've given your performance
Though the matinee was idle
And you find that a wave of her right hand
Could seem so tidal

Just a second
Satisfaction
Busy bodies
Temporarily out of action

You wash and brush up
You want to dress up
You want to kiss her
But she's busy with her makeup

Busy bodies
Very busy
Getting nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere


Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget

Busy Bodies Lyrics as written by Elvis Costello

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Busy Bodies song meanings
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    General Comment

    Perfect example of EC's talent for capturing the emotional angst and desire for a girl (who represents a pinnacle of attractiveness or ideal - a common theme) who may or may not give in to the singer physically, and after its been consummated, the narrator is astounded at how pointless it was.

    As with many of his other material, EC is very prescient. "Everybody's getting meaner"...Like a hearing a partner afterward nonchalantly comparing the encounter to a simple physical need like going to bathroom (with a wave of her hand) , it leaves the narrator hung up in the emotional barbed wire (concertina) trap many others like him find themselves. This rings true in recent times as folks who have fought in the online dating world battlefield have experienced over and over again, doing the same things over and over again, and like in the definition of insanity, expect to get a different result.

    Dating is brutality and appearances are deceiving.

    popmattresson November 07, 2022   Link

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