Poisoned Rose Lyrics

Lyric discussion by TheSilverNoble 

Cover art for Poisoned Rose lyrics by Elvis Costello

I saw him in concert and he did this song... I was just blown away. I always thought he was a pretty good singer, but when he did this song he just blew me away.

It's a horribly sad song. The rose, as described early in the song, is her love. But she refuses to to truly let herself love him, so although he's happy that he gets some affection from her, it just kills him that she doesn't seem to take him seriously.