Elvis Costello — Stick Out Your Tongue (w/ The Roots)
Album: Wise Up GhostAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 617
Length: 5:20
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They talked to the sister, the father and the mother
With a microphone in one hand and a checkbook in the other
And the camera noses in to the tears on her face
The tears on her face
The tears on her face
You can put them back together with your paper and paste
Stick out your tongue
Drink down the venom
She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer
Stretched out upon her poor jealous husband's pillow
In time you can turn these obsessions into careers
While the parents of those kidnapped children start the bidding for their tears
What would you say?
What would you do?
Children and animals two by two
Give me the needle
Give me the rope
We're going to melt them down for pills and soap
Four and twenty crowbars, jemmy your desire
Out of the frying pan into the fire
The king is in the counting house
Some folk have all the might
And majesty will run on Bombay Gin and German spite
They come from lovely people
(They come from lovely people)
With a hard line in hypocrisy
There are tears of mediocrity
For the fag ends of the aristocracy
What would you say?
What would you do?
Children and animals two by two
Give me the needle
Give me the rope
We're going to melt them down for pills and soap
Stick out your tongue
Stick out your tongue
Drink down the venom
The sugar-coated pill is getting bitterer still
You think your country needs you but you know it never will
So pack up your troubles in a stolen handbag
Don't dilly dally boys rally 'round the flag
Give us our daily bread in individual slices
And something in the daily rag to cancel any crisis
What would you say?
What would you do?
(Did you find out how to lie?)
Children and animals two by two
(Did you find out how to cheat?)
Give me the needle
(The elite bleat, they're obsolete)
We're going to melt them down
Stick out your tongue
(We're going to melt them down for pills and soap)
Now if you'd only genuflect
Stick out your tongue
Now if you'd only genuflect
Stick out your tongue
With a microphone in one hand and a checkbook in the other
And the camera noses in to the tears on her face
The tears on her face
The tears on her face
You can put them back together with your paper and paste
Stick out your tongue
Drink down the venom
She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer
Stretched out upon her poor jealous husband's pillow
In time you can turn these obsessions into careers
While the parents of those kidnapped children start the bidding for their tears
What would you say?
What would you do?
Children and animals two by two
Give me the needle
Give me the rope
We're going to melt them down for pills and soap
Four and twenty crowbars, jemmy your desire
Out of the frying pan into the fire
The king is in the counting house
Some folk have all the might
And majesty will run on Bombay Gin and German spite
They come from lovely people
(They come from lovely people)
With a hard line in hypocrisy
There are tears of mediocrity
For the fag ends of the aristocracy
What would you say?
What would you do?
Children and animals two by two
Give me the needle
Give me the rope
We're going to melt them down for pills and soap
Stick out your tongue
Stick out your tongue
Drink down the venom
The sugar-coated pill is getting bitterer still
You think your country needs you but you know it never will
So pack up your troubles in a stolen handbag
Don't dilly dally boys rally 'round the flag
Give us our daily bread in individual slices
And something in the daily rag to cancel any crisis
What would you say?
What would you do?
(Did you find out how to lie?)
Children and animals two by two
(Did you find out how to cheat?)
Give me the needle
(The elite bleat, they're obsolete)
We're going to melt them down
Stick out your tongue
(We're going to melt them down for pills and soap)
Now if you'd only genuflect
Stick out your tongue
Now if you'd only genuflect
Stick out your tongue
Comments (46)add comment
Love EC but I hate this version of the song. Doesn’t work for me.
EC can do no wrong. Aggressive, courageous, fearless. Love the man.
Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas continues to inspire as I navigate the waters of E A D G.
Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas continues to inspire as I navigate the waters of E A D G.
That was pretty bad.
Elvis's mastery of a variety of genres always amazes me. I've given this an 8, up from a 6.
I hear some Prince in this.
This is pretty cool. I've been listening to Elvis since the early 80s. He's so all over the map that I don't like plenty of things he's done. But he is always interesting.
Never heard this before. I love Pills and Soap and this is a fresh, quirky and interesting reworking. Noice. 7 from me.
She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer
Stretched out upon her poor jealous husband's pillow. .........respect!
As for The Usual horde of moaners and kvetchers - you should be sentenced to 6 months of 24/7 commercial rock and pop radio to be reminded of what bad programming REALLY sounds like. Kudos yet again to Bill and Rebecca for the ongoing variety, creativity, and sheer joy you bring to the earwaves.
This is very intriguing - like a mash up between Prince and Elbow... and I'm more than willing to imbibe.
unclehud wrote:
I agree, this is so restrained!
Enjoying the drummer: mucho restraint while still laying down a solid, funky groove.
I agree, this is so restrained!
Stylistically, reminds me a little of Prince
Wonder if Phish ever played this song. Strikes me as right up their alley.
Brutal
why play this godawful song when you could play something, anything else? Elvis C is too good for this song to get air time. period
Its the only song that will make me turn off Radio Paradise. Please stop torturing us.
Spooky social commentary if you ask me, very spooky ... And so very well arranged as is the whole album -- can't say enough about the experiment and hoping for another delving for them.
i love RP just the way it is. i listen to RP a lot and have never heard this one. thank you RP for playing Stick Out Your Tongue. thanks RP for ignoring the opinionated and playing what you want. this is why i listen to RP
Just bad...
Ugghh playing this one to death on RP. Come on guys... mix it up.
Very smooth sound. Like this one also.
h8rhater wrote:
Congratulations on making the special effort to hate on some music. Stick out your tongue.
Didn'tcha know...you can never like anyone that's ever been popular. Crime against coolness, regardless of how cool the music is. If they get popular, you gotta hate 'em. It's a cool rule.
Congratulations on making the special effort to hate on some music. Stick out your tongue.
Didn'tcha know...you can never like anyone that's ever been popular. Crime against coolness, regardless of how cool the music is. If they get popular, you gotta hate 'em. It's a cool rule.
vesta0424 wrote:
Congratulations on making the special effort to hate on some music. Stick out your tongue.
Steve, whoever you are, I agree. I rarely login anymore, but made a special effort today so that I could rate this "sucko barfo".
Steve wrote:
Steve wrote:
Congratulations on making the special effort to hate on some music. Stick out your tongue.
copymonkey wrote:
i agree. i've liked everything i've heard from this record.
The ever curious Elvis and the supremely cool ?uestlove make a great combo.
i agree. i've liked everything i've heard from this record.
fredriley wrote:
Couldn't agree more with my old pal Fred. Covers and other interpretations shouldn't just mimic the original they need to add to it.this one is very very cool
This is a pretty cool and innovative reversioning of Declan's original. Quirky, and definitely adding something to the song, as all good covers should (though this isn't a cover as such, seeing as yer man's singing in it). 7 from the intrigued Nottingham jury.
Couldn't agree more with my old pal Fred. Covers and other interpretations shouldn't just mimic the original they need to add to it.this one is very very cool
Steve, whoever you are, I agree. I rarely login anymore, but made a special effort today so that I could rate this "sucko barfo".
Steve wrote:
Steve wrote:
fredriley wrote:
With you all the way. This is very cool and fun, like most of his music.
This is a pretty cool and innovative reversioning of Declan's original. Quirky, and definitely adding something to the song, as all good covers should (though this isn't a cover as such, seeing as yer man's singing in it). 7 from the intrigued Nottingham jury.
With you all the way. This is very cool and fun, like most of his music.
This is a pretty cool and innovative reversioning of Declan's original. Quirky, and definitely adding something to the song, as all good covers should (though this isn't a cover as such, seeing as yer man's singing in it). 7 from the intrigued Nottingham jury.
unclehud wrote:
Exactly why ?uestlove is a phenomenal artist and seemingly everyone wants to work with him.
Enjoying the drummer: mucho restraint while still laying down a solid, funky groove.
Exactly why ?uestlove is a phenomenal artist and seemingly everyone wants to work with him.
The ever curious Elvis and the supremely cool ?uestlove make a great combo.
Dedicated to miley cyrus
Very cool! Yes I am a big EC fan...
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Thanks for pointing this out.
I was convinced that the album art I saw a couple of months ago was a demo, and that "good" cover art would come with the final release. But being the semiliterate ignorant schlub that I am, I didn't recognize it as homage:
I was convinced that the album art I saw a couple of months ago was a demo, and that "good" cover art would come with the final release. But being the semiliterate ignorant schlub that I am, I didn't recognize it as homage:
Cool rework of Pills and Soap.
Awesome album.
Of course I own every EC record and have seen him live in various formations dozens of times, so I'm a little biased toward loving everything he touches.
Awesome album.
Of course I own every EC record and have seen him live in various formations dozens of times, so I'm a little biased toward loving everything he touches.
This is quite catchy.
Enjoying the drummer: mucho restraint while still laying down a solid, funky groove.
danimal3114u wrote:
My thoughts exactly. Quick link to Amazon to preview the rest of the songs. Nice! Added it the album to my collection. Thanks Bill for another pointer to music I may not have otherwise found. My music collection would be a LOT thinner without RP providing my life's soundtrack.
Immediate thought - "Is that Costello?" Digging the funk supplied by The Roots, and anything by Costello is excellent obviously.
My thoughts exactly. Quick link to Amazon to preview the rest of the songs. Nice! Added it the album to my collection. Thanks Bill for another pointer to music I may not have otherwise found. My music collection would be a LOT thinner without RP providing my life's soundtrack.
I like Elvis, but I'm not sure what to make of this quasi-remake of "Pills and Soap".
I never realized until I started reading the RP comments just how polarizing this guy is (as I've been listening to him since college and never thought much of it). But I respect that he's been making quality, interesting work for over nearly 40 years now (which very few artists can claim).
I never realized until I started reading the RP comments just how polarizing this guy is (as I've been listening to him since college and never thought much of it). But I respect that he's been making quality, interesting work for over nearly 40 years now (which very few artists can claim).
The most interesting Elvis Costello album I've ever heard, but not sure if it's even relevant any more. He almost sounds like Joe Strummer and the Mescalitos, and that was over 10 years ago. Still worth a listen, though. Can dig it.
Please play more from this release. I want to hear Elvis funk it up with The Roots! Surely they were able to help him pull it off... 
I like this more than most EC songs...
Immediate thought - "Is that Costello?" Digging the funk supplied by The Roots, and anything by Costello is excellent obviously.
I was convinced that the album art I saw a couple of months ago was a demo, and that "good" cover art would come with the final release. But being the semiliterate ignorant schlub that I am, I didn't recognize it as homage:
Ouch
Sticking out my tongue, too.