Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Written for June Tabor and appearing on her 1992 album Angel Tiger, Costello’s version of his album’s title track was released in 1996.
The chorus proposes a question that more or less answers itself: if these beauties are now useless, if the protagonist’s prince charming is a cad and a bore, if he...
[Verse 1]
It's at times such as this, she'd be tempted to spit
If she wasn't so ladylike
She imagines how she might have lived
Back when legends and history collide
So she looks to her prince finding since he's so charmingly
Slumped at her side
Those days are recalled on the gallery wall
And she's waiting for passion or humour to strike
[Chorus]
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty
[Verse 2]
Good Friday arrived, the sky darkened on time
Till he almost began to negotiate
She held his head like a baby and said
"It's okay if you cry"
Now he wants her to dress as if you couldn't guess
He desires to impress his associates
But he's part ugly beast and Hellenic deceased
So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny
[Chorus]
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty
[Bridge]
She won't practice the looks from the great tragic books
That were later disgraced to face celluloid
It won't even make sense but you can bet
If she isn't his sweetheart or plaything or pet
The film turns her into an unveiled threat
[Verse 3]
Nonsense prevails, modesty fails
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity
While the calendar fades almost all barricades
To a pale compromise
And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts
They still think they're the gods of antiquity
If something you missed didn't even exist
It was just an ideal, is it such a surprise?
[Chorus]
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty
All This Useless Beauty was written by Elvis Costello.
All This Useless Beauty was produced by Geoff Emerick & Elvis Costello.
Elvis Costello released All This Useless Beauty on Tue May 14 1996.
Here is Elvis Costello performing “All This Useless Beauty” in 1996 on the Dutch music television show 2 Meter Sessions