Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
At a performance in Dallas, Texas in January 1978, Costello sang “Less Than Zero” with a new set of lyrics. The updated song referred to presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald rather than Oswald Mosley of the British Union of Fascists, and it imagines the Kennedy assassination (which occurred in D...
[STAGE BANTER]
ELVIS: This is called "Less Than Zero!"
[SONG BEGINS]
Jenny takes her clothes off in succession
While her husband rides a bumper in the president's procession
Sees him on the screen as she looks up from giving head
When he's had enough of that, her lover throws her on the bed
To teach her she's alive
And suddenly, he's dead
Turn up the TV
No one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it
So your fathеr won't know
They think that I got no respect
But еverything means less than zero
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Calling Mister Oswald, calling anyone at the scene
If you were taking home movies, there's a chance you might've seen him
There's a thousand variations, every witness in a file
But Jenny puts on some coffee, and she comes back with a smile
She says, "I hear that South America is coming into style"
Turn up the TV
No one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it
So your father won't know
They think that I got no respect
But everything is less than zero
Hey! Hey! Hey!
A pistol was still smoking
A man lay on the floor
Mister Oswald thought he had an understanding with the law
She's got rubies on her fingers, Jenny turns and looks away
Her mind upon a basement out of the USA
She says, "Let's talk about the future now, we put the past away"
Turn up the TV
No one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it
So your father won't know
They think that I got no respect
But everything is less than zero
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Everything is less than zero
[SONG ENDS]
[STAGE BANTER]
ELVIS: Thank you!
Less Than Zero [”Dallas version,” live] was written by Elvis Costello.