We Are All Cowards Now

Time has taught us That they’re sending out their sons To take away our guns and our daughters We are all cowards now Rivers rising Darkness fell upon People blotting out the sun Disguising how We are all cowards now At least the Emperor Nero had an ear for music But that’s history Caligula said “God’s speed, my steed” But that’s his story They’re coming for our Peacemakers Our Winchesters and Colts The rattle of our Gatling Guns Our best cowboy revolts and threats and insults We are all cowards now The emptiness of arms The openness of thighs The pornography of bullets The promises and prizes can’t disguise We are all cowards now They're draping stones with colours And a roll of stolen names Except those we never cared about And those we need to blame We’ll extinguish that flame, just the same We are all cowards now Arms are empty The pornography of plenty Count commands from one to ten Number sins from ten to twenty There’s an illusion we believe in There is honour in their need Pretty confetti, chemical debt And a necessity to bleed My fears too fleet to scupper My prayers too thin to scream On my lover's back a zipper On her limb a straightened seam So, close the windows tightly Lower lamps and shades On the screen, silent rehearsals For tomorrow's parades For tomorrow's parades For tomorrow's parades We are all cowards now

We Are All Cowards Now Written by Elvis Costello Performed by Elvis Costello Produced by Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - mouth, Fender Jazzmaster, Ampeg bass, piano, Roland synthesizer & other noises Recorded February 2020, Suomenlinnan Studio, Helsinki, Finland Released August 14, 2020 (download/stream) October 30, 2020 (album) Albums Hey Clockface, 2020 Singles download/stream, 2020 Length 3:36 First known performance:  October 13, 2021, Memphis, TN Last known performance:  February 11, 2023, New York, NY      (49 known performances)

Internal links

• Lyrics

External links

• YouTube lyric video