The Crooked Line

Life isn't a game won or tied Lost by either side Then some people's idea Of the straight and narrow didn't appeal to me If you were my life's companion As it seems you may turn out to be I'm contemplating How I hope I'll find you waiting At the very end of this crooked line Love isn't a trial of strength and weakness Through light into darkness Then some people remark The worthwhile fire never started without that spark If you were my life's companion As it seems you may turn out to be I'm contemplating How I hope I'll find you waiting At the very end of this crooked line

The Crooked Line Written by Elvis Costello & T Bone Burnett Performed by Elvis Costello Produced by T Bone Burnett Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, Gibson J-50 acoustic guitar T Bone Burnett - Kay 161 electric guitar Dennis Crouch - double bass Stuart Duncan - fiddle Jeff Taylor - accordion Mike Compton - mandolin Jim Lauderdale - harmony vocal Emmylou Harris - harmony vocal Recorded March 31-April 2, 2008, Sound Emporium Studio, Nashville Released June 2, 2009 Albums Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, 2009 Background:  Written for but not used in an unspecified movie, possibly the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. First known performance:  July 22, 2005, Wallingford, CT Last known performance:  November 10, 2011, Amsterdam, Netherlands      (52 known performances) “‘The Crooked Line’ is a song longing for constancy. It's the only song I've ever written about fidelity that is without any irony.” — elviscostello.com, March 23, 2009.

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