WAKE ME UP
Elvis & the Roots Costello Lyrics

I've got this phosphorescent portrait of gentle Jesus meek and mild
I possess a luminous painting of kind and humble Jesus.

I've got this harlot that I'm stuck with carrying another man's child
I am burdened with a prostitute who is pregnant by another man.

The solitary star announcing vacancy burnt out as we arrived
The only star that signaled a vacancy disappeared as we reached our destination.

They'd throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived And they were surprised to see us So they greeted us with palms They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms
If they discovered that we had survived, they would have sent us back across the border; but as they were surprised to see us, they welcomed us with palm branches and requested weapons, offerings of penance, and small amounts of money.

Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up With a slap or a kiss Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up There must be something better than this
Please awaken me with affection or force, as there must be a preferable alternative to my current situation.

I've got this imaginary radio, and I'm punching up the dial I've got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won't blow up in my eye And everything that I thought fanciful or mocked as too extreme Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
I am imagining a radio and adjusting the dial, while directing air conditioning toward the television to avoid injury to my eyes; everything that I deemed unrealistic or too exaggerated must fit in as appropriate family entertainment within my peculiar dreamscape.

And I'm practicing my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi And if I hold my hand outstretched A little bird comes to me And I might recite a small prayer If I ever said them I lay down on an iron frame And found myself in Bedlam Stepping on the fingers that were stretching through the bars Wailing echoes down the corridors
I am imitating St. Francis of Assisi, and if I extend my hand, a small bird lands on it; I might recite a brief prayer if I ever uttered one, and I wound up in a mental institution lying on an iron bedframe, walking on the fingers of those who reached through the bars and listening to crying voices echo down the halls.

They've got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a Mustang They drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle They dangled flags and other rags along a colored thread of twine They dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine
They have a decorated and frightened girl fastened to the metal trunk of a Mustang, which they drove through a cypress forest where treasonous people hang, and where the stars still shine; they displayed flags and scraps of cloth on a rainbow-colored string, dragging the traumatized and battered heart down the path to Palestine.

Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces My thoughts returned to vengeance but I put up no resistance Though I seemed a long way from my home It really was no distance
Someone departed mumbling and made reference to thirty pieces; during Easter, there was a massacre, with each participant covered in bloody wool; although I contemplated revenge, I did not push back, despite feeling far from my place of residence, the distance was insignificant.

And the player piano picks out "Life Goes On" The Ringtone rang out "Jerusalem" Into the pit of sadness Where the wretched plunge We've buried all the Innocents We must bury revenge Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up There must be something better than this There must be something better than this There must be something better than this In the name of the Father and the Son In the name of Gasoline and a Gun Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
The self-playing piano plays "Life Goes On," and the cell phone's ringtone plays "Jerusalem," into a pit filled with despair, where miserable people plunge down; we have buried all innocents, and we must lay to rest our desire for revenge. Please awaken me with affection or force, as there must be a preferable alternative to my current situation. We must find a better path, in the name of God and justice, or in the name of violence and fuel. Please awaken me with affection or force, as there must be a preferable alternative to my current situation.