I'm the town cryer
And everybody knows
I'm a little down
With a lifetime to go
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
They're so teddy-bear tender and tragically hip

I'm never going to cry again
I'm going to be as strong as them
They say they'd die for love and then they live it out
They'll give you something to cry about
And suddenly you really fall to pieces

I'm the town cryer
And everybody knows
I'm a little down
With a lifetime to go
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
They're so teddy-bear tender and, and tragically hip

Love and unhappiness go arm-in-arm
Long-suffering friends of your fatal charm
Living for the pity that you're going to get hurt?
Just a little boy lost in a big man's shirt
And suddenly you really fall to pieces

I'm the town cryer
And everybody knows
I'm a little down
With a lifetime to go
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
They're so teddy-bear tender and tragically hip

Copyright: BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer(s): Elvis Costello