Once upon another time
If you had the need
I'd step right in your shoes that you've been walking
'Cause someone put the hurt in you
For everyone to see
And you only have to speak to tell your fortune

There's a story in your voice
Both by damage and by choice
It tells of promises and pleasure
And a tale of wine and woe
The uneasy time to come
And the long way round we go to get there

Once you told me fairy tales
Everybody knows
But I didn't care for their prediction
Now you say you're leaving me
And packing up your clothes
I finally see you were a work of fiction

There's a story in your walk
Then you crumble just like chalk
And I could say that I was sorry
But I wouldn't mean it much
There are pages I can't touch
And something that's been torn out of this chapter

Far away, not far enough
'Cause I can still recall
How it felt when I read that last sentence
Now I go inside some rooms with Gideon in them all
And hide myself from all hope of repentance

There's a story in your eyes
Cheap sunglasses might disguise
But when the bedroom light reveals
All that bravado and that fright
That you cover up in spite
Attempts to strip away this fabrication

There's a story in your voice
Both by damage and by choice
It tells of promises and pleasure
And a tale of wine and woe
The uneasy time to come
And the long way round we go to get there

Copyright: BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer(s): ELVIS COSTELLO