You Tripped at Every Step - Elvis Costello

Take your tiny feet out of your mother’s shoes

Or there is going to be a terrible scene

It’s not just the lipstick drawn on crooked

When they find how wicked we are

How wicked we have been

How i’ve been tempted

How you tripped at every step

You tripped at every step, you tripped at every step

How you tripped at every step

There’s a merry tune that starts in «i»

And ends in «you,» like many famous pop songs do

You would sing along with little tell-tale staggers

While balancing on daggers

Though they were killing you

You looked so deadly

And i would try to catch you

Anytime you call

Only you drank that potion

And went out of control

There’s nothing to stop you

So how can you fall?

Let me take your hand

Put down that frying pan

Darkness would become me underneath the table

As the fury raged around the house

Your despairing tread was angry and unstable

You never suspected

Just as that cartoon mouse

Went undetected

So you tripped at every step

In another world of gin and cigarettes

Those cocktail cabinets put mud in your eye

Maybe that is why you find it hard to see me

And if you don’t believe me

Before you start to cry

«Don't ever leave me»

As you start to lose your grip

(Once you start losing your grip)

You will stumble as you slip

(And you will stumble and slip)

As you tripped at every step

You tripped at every step, you tripped at every step

As you tripped at every step