"Mistook Me For A Friend" lyrics - ELVIS COSTELLO

You took me in the stairwell light
Mistook me for a friend
A sign said, "Follow me into the night"
Mistook me for a friend

Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend

I had a pocket full of presidents, a suitcase full of elements
The double-cross of spectacles, the mogul for mechanicals
Rainy streets were gleaming, maybe I was dreaming
She thought that she heard wedding bells, a hundred thousand decibels

That crush and her confectioner said (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook you for a friend
She took my temperature (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend

You took your clothes off after you sent him away
Why now, baby, would you ask for me to stay?
I knew it wasn't right
If I could just pretend
Mistook you for a friend

I was working miracles for petty cash and chemicals
Dealt in the invisible, something close to criminal
Don't act so mysterious, pretend you're not curious
Started out peculiar, ended up notorious

Milady and her jockey said (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook you for a friend
"This wine is going to my head" (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend

I saw you slumming last night out on Poverty Row
Why you lacked the nerve to leave him, I will never know
You took my glass and my ball of twine
While the words would blur and the windward whine
When I had no place to go
I said that I want you

I count my money out to pay for contraband
I carry velvet gloves 'cause the blood gets on your hands
It's easy to comprehend
Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend

I had a pocket full of presidents, a suitcase full of elements
Double-cross of spectacles, a tycoon made of tentacles
Went to the carnival for candy and confusion
From a House of Silence on a street of disillusion

That crush and her confectioner said (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook you for a friend
She took my temperature (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook you for a friend

Try being free as you think you are (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook you for a friend
See where it gets you and quite how far (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend
Mistook me for a friend

Mistook me for a friend