Less Than Zero

Words & Music:

Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus (Elvis Costello)

Tabbed by: Phillip Charles Saunders

 

| F  Bb  C  |  F  C  |  F  Bb  C  |  F  C |

 

F              Bb              C            F

Calling Mister Oswald with the swastika tattoo,

      C     F        Bb           C           F

There is a vacancy waiting in the English voodoo,

C      Bb                      Gm

Carving "V" for vandal on the guilty boy's head.

          Bb                               Gm

When he's had enough of that, maybe you'll take him to bed

    C              Dm/F    C                    Dm/F C

To teach him he's alive before he wishes he was dead.

 

| C   F C | [2x]

 

Bb                       F

Turn up the T.V. No one list'ning will suspect.

           Bb                              F

Even your mother won't detect it, so your father won't know.

Bb                      F

They think that I've got no respect,

   Ebm                F

But ev'rything means less than zero.

     Bb    F  C  F

Hey,  ooh hey,

C  F Bb    F  C

Hey,  ooh hey.

 

Oswald and his sister are doing it again.

They got the finest home movies that you have ever seen.

They got a thousand variations: every service with a smile.

They're gonna take a little break, and they'll be back after a while.

Well, I hear that South America is coming back in style.

 

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor.

Mister Oswald said he had an understanding with the law.

He said he heard about a couple living in the U.S.A.

He said they traded in their baby for a Chevrolet.

Let's talk about the future; now we've put the past away.

 

Jenny takes her clothes off in succession

While her husband rides a bumper in the President's procession

She sees him on the screen as she looks up from giving head

When he's had enough of that, her lover throws her on the bed

To teach her she's alive, and suddenly he's dead.

 

Calling Mister Oswald, calling anyone at the scene.

If you were there taking home movies, there's a chance you might have

seen him.

They've got a thousand variations: every witness in a file.

Jenny puts on some coffee, and she comes back with a smile.

She says "I hear that South America is coming back into style."

 

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor.

Mister Oswald thought he had an understanding with the law.

She's got rubies on her fingers, Jenny turns and walks away.

Her mind upon a basement out of the U.S.A.

She says, "Let's talk about the future, now we've put the past away."