"The Difference" lyrics - ELVIS COSTELLO

ELVIS COSTELLO
"The Difference"

I pulled a petal from the flower to tell just where my fortune fell
About a boy beyond my caution before I lay beneath his spell

And he said, "Do you know, do you know, do you by chance know wrong from right?
"Do you know, do you know, do you know what turns pleasure to plight?
If you trust me, I know it may seem strange
I'll show you the way down into the underworld"

I did just what he asked me to
Lifted my skirt to show him my shoe
Upon a reel of the finest fiddlehead
Light as the dance around Milady's bed
The steps came faster at his insistence
Till he showed me all about the difference

"It's not about the things I promised, it's not about the vow we broke
If I am faithless or dishonest it's just the gaze that you provoke"

And he said, "Do you know, do you know, do you by chance know wrong from right?
Do you know, do you know, do you know what turns pleasure to plight?
If you kiss me, at first it may seem strange
I'll show you the way into another world"

My father shamed me just like you
Buried my name in a glass or two
Till he came to me in his darkest house
He mistook me, took me for his spouse
And my cries for a woman in the distance
So I took this knife to show him the difference

Till he came to me in his darkest house
He mistook me, took me for his spouse
And my cries for the woman in the distance
So I used this knife to show him the difference