elvis costello
stella hurt
You should wear your red galoshes Walking o'er the city pride Streets are paved with heaven's pennies Gutters full of suicides  Teddy steadily fell from grace Somewhere near Arcadia Once she overheard a voice That she didn't hear on the radio  Velvet gloves and country clubs Were never going to hold her Ringing the necks of silly southern belles Who wanted to scold her  Don't bring me down I'm trouble bound Blue song, red alert Who made Stella hurt?  Teddy soon dropped out of sight Turned up in another town Changed her name for the spotlight Singing like a blue bird in a sequin gown  She finally fell and married well But I knew it wouldn't last Reversing back into the limelight No one ever saw her even half plastered  Don't bring me down I'm trouble bound Blue song, red alert Who made Stella hurt?  Then she saw those soldier boys Throw their bonnets in the air Self-made men would pledge their fortunes And dream of her and dream of her  Generals in the commissary Opened up a case of wine Checked the perfume of the cork Said, "Made in 1929"  They used her up, to raise morale For money and Old Glory Her voice was shot beyond repair But this is not the last act of this story  The night is black as cracked shellac Abandoned in an attic Stella is silent as the grave Until the needle drags her through the static  Don't bring me down I'm trouble bound Blue song, red alert Who made Stella hurt?