No Dancing by Elvis Costello

Oh i know that she
Has mad a fool of him,
Like girls have done so many nights before,
Time and time again.
Life is so strange.
I don't know why,
But somebody,
Somebody has to cry.
There's gonna be no dancing when they get home.

No dancing,
There's gonna be no dancing,
There's gonna be no dancing on my own.

Now he's telling her
Every little thing he's done;
Once he glanced at the jackets of some paperbacks.
Now he's read every one.
He's such a drag.
He's not insane.
It's just that everybody
Has to feel his pain.
There's gonna be no dancing when they get home.

He's getting down on his knees.
He finds that her brother's not so easy to please,
After all, his nights were just a paper striptease.
She's caught it like some disease.
If he says no dancing,
There's gonna be no dancing on my own.

She can't even speak to him.
He can't face her now.
He says "even though i wanna shake your hand,
All i ever do is bow.
So know you see
How can it be?
Why can't you give me anythin' but sympathy?"
There's gonna be no dancing when they get home.

No dancing,
There's gonna be no dancing,
There's gonna be no dancing on my own.