Chords & lyrics

How to Be Dumb Chords

Music by: Elvis Costello
Tone G major BPM 98 Views 5
0
Guitar

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[D]I w[G]as hell-bent on on destroying
my powers of concentration
[D]While you were living like a saint
[G]And all the time the very one you
trusted was [Em]washing off
Somebody else's [Bm]paint

[Verse 2]
[G]Now you've got yourself a
brand new occupation
[D]Every fleeting thought is a pearl
And [G]beautiful people
stampede to the doorway
Of the [Em]funniest fucker in
the [Bm]world[F]

[Verse 3]
They're here to help [D]you
Satisfy your de[Bm]sire
There's a bright [C]future for

[Verse 4]
all you professional liars
[G][Chorus]
Now you know [C]how to be dum[D]b
Are you [G]ready to take your [C]place in the
[G]modern museum [D]of mistakes?
[G]Don't you know how[C] to be dumb?[Bm]
Like a [G]building thrown [C]up overnight in
[G]one of those [D]reverse earthquakes

[Verse 5]
[G]They emptied out all the asylums,
[D]they emptied out all the jails
[G]The "new bruise" was
the name of a dance craze
By [Em]"Jesus cross and the
cruel [Bm]nails"[G]
Followed up by "torturing little beaver"
[D]With their contraption of barbed wire
[G]Between the fear and the fever lies all[Em] the
rejection they re[Bm]quire[F]
They'll be howling by midnight,
[D]they'll be drooling by dawn
[Bm]Skulls shrunk down to the
size of their [C]brains

[Interlude 1]
Heads shaven and shorn
[G][C][D][G][C]
[G][D][G][C][Bm][G][C]
[G][D]

[Verse 6]
[E][Chorus]
Trapped in the house of the
perpetual sucker
Where [Am]bitterness always
ends so [D]pitifully[G][E]
You always had to dress up your envy
in [Am]some half-remembered
Philosophy
[D]Philosophy[G]

[Verse 7]
[G]Now you're masquerading as
pale powdered genius
Whose [D]ever bad intention has been purged
[G]You could've walked out any time
you wanted but [Em]face it you
Didn't have the [Bm]courage
[G]I guess that makes you a full time
hypocrite or [D]some kind of
Twisted dilettante
[G]Funny though people don't usually
get so ugly 'til [Em]they think
They know what they [Bm]want[F]
Scratch your own head stupid
[D]Count up to thr[Bm]ee
Roll over on your [C]back
Repeat after me
[G]Don't you know

[Verse 8]
[C]how to be dum[D]b?
Are you [G]ready to take your [C]place in the
[G]modern museum [D]of mistakes?
[G]Don't you know how[C] to be dumb?
[Bm]Like a build[G]ing thrown up over[C]night in one o[G]f those revers[D]e earthquakes

[Outro 1]
[D][G][C]
[D][G][C]
[D][G][C][D][G]
[C][D][G][C][D][G]
[C][D][G][C][D][G]
[C][D][G][C][D][G]
[C][D][G][C][D][G]
[C][D][G][D]
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98 BPM