"It was composed on the morning after John Lennon's murder," writes Costello in the liner notes to Imperial Bedroom, "I went out walking to clear my head of the dreadful news reports, and this song came to me. I wouldn't have done anything as presumptuous as write a song 'about' the event and even edited out a passing reference to it in the original second verse. However, the line 'Singing the 'Leaving of Liverpool' and turning into Americans' seems to be about a place where dreams begin and end...The song is a rejection of tarnished and jaded games of adulthood. There is even a small, improbable sense of hope at the end of the second verse" ----- He saw no tears in her eyes Say you wouldn't kid about it She's telling all of those lies She swore she'd never told before But I doubt it So he bit his tongue And tried hard to capture his breath When she said I waited all my life For just a little death (Chorus) Say you wouldn't kid about it Say you wouldn't kid about it Say you wouldn't kid about it Sometimes he takes himself so seriously She makes her movements mysteriously Slow, fast or furiously It's a big responsibility With a face full of mixed ability Big dreams of elegance Singing "The Leaving of Liverpool" And "Turning into Americans" Say you wouldn't kid about it So what if this is a man's world I want to be a kid again about it Give me back my sadness I couldn't hide it even if I tried girl We fight so frail Making love tooth and nail You gave me the kiss of my life I might even live to tell the tale