Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Hidden Shame Lyrics

I'm sorry to say that you don't know me
I'm sad in ways you never understood
Each time I try to tell the ugly truth
You always let it pass you by

You said I'd never tell you a lie
Just because I could
Did you really think I was a bad man?

You always said that that should be my middle name
But you don't know the half of it
You don't know how that name fits
You don't know my hidden shame

Hidden shame, shame, shame that I can't get free
From the blame and the torture and the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me

Well, there's a different kind of prison
And it don't even have to look much like a cell
It's already on your mind, boy, we can see it in your eyes
So, here's the bars and walls as well

Well, you know I'm never coming home, babe
You said you'd stand by me until I cleared my name
Sure it's easy to be strong
When you know the charge is wrong
But the days and weeks get long
When you've got a hidden shame

Hidden shame, shame, shame that I can't get free
From the blame and the torture and the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me

I had a friend when I was just a boy
We were like brothers, we would run and hide
And we went walking on a high hillside
And I really don't how it happened

He turned to me and had this strange look in his eye
And not a single word was spoken
I must have pushed him but I don't remember why
And all at once, he lay there broken
And I walked down without him and I didn't even sigh

Hidden shame, shame, shame that I can't get free
From the blame and the torture and the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me

They say you always hurt the one you love
And I'm not saying if I did or if I didn't
But like my shame that kind of love is always hidden
They locked me up here for the ideas in my head
They never got me for the thing I really did

Hidden shame, shame, shame that I can't get free
From the blame and the torture and the misery
Must it be my secret for eternity?
Till you know my hidden shame you really don't know me