Lyrics Poor Fractured Atlas - Elvis Costello, The Attractions

Poor Fractured Atlas

Hes out in the woods with his squirrel gun
To try to recapture his anger
Hes screaming some words at the top of his lungs
Until he begins to feel younger
But back at his desk in the city we find
Our trembling punch-drunken fighter
Who cant find the strength now to punish the length
Of the ribbon in his little typewriter
Poor fractured atlas
Threw himself across the mattress
Waving his withering pencil
As if it were a pirates cutlass
Im almost certain hes trying to increase his burden
He said «thats how the child in me planned it;
A woman wouldnt understand it»
I believe there was something that I wanted to say
Before I conclude this epistle
But you would forgive me for holding my tongue
cause man made the blade and the pistol
Yes man made the waterfall over the dam
To temper his tantrum with magic
Now you cant be sure of that tent of azure
Since he punched a hole in the fabric
A woman wouldnt understand it A woman wouldnt understand it