Lyrics to
No Action

This version of No Action was released by Elvis Costello in 1978.

Our About Elvis Costello page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for No Action from 1978 as well as all of the other lyrics from Elvis Costello that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Elvis Costello or about the 1970s in general.

I don’t wanna kiss you. I don’t wanna touch.
I don’t wanna see you ’cause I don’t miss you that much.
I’m not a telephone junkie.
I told you that we were just good friends.
But when I hold you like I hold that bakelite in my hands,
there’s no action,
there’s no action,
there’s no action.
Ev’ry time I phone you, I just wanna put you down.

He’s got the keys to the car.
They are the keys to the kingdom.
He’s got ev’rything you need.
It’s a shame that he didn’t bring them.
I’m not a telephone junkie.
If I’m inserting my coin I’m doing just fine.
And the things in my head start hurtin’ my mind.
And I think about the way things used to be,
knowing you with him is driving me crazy.
Sometimes I phone you when I know you’re not lonely,
but I always disconnect it in time.

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Elvis Costello has released many songs over the years besides No Action. Elvis Costello released songs from 1977 to 2004 spanning across albums like My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!!, Trust, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, Punch The Clock, Goodbye Cruel World, Blood And Chocolate, King Of America, Spike, Mighty Like A Rose, The Juliet Letters, Brutal Youth, Kojak Variety, Deep Dead Blue, All This Useless Beauty, Painted From Memory, For The Stars, When I Was Cruel, North, and The Delivery Man. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Elvis Costello.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1978 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and No Action by Elvis Costello

The lyrics for No Action are defined as the words making up the song released by Elvis Costello in 1978. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to No Action have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Elvis Costello and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to No Action by Elvis Costello if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to No Action" means the words set to the music of No Action, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Elvis Costello. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to No Action and the lyrics to No Action are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Elvis Costello who came here looking just for the lyrics to No Action, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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