Toto

Songwriter: Elvis Costello

Nice girls not one with a defect
Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct
Red dogs under illegal legs
She looks so good that he gets down and begs

She is watching the detectives
Oh, he's so cute
She is watching the detectives
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot

They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded, 'cause he's got no heart

Long shot of that jumping sign
Visible shivers running down my spine
Cut the baby taking off her clothes
Close-up of the sign that says, "We never close"

You snatch a tune, you match a cigarette
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet
I don't know how much more of this I can take
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake

She is watching the detectives
Oh, he's so cute
She is watching the detectives
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot

They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded, 'cause he's got no heart

You think you're alone 'til you realize you're in it
Now fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit
Someone's scratching at the window, I wonder who is it
The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
Who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance
It nearly took a miracle to get you to stay
It only took my little fingers to blow you away

Just like watching the detectives
So don't get cute
It's just like watching the detectives

I get so angry when the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded, 'cause he's got no heart
Just like watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded, 'cause he's got no heart
It's just like watching the detectives

It's just like watching the detectives
Yeah
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives

Toto is an American rock band formed in 1977 in Van Nuys in Los Angeles, California. The band’s current lineup consists of Joseph Williams (lead vocals), David Paich (keyboards, vocals), Steve Porcaro (keyboards), Steve Lukather (guitars, vocals), Shem von Schroeck (bass), and Shannon Forrest (drums). Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard rock, R&B, blues, and jazz.

David Paich and Jeff Porcaro had played together as session musicians on several albums and decided to form a band. David Hungate, Steve Lukather, Steve Porcaro, and Bobby Kimball were recruited before their first album release. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the late 1970s and 1980s, beginning with the band’s eponymous debut released in 1978. With the release of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Toto IV from 1982, Toto became one of the best-selling music groups of their era. They are best known for the Top 5 hits “Hold the Line”, “Rosanna”, and “Africa”. Several changes to the lineup have been made over the years. Hungate left in 1982 followed by Kimball in 1984 but rejoined the band in 1998 until 2008. Jeff Porcaro died in 1992 of a heart attack. Hungate rejoined Toto as a touring musician and later a band member. In 2008, Lukather announced his departure from the band, and the remaining band members later went their separate ways. In the summer of 2010, Toto reformed and went on a short European tour, with a new lineup, to benefit Mike Porcaro, who had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and was no longer an active member of the band.

The band has released a total of 17 albums, and have sold over 40 million albums to date. The group was honored with several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.

more tracks from the album

Through the Looking Glass

From the album

Through the Looking Glass (2002)

Toto popular songs

Watching the DetectivesToto

Toto

Through the Looking Glass