I can't get this out of my head

I know it's not what the song is about. But everything I see or touch or hear has undertones of irony, unintended triple meaning, grinning or mocking or just occasionally looking hopeful.

"He thought he was the King of America
Where they pour Coca-Cola just like vintage wine
Now I try hard not to become hysterical
But I'm not sure if I am laughing or crying
I wish that I could press a button
And talk in the past and not the present tense
And watch this hurting feeling disappear
Like it was common sense
It was a fine idea at the time
Now it's a brilliant mistake"

That's Elvis Costello's "Brilliant Mistake"

And really, I can't get it out of my head. When I can, the Oyster Band's "All We Wanted" is happy to come in instead. That one's been in there since the election. All that way, we've come all that way for this.

Horrors unfold every day, all the time; the thing about war, at least as waged by us, is that some people are gleeful about it. I'll be gleeful myself shortly, if planes are still flying and Eric gets home safely from San Francisco. But that won't help anybody on either side in Iraq.

Pamela