There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis

Written by Kirsty MacColl and Philip Rambow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txsvlkAKm4k
There are so many clips of Kirsty performing this song that they have their own Chip Shop performances page.

Chords

Chords for Chip Shop, transcribed by akoustic

Lyrics

Oh darling why’d you talk so fast
Another evening just flew past tonight
And now the daybreak’s coming in
And I can’t win and it ain’t right
You tell me all you’ve done and seen
And all the places you have been without me
Well I don’t really want to know
But I’ll stay quiet and then I’ll go
And you won’t have no cause to think about me

There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you’d be true
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
But he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you

Oh darling you’re so popular
You were the best thing new in Hicksville …
With your mohair suits and foreign shoes
News is you changed your Pick-up for a Seville
And now I’m lying here alone
‘Cause you’re out there on the phone
To some star in New York
I can hear you laughing now and
I can’t help feeling that somehow
You don’t mean anything you say at all

There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you’d be true
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
But he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you

There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you’d be true
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
But he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you
I said he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you
I said he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you
He’s a liar and I’m not sure about you

Other versions

Country Version

Kirsty MacColl - Chip Shop (Country Version)

BBC Session

The BBC Session recording from the Nicky Campbell Show in November 1989:

Kirsty MacColl - There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis [BBC Session]

US Version

The Country version was re-recorded for issue in the US. Basically the lyric was changed from “Chip Shop” to “Truck Stop”, and a reference to Shepherds Bush added to Hicksville.

There's A Guy Works Down The Truck Stop. Swears He's Elvis - Kirsty MacColl

Futhermore, a hitherto unreleased “fast version” of Truck Stop (i.e. the original track changed to “Truck Stop”) was released on the ‘See That Girl’ collection in 2023.

‘Chip Shop’ review
‘Chip Shop’ review

Cover versions

Loads of covers, so Chip Shop cover versions also have their own page.

Appearances on Various Artist Compilations

Again, there are way too many of these to list here, so there is page for all those ‘Chip Shop’ compilation appearances out there …

Related Pages

Kirsty Songs

Other People's Songs