London Guardian, September 19, 2003: Difference between revisions
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It has not been a good week for Elvis Costello. For a musician who quit Britain 13 years ago, the harsh reviews of his latest album, ''North'', may have confirmed the decision to leave. | It has not been a good week for Elvis Costello. For a musician who quit Britain 13 years ago, the harsh reviews of his latest album, ''North'', may have confirmed the decision to leave. | ||
While the <i>Guardian</i>'s [[London Guardian, September 12, 2003|reviewer]] believed that "with every play the album becomes, like love itself, impossible to fight off" | While the <i>Guardian</i>'s [[London Guardian, September 12, 2003|reviewer]] believed that "with every play the album becomes, like love itself, impossible to fight off," it was described elsewhere as "total agony." One Sunday paper's critic dripped alliterating bile: "pompous, pretentious ... this soporific pseudo-Sondheim sucks." | ||
Then on Wednesday, on Radio 4's ''Today'' programme, a long interview was edited down to a few minutes of airtime asking why musicians like Costello, famous for his attacks on Thatcher and the Falklands war, were now ducking politics. | Then on Wednesday, on Radio 4's ''Today'' programme, a long interview was edited down to a few minutes of airtime asking why musicians like Costello, famous for his attacks on Thatcher and the Falklands war, were now ducking politics. | ||
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"He seems to be a David Attenborough of music. He just explores every nook and cranny that intrigues him. | "He seems to be a David Attenborough of music. He just explores every nook and cranny that intrigues him. | ||
"If he wants to try country music, he goes to Nashville. He's really brave. He wants some trumpet playing on his definitive Shipbuilding, he gets Chet Baker. | "If he wants to try country music, he goes to Nashville. He's really brave. He wants some trumpet playing on his definitive 'Shipbuilding,' he gets Chet Baker. | ||
"Rock people develop a Little Lord Fauntleroy front with their entourage and all that stuff. He just likes to write, he just loves music." | "Rock people develop a Little Lord Fauntleroy front with their entourage and all that stuff. He just likes to write, he just loves music." | ||
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"I was a kid in the 'burbs. Elvis Costello represented an alternative to the stupidity. He had the edginess of punk but had craft. | "I was a kid in the 'burbs. Elvis Costello represented an alternative to the stupidity. He had the edginess of punk but had craft. | ||
"I remember going to see Elvis in 1978 or 79 on the Armed Forces tour. The only person in the school I could find that would go with me was not really a friend but was derelict enough that he would come along." | "I remember going to see Elvis in 1978 or 79 on the ''Armed Forces'' tour. The only person in the school I could find that would go with me was not really a friend but was derelict enough that he would come along." | ||
Costello denies now that he was ever a "Khmer Rouge punk" who believed in a musical year zero, but there were moments of nihilism. | Costello denies now that he was ever a "Khmer Rouge punk" who believed in a musical year zero, but there were moments of nihilism. | ||
The infamous low point was when, in a bar in America in 1979, he described Ray Charles as an "ignorant, blind nigger" | The infamous low point was when, in a bar in America in 1979, he described Ray Charles as an "ignorant, blind nigger." He later described the remark as "speaking the exact opposite of my true beliefs in an attempt to provoke a fight." | ||
He was labelled a misogynist, too. "It's easy to read into those songs," says Jim Irvin, a contributing editor to Mojo. "I'm prepared to believe he wasn't, but you can see why it happened. | He was labelled a misogynist, too. "It's easy to read into those songs," says Jim Irvin, a contributing editor to ''Mojo''. "I'm prepared to believe he wasn't, but you can see why it happened. | ||
"There was a lot of bile being directed at the second person in the song — 'you' is in for a hard time, and 'you' was assumed by the listener to be female." | "There was a lot of bile being directed at the second person in the song — 'you' is in for a hard time, and 'you' was assumed by the listener to be female." | ||
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But what the fans overlooked the flaws for was the music, as angular as the man himself, and the bitter wit of the lyrics, lines like: | But what the fans overlooked the flaws for was the music, as angular as the man himself, and the bitter wit of the lyrics, lines like: | ||
I said 'I'm so happy I could die' | {{t}}''I said 'I'm so happy I could die' <br> | ||
{{t}}''She said 'drop dead' and left with another guy | |||
In the 1980s the anger had a political focus, as with perhaps his harshest lyric, from "Tramp the Dirt Down," a song dedicated to Margaret Thatcher. | |||
{{t}}''There's one thing, I know, I'd like to live <br> | |||
{{t}}''Long enough to savour <br> | |||
There's one thing, I know, I'd like to live | {{t}}''That's when they finally put you in the ground <br> | ||
{{t}}''I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down | |||
Long enough to savour | |||
That's when they finally put you in the ground | |||
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down | |||
The fans were the alternative boys and girls, some who saw themselves in an awkward-looking computer programmer who called himself Elvis. | The fans were the alternative boys and girls, some who saw themselves in an awkward-looking computer programmer who called himself Elvis. | ||
The literate lyrics, written by a man who picked up the guitar at 15 and left school a year later, have inevitably spawned book titles; Nick Hornby's High Fidelity is named for a Costello song, as is Brett Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero. But that hip niche was one in which he says he never wanted to be placed, and he has done his best to escape. | The literate lyrics, written by a man who picked up the guitar at 15 and left school a year later, have inevitably spawned book titles; Nick Hornby's ''High Fidelity'' is named for a Costello song, as is Brett Easton Ellis' ''Less Than Zero''. But that hip niche was one in which he says he never wanted to be placed, and he has done his best to escape. | ||
Those who have worked with him say he is animated by a spirit of musical adventure. "Ever since I've known Elvis, more so in recent times, he's been one of the few people in the music world, that I've worked for who's able to give you some freedom," says Steve Nieve, the pianist on his 1977 hit "Watching the Detectives" as well as a collaborator on his latest album. | Those who have worked with him say he is animated by a spirit of musical adventure. "Ever since I've known Elvis, more so in recent times, he's been one of the few people in the music world, that I've worked for who's able to give you some freedom," says Steve Nieve, the pianist on his 1977 hit "Watching the Detectives" as well as a collaborator on his latest album. | ||
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He hints that this is behind the critics' displeasure. | He hints that this is behind the critics' displeasure. | ||
There is, he says, "a rather unpleasant English personality trait ... that of being uncomfortable in the presence of clearly expressed emotion" | There is, he says, "a rather unpleasant English personality trait ... that of being uncomfortable in the presence of clearly expressed emotion." | ||
He is reluctant to be drawn back into the discussion of why he is not writing about politics, but suggests that sweeping away of the old establishment has diminished the number of obvious targets. | He is reluctant to be drawn back into the discussion of why he is not writing about politics, but suggests that sweeping away of the old establishment has diminished the number of obvious targets. |
Revision as of 18:20, 7 January 2017
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