Born in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, Costello is the son of trumpeter, vocalist and band-leader Ronald (“Ross”) MacManus and record store manager Lillian Costello. His family had roots in Merseyside and he moved to Birkenhead at age 16, with his mother, when his parents separated. While he is better known as 'Elvis Costello', a stage name referring to the legendary Elvis Presley suggested by Stiff Records manager Jake Riviera, he has used many other aliases, including 'The Imposter' and 'Napoleon Dynamite'.
In the early 1970s Costello was a participant in London's pub rock scene with the group Flip City. Then in 1977 along with fellow Pub-Rockers Nick Lowe and Ian Dury he made his first releases on the independent label Stiff, tailoring his work towards the burgeoning punk, power pop, and new wave scenes. From 1980's Armed Forces onwards, however, other influences including soul, country, 1960s pop, and classical music began to re-emerge, and he soon became established as a unique and original voice. His output has been wildly diverse: one critic has written that "Costello, the pop encyclopedia, can reinvent the past in his own image".
His prolific and varied 30-year career has been marked by two constants: sharp songwriting and musical restlessness. The latter has seen him dabble in almost every musical form, from country to jazz to orchestral. This stems from the fact that, at heart, Costello is a fan. His desire to work with his musical heroes has attracted collaborators as diverse as Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney, Anne Sofie von Otter, Allen Toussaint, Aimee Mann, Bill Frisell, and Brian Eno.
But his most successful partners were his long-term band The Attractions. They comprised Steve Nieve (keyboards), Pete Thomas (drums) and Bruce Thomas (bass). Between 1978 and 1983, this outfit produced a peerless series of albums: This Year's Model; Armed Forces; Get Happy!!; Almost Blue; Trust; Imperial Bedroom and Punch the Clock.
These recordings drew on styles spanning soul, country and western and commercial pop. It was only with 1984's Goodbye Cruel World that Costello started to stumble. An album he concedes was one of his worst, it ushered in a period which produced interesting music but lacked the consistent quality of his halcyon days. Interestingly, although he enlisted the other Elvis's band for King of America in 1986, it was a reunion with The Attractions and former producer Nick Lowe that produced his best album of the late 1980s in the form of the scabrous Blood and Chocolate.
The following albums, Spike and Mighty Like a Rose were uncompromising and difficult solo works, as was the string quartet collaboration The Juliet Letters in 1993. It was only reconvening the Attractions for Brutal Youth the following year that gave his fans another glimpse of what first attracted them to him: punchy, angry pop songs, tightly played by an impeccably taut ensemble.
Since then, Costello has become a career dilettante, true to his inner musical quest, but never again returning to heights he scaled in the early 1980s. Maybe the best work of this latter period was 1998's Painted from Memory. This joint effort with Burt Bacharach matched restrained writing from Costello with stately Bacharach arrangements.
Subsequent career nadirs such as the tune-free North (2003), and instrumental orchestral works such as Il Sogno (2004) led many long-term admirers to conclude that Costello had retained his integrity at the expense of his real musical strengths. However, he has given occasional evidence of his former fire. The ballsy bar-room atmosphere of the collaborative The Delivery Man (2004), suggests that he is still capable of giving his fans what they want, in between his more esoteric experiments.
Elvis is married to jazz vocalist Diana Krall and they have twin sons.
*Upon the film's release, it was noted that the name "Napoleon Dynamite" had originally been used by musician Elvis Costello, most visibly on his 1986 album Blood and Chocolate, although he had used the pseudonym on a single B-side as early as 1982. Filmmaker Jared Hess claims that he was not aware of Costello's use of the name until two days before the end of shooting, when he was informed by a teenage extra. He later said, "Had I known that name was used by anybody else prior to shooting the whole film, it definitely would have been changed ... I listen to hip-hop, dude. It's a pretty embarrassing coincidence." Hess claims that "Napoleon Dynamite" was the name of a man he met around the year 2000 on the streets of Cicero, Illinois while doing missionary work for the Mormon Church.
Costello believes that Hess stole the name: "The guy just denies completely that I made the name up... but I invented it. Maybe somebody told him the name and he truly feels that he came about it by chance. But it's two words that you're never going to hear together." To date, Costello has taken no legal action against the film.
Elvis Costello and Elton John to Make a Television 'Spectacle'
Two of the most respected musicians in the world will collaborate on an extraordinary new television series.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is hosted by its namesake and produced in conjunction with Sir Elton John's Rocket Pictures. Elton John will be one of the program's Executive Producers.
The series begain airing in 2008 on CTV in Canada, Channel 4 in the UK and Sundance Channel in the US. FremantleMedia Enterprises, will handle sales of the show to the rest of the world.
Conceived to provide a forum for in-depth discussion and performance with the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time, the show fuses the best of talk and music television.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is an unpredictable and unprecedented television experience. The series of 13 one-hour programs features everything from intimate one-on-ones with legendary performers and notable newcomers to thematic panel discussions, with a variety of performance elements including unique collaborations, acoustic and impromptu "illustrative" demonstrations of the creative process, and some original interpretations of others' songs by Costello.
15 Petals
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One for every year I spent with you
Jewels and precious metals will never do
I love you twisted
And I love you straight
I'd write it down but I can't concentrate
Words don't me obey they do as they please
Fifteen petals
One for every year I spent with you
Jewels and precious metals will never do
The thorn is blunted
And the perfume will fade
I stand where sun is set
I crave the shade
Down in the tavern with Mary and Joe
Palms reached for alms as they throw
Fifteen petals
One for every hour that we're apart
Tears and useless battles
I'll never start
Mussolini highway
There's a frankincense tree
I picked some up there to carry with me
You take me to places where I never go
I love you more than you know
Fifteen petals
Scattered in the path where you will tread
Fifteen petals
Of vivid red
One wine bar vamp with the polythene face
Ein Panzer Kommander with no hair in place
The crooked battalions drilled holes in the square
The lyrics to Elvis Costello's "Fifteen Petals" open with a clear and simple image of "fifteen petals," one for every year the singer spent with someone he loves. These petals are symbolic of both the beauty and fragility of their relationship, as they could easily be scattered or crushed. The line "jewels and precious metals will never do" suggests that the singer values the small and simple things in their relationship over grand gestures or material possessions.
The second verse speaks to the complexities of the singer's feelings towards their loved one. He loves them "twisted and straight," which could mean a variety of things - perhaps he loves them for their flaws as well as their virtues. The line "words don't obey, they do as they please" may reflect the singer's struggle to express himself in a way that truly captures his feelings. Despite this, he is left with only "fifteen petals."
The third verse contains more somber imagery - the thorn of the rose is "blunted" and the "perfume will fade." The singer stands in the setting sun, yearning for the comfort of darkness. He references "Mary and Joe," who seem to be beggars or homeless people asking for alms. This contrast adds to the feeling of melancholy in the song.
The fourth verse features more abstract language, as the singer references a "Mussolini highway" and a "frankincense tree." These symbols may represent the idea of a journey or pilgrimage, and the singer's desire to carry something meaningful and tangible with him. He proclaims his love for his partner, whom he claims takes him to "places where I never go."
The final verse is the most enigmatic, featuring seemingly random characters such as a "wine bar vamp with the polythene face" and a "Panzer Kommander with no hair in place." The final line - "the crooked battalions drilled holes in the square" - suggests a kind of chaos or destruction. Overall, the song conveys a sense of longing and loss, as well as the difficulty of articulating one's deepest feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Fifteen petals
There are fifteen petals
One for every year I spent with you
There is one petal for every year the singer was in a relationship with the person they are singing about
Jewels and precious metals will never do
Material things cannot express the singer's feelings
I love you twisted
The singer loves the person in multiple, complex ways
And I love you straight
The singer also loves the person in a more straightforward manner
I'd write it down but I can't concentrate
The singer cannot focus enough to write their feelings down
Words don't me obey they do as they please
The singer cannot control their words as they express their love
And all I am left with is these
Despite the singer's lack of control over their words, they are left with their words as an expression of their love
The thorn is blunted
The thorn on the rose is no longer sharp
And the perfume will fade
The rose's scent will eventually diminish
I stand where sun is set
The singer is in a place where the sun has set, signifying the end of something
I crave the shade
The singer is looking for protection or relief from the sun's rays
Down in the tavern with Mary and Joe
The singer is with Mary and Joe in a tavern or bar
Palms reached for alms as they throw
People in the tavern are begging for money or throwing things
One for every hour that we're apart
There is one petal for every hour that the singer and the person they are singing about are not together
Tears and useless battles
The singer will not engage in any arguments or fights that are meaningless
I'll never start
The singer will not initiate any fights or arguments
Mussolini highway
The singer is on a highway named after the Italian dictator Mussolini
There's a frankincense tree
There is a tree that produces frankincense nearby
I picked some up there to carry with me
The singer collected some frankincense to take with them as a souvenir or for personal use
You take me to places where I never go
The person the singer is singing to takes them to new and unfamiliar places
I love you more than you know
The singer's love for the person is stronger than they can express
Fifteen petals
There are fifteen petals
Scattered in the path where you will tread
The petals are spread out in the place where the person will walk
Fifteen petals
There are fifteen petals
Of vivid red
The petals are bright red in color
One wine bar vamp with the polythene face
There is a person in the wine bar with a plastic-looking face
Ein Panzer Kommander with no hair in place
There is a bald military commander nearby
The crooked battalions drilled holes in the square
Soldiers are causing destruction in a public area
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind