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.
Baby It's You
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's not the way you look that touched my heart.
It's not the way you kissed me, baby, that tears me apart.
Many, many nights I tried. I sit alone at home and I cried over you.
What can I do? I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.
You should hear the things they say about you.
They say you're never, ever, ever, ever gonna be true. Oh.
What can I do? It's true. I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.
I don't listen to a word they say. I'm gonna love you any old way.
What can I do? It's true. I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.
Baby, it's you.
In Elvis Costello's song Baby It's You, the singer expresses his deep affection for someone who may not be regarded positively by others. He begins by acknowledging that it is not the physical appearance or the action of being kissed that has touched his heart, but rather the essence of the person. Despite trying for many nights, the singer cannot seem to overcome his love for this individual and finds himself crying over them. He admits that he cannot help himself because "baby, it's you."
The singer then mentions the rumors and hearsay surrounding this person, declaring that they will love them regardless of what others say. The repetition of "never, ever, ever, ever gonna be true" implies that this person may be known for being unfaithful or unreliable. Despite this, the singer asserts that they will continue to love them in their own way, unable to deny their feelings because "baby, it's you."
The main theme of this song is the intensity of love and the inability to resist it, even in the face of outside opinions and rumors. The repetition of the refrain "baby, it's you" reinforces the idea that this person holds a special place in the singer's heart which cannot be changed. It is an emotive and empowering song that speaks to the intensity of love and the ability to overcome outside pressures when it comes to the matters of the heart.
Line by Line Meaning
(Sha, la, la, la...)
Elvis Costello begins the song by humming as a musical prelude without any specific lyrics or meaning.
It's not the way you look that touched my heart.
The appearance of the singer's love interest did not initially capture his heart. It was something else that made him fall in love with them.
It's not the way you kissed me, baby, that tears me apart.
Even though the touch of the love interest's lips felt good, it is not the primary reason for his emotional distress.
Many, many nights I tried. I sit alone at home and I cried over you.
The singer reminisces countless sleepless nights thinking about the love interest, shedding tears of longing and heartache while alone at home.
What can I do? I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.
The feelings the singer possesses towards the love interest are uncontrollable despite his efforts to suppress them. The love interest holds an unbreakable grip on the singer's heart.
You should hear the things they say about you.
The people around the singer have gossiped about the love interest's untrustworthiness, and have told him things he might not want to hear.
They say you're never, ever, ever, ever gonna be true. Oh.
Rumours about the love interest's unfounded fidelity are rampant and widespread, and have propagated to the point they can not be ignored.
I don't listen to a word they say. I'm gonna love you any old way.
The singer refuses to permit the gossip of others to influence his feelings for the love interest. He'll continue to love the love interest regardless of what the others say.
What can I do? It's true. I can't help myself, cause baby, it's you.
The gossip might be accurate of the love interest, but the singer's feelings remain unchanged. He still loves the love interest who occupies an undeniable presence in his heart.
Baby, it's you.
The singer brings the song to a close reaffirming the love interest's importance to him. No matter what people say or rumors they circulate, the singer cannot deny that it is the love interest that has captured his heart.
Lyrics © SOROKA MUSIC LTD., Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Burt Bacharach, Mack David, Barney Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind