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.
Beaten to the Punch
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you`re almost beaten to the punch
Looking for the man who sold you the dummy
And you`re almost beaten to the punch
Laughing at the older guys who say it`s just as well
Saved by the wedding bell
Almost beaten to the punch
You are almost beaten to the punch
If you've got a head for figures then you`d better count me out
You were almost beaten to the punch
You pulled the piece but you soon called it love
You go hand in glove
Almost beaten to the punch
Your body speaks much louder than your voice
You let it do the talking so I don`t have any choice
Now you find the younger guys are putting up resistance
And you`re almost beaten to the punch
You better get out now because you`ll never go the distance
And you`re almost beaten to the punch
You`ll find a girl and you`ll promise her anything
Even a wedding ring
Almost beaten to the punch
Elvis Costello's "Beaten to the Punch" chronicles the narrative of a young girl who is always one step behind the person or situation she desires. She is always "almost beaten to the punch," playing catch-up to those around her. The song presents a cautionary tale of desire's futility and the irony of the human condition. The girl seems to want to be a part of something larger than herself but is always missing the mark. The song's lyrics can also be read as a reflection on youth and how we can sometimes take for granted the wisdom and experiences of those who came before us.
Through the lyrics, we meet a girl who is continually chasing after something or someone. Despite her efforts, she always seems to be "almost beaten to the punch." Costello is speaking to a girl who is not taken seriously and who is only heard when her body speaks. He uses the wedding bell motif to express the girl's desire to belong and to be accepted. In the end, she is "almost beaten to the punch" again, but this time Costello warns her that she may lose for good.
Overall, the song's repetitive tune and the catchy arrangement serve to enhance the theme of the narrative - a caustic juxtaposition between desire and reality. The song can be interpreted in many ways, but at its core, it's a warning about the dangers of living a life chasing after what we think we want.
Line by Line Meaning
You say that you can and then you run to get your mummy
You boast confidently, but then quickly run for help when things get tough.
And you're almost beaten to the punch
You're close to being defeated or taken advantage of before you even realize it.
Looking for the man who sold you the dummy
You're searching for the person who tricked or deceived you.
Laughing at the older guys who say it's just as well
You mock the wisdom of those who have more experience and knowledge than you.
Saved by the wedding bell
You narrowly avoided trouble or danger by getting married.
You're looking for somebody new that you can knock around
You're seeking a new person to control or manipulate.
If you've got a head for figures then you'd better count me out
If you're only interested in superficial things, then I'm not interested in being involved.
You pulled the piece but you soon called it love, you go hand in glove
You used violence or force to get what you wanted, but then convinced yourself that it was out of love.
Your body speaks much louder than your voice, you let it do the talking so I don't have any choice
You rely on your physical appearance or actions to communicate, making it difficult for others to ignore your intentions.
Now you find the younger guys are putting up resistance
You're encountering more opposition or push-back from people who are younger or less experienced than you.
You better get out now because you'll never go the distance
You should give up now because you won't be able to endure or succeed in the long run.
You'll find a girl and you'll promise her anything, even a wedding ring
You'll make empty promises to win someone over, regardless of whether you can keep them or not.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind