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.
Beyond Belief
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues
I'm just the oily slick
On the windup world of the nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel
You'll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel
So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your Alice
You know she has no sense
For all your jealousy
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly
Charged with insults and flattery
Her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous
And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You say you have no secrets
And then leave discreetly
I might make it California's fault
Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
I come to you beyond belief
My hands were clammy and cunning
She's been suitably stunning
But I know there's not a hope in Hades
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
So called gentlemen and ladies
Dog fight like rose and thistle
I got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief
I got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief
I got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief
The lyrics of Elvis Costello and The Attractions' song Beyond Belief are intricately woven with a series of themes and ideas relating from self-deception and self-doubt, to societal deceptions, and the limitations of communication, among others. The singer's self-doubt is evidence in different expressions throughout the song. The lyric 'this battle with the bottle is nothing so novel' is a confession to substance abuse, and the next line, 'so in this almost empty gin palace...' reveals the internal chaos and confusion of the singer.
The second stanza of the song speaks about a third party, Alice, who is oblivious to the negativity the singer feels about her. They acknowledge, 'you know she has no sense for all your jealousy, in a sense she still smiles very sweetly.' But after the bridge, the lyrics suggest the singer is resentful of the people around him. 'Her body moves with malice, do you have to be so cruel to be callous? And now you find you fit this identikit completely, you say you have no secrets, and then leave discreetly.'
The final stanza is full of meta-level references to science fiction, science, as well as real-life metaphors. The singer sings about the different places of danger he can go, 'be locked in Geneva's deepest vault, just like the Mars canals and the great Barrier Reef.' The lyric goes ahead to suggest the singer got what he wanted and turned it down; 'once this seemed so appealing, now I am beyond belief.' Maybe the singer's internal struggles got the best of him, and like any situation where one makes a bad call, regrets the decision afterward.
Line by Line Meaning
History repeats the old conceits
The same mistakes are made over and over again.
The glib replies the same defeats
Bad excuses always lead to failure.
Keep your finger on important issues
Stay informed and attentive to important matters.
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues
Pretending to be sad with fake tears and a box of tissues.
I'm just the oily slick
I am the personification of deceit and manipulation.
On the windup world of the nervous tick
In the chaotic and unpredictable world of anxiety and nervousness.
In a very fashionable hovel
Living in a stylish but modest dwelling.
I hang around dying to be tortured
I linger around, hoping to be put through emotional pain.
You'll never be alone in the bone orchard
You will always have company in the place where dead bones are buried.
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel
Struggling with alcoholism is not a new phenomenon.
So in this almost empty gin palace
In this nearly vacant establishment serving gin.
Through a two-way looking glass
Looking at yourself through a mirror.
You see your Alice
You see the reflection of yourself in the mirror.
You know she has no sense
You are aware that she cannot understand and comprehend.
For all your jealousy
Despite your envy and resentment.
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly
Somehow, she still radiates a warm and charming smile.
Charged with insults and flattery
Being accused of being both offensive and complimentary.
Her body moves with malice
Her physical actions convey ill will and malintent.
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous
Is it necessary to be mean-spirited in order to be emotionally indifferent and unfeeling?
And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You now realize that you fulfill this standard profile exactly.
You say you have no secrets
You claim that you have revealed everything about yourself.
And then leave discreetly
But then you depart subtly without any further mention.
I might make it California's fault
I might blame it all on California.
Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Be imprisoned in the most secure vault in Geneva.
Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
As unlikely as the existence of canals on Mars and the Great Barrier Reef.
I come to you beyond belief
I come to you beyond what is conceivable and rational.
My hands were clammy and cunning
My hands were sweaty and slick with deviousness.
She's been suitably stunning
She has been appropriately attractive and impressive.
But I know there's not a hope in Hades
But I realize that there is no chance whatsoever.
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
All the men shout rude comments and howl like wolves.
So called gentlemen and ladies
People who pretend to be polite and proper.
Dog fight like rose and thistle
They compete and argue aggressively like wild dogs.
I got a feeling
I sense that something is about to happen.
I'm going to get a lot of grief
I will receive a lot of trouble and sorrow.
Once this seemed so appealing
At first this seemed very attractive.
Now I am beyond belief
Now I am having a hard time accepting it as true or real.
I got a feeling
I sense that something is about to happen.
I'm going to get a lot of grief
I will receive a lot of trouble and sorrow.
Once this seemed so appealing
At first this seemed very attractive.
Now I am beyond belief
Now I am having a hard time accepting it as true or real.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind