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.
Big Tears
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sniper just takes his aim
Everyone is window shopping, no one is amazed
Even if he hit you, you'd still think it's just a graze
You go to a movie, you go to a show
You think that you're loving, you don't really know
Big tears mean nothing
Big tears mean nothing
When you're lying in your coffin
Tell me who's been taken in
Oh you talk about the new boss automatic clause
But of course they make it all up for you
Always fascinated by the weird edge of town
Come home disappointed every time they put you down
Laughing with the old boys, saying that it's all noise
I suppose, big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When you're lying in your coffin
Tell me who's been taken in
All the buttons of my overcoat
They have fallen off one by one
You wouldn't even like me if you'd never had a drink
You wouldn't even like me if you never stopped to think
Standing in the shadow, turning wives to widows
Don't you know, big tears mean nothing
You can count them as they fall
Big tears mean nothing
When you're lying in your coffin
Tell me who's been taken in
Tell me, who's been taken in
Tell me, who, me or yous been taken in
Tell me, tell me, tell me
Elvis Costello's "Big Tears" is a critique of the lack of emotion and insincerity prevalent in modern society. He highlights the detachment people have towards their surroundings and how it affects their ability to react to emotional events. The song opens with a vivid image of a sniper taking aim, juxtaposed against the indifference of people going about their "regular routine." Elvis Costello lays bare the theme of the song in the chorus when he states "big tears mean nothing." These tears may come as a result of tragedy or heartbreak but are often dismissed as inconsequential in the bigger scheme of things. The lyrics are peppered with a cynical tone, as Costello questions the authenticity of people's interactions and their true intentions.
The second verse questions the obsession with status symbols and the pursuit of success. The singer is disillusioned with the "weird edge of town" and is brought down by disappointment each time he is let down by his aspirations. The lyrics "laughing with the old boys" are notable as they suggest groupthink and conformity, with people engaging in meaningless banter to appear socially acceptable. The final verse draws attention to the singer's frailty as he observes that his overcoat's buttons have fallen off. This could be seen as the metaphorical representation of how detachment and insincerity chip away at one's moral fabric. The overall idea that Costello conveys is that people have become so cynical or desensitized that, regardless of the extent of their emotions or trauma, they ultimately place little important in them.
Line by Line Meaning
Everyone is busy with the regular routine
Everyone is going through life with the same mundane routine
The sniper just takes his aim
People are oblivious to the danger that lurks around them
Everyone is window shopping, no one is amazed
People are unimpressed with the world around them
Even if he hit you, you'd still think it's just a graze
People have grown numb to the painful realities of life
You go to a movie, you go to a show
People distract themselves with entertainment
You think that you're loving, you don't really know
People mistake superficial affection for true love
Big tears mean nothing
Crying doesn't solve anything
You can count them as they fall
Tears are not impactful
When you're lying in your coffin
In death, things that mattered don't matter anymore
Tell me who's been taken in
Who has been fooled by life's illusions?
Oh you talk about the new boss automatic clause
People are preoccupied with trivial workplace politics
But of course they make it all up for you
People pretend to care, but don't
Always fascinated by the weird edge of town
People are drawn to strange things to escape their mundane lives
Come home disappointed every time they put you down
People's search for excitement usually ends in disappointment
Laughing with the old boys, saying that it's all noise
People's attempts to laugh off their failures are futile
I suppose, big tears mean nothing
Crying in frustration won't change anything
All the buttons of my overcoat
Everything about my life is falling apart
They have fallen off one by one
I am losing control of my life
You wouldn't even like me if you'd never had a drink
People only like me because I can give them something
You wouldn't even like me if you never stopped to think
People don't truly appreciate me for who I am
Standing in the shadow, turning wives to widows
People's actions have severe consequences for others that they don't consider
Don't you know, big tears mean nothing
Crying doesn't fix anything
Tell me, who's been taken in
Who has been fooled by life?
Tell me, who, me or yous been taken in
Which one of us has fallen victim to life's illusions?
Tell me, tell me, tell me
I need answers
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind