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.
Blame It On Cain
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Government burglars took it along
Before I could mail it to you
Still you are the only one
Now I can't let it slip away
So if the man with the ticker tape, he tries to take it
Well, this is what I'm gonna say
Don't blame it on me
Oh-oh, oh, it's nobody's fault
But we need somebody to burn
Well, if I was a saint with a silver cup
And the money got low, we could always heat it up
Or trade it in
But then the radio to heaven will be wired to your purse
And you can run down the waveband
Coast-to-coast, hand in hand
Bad to worse, curse for curse
Don't be dissatisfied, so if you're not satisfied
Blame it on Cain
Don't blame it on me
Oh-oh, oh, it's nobody's fault
But we need somebody to burn
I think I've lived a little too long on the outskirts of town
I think I'm going insane from talking to myself for so long
Oh, but I've never been accused
When they step on your face, then wear that good-look grin
I gotta break out one weekend before I do somebody in
But every single time I feel a little stronger
They tell me it's a crime, well, how much longer?
Blame it on Cain
Don't blame it on me
Oh-oh, oh, it's nobody's fault
But we need somebody to burn
Blame it on Cain,
Oh-oh, oh, please don't blame it on me
It's nobody's fault
But it just seems to be his turn
The song Blame It on Cain by Elvis Costello is a complex mix of emotions and frustration, as the lyrics reveal. The first verse explores the theme of losing money, which can be attributed to the government's interference in ordinary people's lives. The singer feels that he is being wronged, and he doesn't want to lose his money before sending it to his loved one. He sings, "Government burglars took it along, before I could mail it to you." The sense of frustration is echoed in the following lines, as he sings, "Still, you are the only one. Now I can't let it slip away. So if the man with the ticker tape, he tries to take it, well, this is what I'm gonna say, Blame it on Cain."
The singer seems to blame someone named Cain, who is not introduced in the song, but the refrain keeps on repeating this phrase. It seems as if he's urging someone to take the blame for his troubles, rather than accepting responsibility. The second verse is particularly surreal and confusing, with lines like "And the money got low, we could always heat it up." The sense of anarchy and chaos is palpable, as the singer feels like he's losing his grip on sanity; "I think I'm going insane from talking to myself for so long." In the end, he seems resigned to his fate, and the line, "But it just seems to be his turn," suggests that life is unpredictable, and people can be blamed for things beyond their control.
Line by Line Meaning
Once upon a time, I had a little money
There was a time when I had some money
Government burglars took it along
The government took it away from me
Before I could mail it to you
I didn't have a chance to send it to you
Still you are the only one
But you are still the only one I care about
Now I can't let it slip away
I can't afford to lose any more money
So if the man with the ticker tape, he tries to take it
If anyone tries to take my money
Well, this is what I'm gonna say
This is what I'll tell them
Blame it on Cain
Don't blame me, blame someone else
Don't blame it on me
I didn't do anything wrong
Oh-oh, oh, it's nobody's fault
No one is to blame
But we need somebody to burn
But we need someone to take the blame
Well, if I was a saint with a silver cup
If I were a wealthy and virtuous person
And the money got low, we could always heat it up
If I ran out of money, we could find a way to make more
Or trade it in
Or exchange it for something else
But then the radio to heaven will be wired to your purse
But then you would control everything
And you can run down the waveband
And you would have power over the airwaves
Coast-to-coast, hand in hand
From one end of the country to the other
Bad to worse, curse for curse
Things would only get worse
Don't be dissatisfied, so if you're not satisfied
Don't be unhappy, if you're unhappy
I think I've lived a little too long on the outskirts of town
I've been living on the edge of society for too long
I think I'm going insane from talking to myself for so long
I think I'm losing my mind from being alone too much
Oh, but I've never been accused
But I've never been in trouble with the law
When they step on your face, then wear that good-look grin
When people treat you poorly, just smile and pretend it's okay
I gotta break out one weekend before I do somebody in
I need to get away before I hurt someone
But every single time I feel a little stronger
But every time I try to leave, I feel more confident
They tell me it's a crime, well, how much longer?
People keep telling me it's wrong, but how much longer must I suffer?
Oh-oh, oh, please don't blame it on me
Please don't accuse me of anything
But it just seems to be his turn
But it seems like it's somebody else's turn to take the blame
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind