Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus on 25 August 1954) is an inter… Read Full Bio ↴Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus on 25 August 1954) is an internationally known English singer-songwriter. Gaining prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-70s, he burst into fame with his critically acclaimed 1977 debut 'My Aim Is True', still one of the most successful debuts of all time. He soon did much work in the genres of punk rock, power pop, and New Wave after he formed Elvis Costello & The Attractions. In a long and successful career, Costello has released over thirty studio albums on his own and with the Attractions, the Imposters, and other collaborations, praised by many critics for his literate, witty songwriting.

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.

Blue Chair
Elvis Costello Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Now it's just you and me, my blue friend
And you say that it's you that she's thinking of
And our affair must end
But if it's you that she's thinking of
I think my broken heart might mend

[Chorus:]
Now it's my turn to talk and your turn to think

Your turn to buy and my turn to drink
Your turn to cry and my turn to sink down in the Blue Chair
Down in the Blue Chair

Now I've made up my mind I've made my mistake
And I know that she cries for you
When she's barely awake
Well she's going to bend your mind
Well I hope it don't break

[Chorus]

Down in the Blue Chair
We can watch our troubles rise
Like smoke into the air
And drift up to the ceiling
Down in the Blue Chair
You can feel just like a boy or a man
And next minute you can find yourself kneeling
Down in the Blue Chair
They're boasting of loving the daylights right out of her in the small hours
Down in the Blue Chair
You say that your love lasts forever when you know the night just hours

And still I want her right now
Not any minute, hour or day
And wherever she is tonight
I want her anyway
I suppose she never said to you,
You were just in the way

[Chorus]

Down in the Blue Chair
Down in the blue

Blue becomes you
Down in the Blue Chair

Overall Meaning

In "Blue Chair," Elvis Costello sings from the perspective of someone in a love triangle, pleading with a blue chair (representing his confidante) about his feelings for a woman who is with another man. The beginning of the song shows the singer expressing sadness and acceptance of the situation, knowing that the woman he loves is thinking of the other man. However, he also implies that if she were to choose him, he might be able to heal from the pain of the situation.

In the middle of the song, the tone shifts to a more confrontational one, with Costello declaring that he has made a mistake and knows that the woman cries for the other man. He goes on to warn the other man that she will eventually break his mind with her actions, and he hopes that it won't lead to a complete breakdown. Then, the song ends with the singer expressing his desire for the woman, despite everything that has happened. It's a poignant look at the complexities of love and the power it holds over people.

Line by Line Meaning

Now it's just you and me, my blue friend
It's just the singer and their blue chair, a metaphor for their loneliness and sadness.

And you say that it's you that she's thinking of and our affair must end
The chair represents the singer's conscience, telling them that their affair with someone else must end because the other person is thinking of the chair occupant (their conscience).

But if it's you that she's thinking of I think my broken heart might mend
If the person the singer is having an affair with was actually thinking of the chair occupant (their conscience), the singer's heartbreak would ease a bit.

Well, it's my turn to talk, your turn to think Your turn to buy, my turn to drink Your turn to cry, my turn to sink Down in the blue chair, down in the blue chair
The chair is a symbol of power and control; the singer now controls the situation and is dictating what the chair occupant should be doing.

Now I've made up my mind, I've made my mistake And I know that she cries for you when she's barely awake Well, she's going to bend your mind Well, I hope it don't break
The singer admits they've made a mistake and now knows that the person they're having an affair with is still emotionally attached to the chair-occupier (their conscience). The singer is warning the chair occupant that they will be manipulated and hopes that they will not break under the influence.

We can watch our troubles rise Like smoke into the air and drift up to the ceiling
The chair provides an escape from life's problems, but like smoke which eventually dissipates, these problems will come back to haunt them.

You can feel just like a boy or a man And next minute you can find yourself kneeling
The chair represents a feeling of power, but this can be quickly lost, causing one to feel small and insignificant.

They're boasting of loving the daylights Right out of her in the small hours
The person the singer is having an affair with is boastful about their sexual prowess, but does so at odd hours of the night.

You say, that your love lasts forever When you know the night is just ours, oh
The singer is aware that the person they're having an affair with is not truthful about their love, as they only see each other at night.

And still I want her right now Not in a minute, hour or day And wherever she is tonight, I want her anyway I suppose, she never said to you, you were just in the way
The singer is still longing for the person they're having an affair with, regardless of the fact that they're not truthful with them. The singer suspects that the other person is only using them as a means to an end (not as a true lover).

Down in the blue chair, Down in the blue chair Down in the blue chair, Down in the blue chair
Repetition of the chorus emphasizing the power and status of the blue chair.

Blue becomes you Down in the blue chair
The chair's colour symbolizes melancholy and sadness, both of which are part of the singer's life and are embodied in the chair.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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