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.
Chemistry Class
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The breath that I waste trying to ruin your life
Beauty's on a budget but you take it on the chin
'Cause you have to do your duty taking orders from the kingpin
[Chorus:]
You've got a chemistry class I want a piece of your mind
You don't know what you started when you mixed it up with mine
[They] chopped you up in butcher's school
Threw you out of the academy of garbage
You'll be a joker all your life
A student at the comedy college
People pleasing people pleasing people like you
You've been around so long but you still don't know what to do
[Chorus:]
Sparks are flying from electrical pylons
Snakes and ladders running up and down her nylons
Ready to experiment, you're ready to be burned
If it wasn't for some accidents then some would never ever learn
[Chorus:]
The song "Chemistry Class" by Elvis Costello is a composition about an unrequited love. In the first verse, the singer expresses his admiration for a woman who throws back her hands and shows her mouth. However, he knows that his love will never be reciprocated, and he wastes his breath trying to win her over. The woman he's talking about is on a budget but takes everything on the chin because she has to do what's expected of her by someone who is higher up the social ladder. The singer then sings about his desire to have a piece of her mind and for them to mix it up. At the same time, he is also warning her that they may not be ready for the final solution or what could happen after they mix it up.
The second verse talks about someone who's been chopped up in butcher's school and thrown out of an academy of garbage. They'll be jokers for the rest of their life, who keep people pleasing others like them. They've been around for so long yet still don't know what to do. The chorus repeats, and the singer wants a piece of the woman's mind, hoping that she's ready for the final solution. In the final verse, they talk about electrical pylons, snakes and ladders, and experimental burning. The lyrics explore the risks and uncertainties of the chemistry they share.
Line by Line Meaning
She throws back her hair and she shows you her mouth
She flaunts her beauty and sexuality openly
The breath that I waste trying to ruin your life
The energy I waste trying to harm you
Beauty's on a budget but you take it on the chin
You accept the drawbacks that come with beauty because it's worth it to you
'Cause you have to do your duty taking orders from the kingpin
You comply with those in power because you feel obligated to do so
You've got a chemistry class I want a piece of your mind
You have knowledge I desire and would like to learn from
You don't know what you started when you mixed it up with mine
You didn't realize the impact our interaction would have on you
Are you ready for the final solution? Oh. Oh.
Are you ready for the ultimate outcome of our relationship?
They chopped you up in butcher's school
They destroyed your dreams and aspirations
Threw you out of the academy of garbage
Your ideas and creativity were rejected and dismissed
You'll be a joker all your life
You will never be taken seriously
A student at the comedy college
Your life is a joke and you are constantly the butt of it
People pleasing people pleasing people like you
You constantly try to please everyone around you at the expense of your own happiness
You've been around so long but you still don't know what to do
Despite your experiences, you still have no idea what direction to take in life
Sparks are flying from electrical pylons
There is a sense of excitement and danger in the air
Snakes and ladders running up and down her nylons
Her sexuality and attractiveness are both alluring and threatening
Ready to experiment, you're ready to be burned
You are willing to take risks even if it means getting hurt
If it wasn't for some accidents then some would never ever learn
Sometimes, learning and growth can only come from making mistakes
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind