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.
Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She said "one day my Prince of Peace will come"
Above her head, a portrait of her father
The wilted favor that he gave her still fastened to the frame
"They've got his bones and everything he owns
I've got his name"
Well you can laugh at this sentimental story
The sudden chill where lovers doubt their immortality
As the clouds cover the sky, the evening ends
Describing a picture of eyes finally closing
As you sometimes glimpse terrible faces in the fire
We'll, I'm the lucky goon
Who composed this tune
From birds arranged on the high wire
Who on earth is tapping at the window?
Does that face still linger at the pane?
I saw you shiver though the room was like a furnace
A shadow of regret across a young mother's face
So toll the bell or rock the cradle
Please don't let me fear anything I cannot explain
I can't believe, I'll never believe in anything again
Elvis Costello's song "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" deals with themes of loss, inheritance and mortality. The song tells the story of a girl who has found solace in the belief that her "Prince of Peace" will one day come. She has a portrait of her father above her head, and a wilted favor he gave her fastened to the frame. She talks of the people who have his bones and everything he owned, and she is left with only his name. The song then moves on to the singer, who describes the sudden chill that comes when lovers start to doubt their immortality. He talks of seeing "terrible faces in the fire," and how he's "the lucky goon who composed this tune from birds arranged on the high wire."
The song has a haunting quality to it, with its use of imagery and its emphasis on the loss of those who have passed away. It's a song that deals with the idea of inheritance, both in terms of what we receive from those who came before us and in terms of what we leave behind for those who come after us. There's a sense of longing and regret throughout the song, a sense that something has been lost and can't be reclaimed.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw a girl who'd found her consolation
The singer witnessed a girl who had found peace or comfort in something.
She said "one day my Prince of Peace will come"
The girl expressed her belief that someday she will find ultimate peace or happiness.
Above her head, a portrait of her father
There was a picture of the girl's father hanging above her.
The wilted favor that he gave her still fastened to the frame
Attached to the frame of the picture was a gift from the father that had lost its original charm.
"They've got his bones and everything he owns
Someone has possession of the father's physical remains and belongings.
I've got his name"
The only thing the girl had left of her father was his surname.
Well you can laugh at this sentimental story
The singer acknowledges that others may find this story too emotional or over-the-top.
But in time you'll have to make amends
Eventually, those who judge the story will need to take responsibility for their actions and words.
The sudden chill where lovers doubt their immortality
There comes a moment when even the most in love feel vulnerable and mortal.
As the clouds cover the sky, the evening ends
A metaphorical representation of the end of the day or the end of a phase in life.
Describing a picture of eyes finally closing
The singer is describing a scene where someone's eyes are finally shutting.
As you sometimes glimpse terrible faces in the fire
Sometimes when you look at fire, you may see terrible faces.
We'll, I'm the lucky goon
The singer believes that he was fortunate to have written this song.
Who composed this tune
The singer is acknowledging that he wrote the song.
From birds arranged on the high wire
The inspiration for the song came from birds congregating on a high wire.
Who on earth is tapping at the window?
The artist heard someone tapping on the window and is wondering who it could be.
Does that face still linger at the pane?
The artist is questioning whether someone's face is still visible at the window.
I saw you shiver though the room was like a furnace
The singer saw someone shiver despite the fact that the room was warm.
A shadow of regret across a young mother's face
The singer observed a mother who appeared to have some regrets about something.
So toll the bell or rock the cradle
A phrase emphasizing the starkness and inevitability of life's most important events.
Please don't let me fear anything I cannot explain
The artist is asking not to be afraid of things that he cannot understand or explain.
I can't believe, I'll never believe in anything again
The artist is expressing an inability to believe in anything anymore.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DECLAN MACMANUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
gemes64
My favourite artist. His voicing of this live is extraordinary especially without a microphone.
Harvey Lee
Acapella my friend and yes i saw him perform this live!! The audience practically wept !!
runninglikewind
This song is amazing. Easily makes it into my all time top 5... Strange that this wasn't a gigantic hit...ask your average man in the street to name an Elvis Costello song and he'll say 'Olivers army' whilst this song is really outstanding
Jon Hooper
Yes, it is one of his masterpieces. Astonishing song that deserves more recognition.
Watts
Songs about faith, death, and the loss of your ideals tend not to be pop hits -- but ya never know!
Clyde Mq
When I listen to songs like this I wonder why Elvis is not considered among the greatest songwriters by music critics. The words are moving and clever. The melody is very appealing. So many of his songs fit this description.
Besides Lennon and McCartney I can't think of anyone else with so many great compositions.
Sam Edgar
He is. To those that know anything about music and lyrics and poetry, he is...
Michelle Norman
Well i consuder him such.one of the best .
Psychokinetic2k
An amazing song about faith - there's so much epic poetry going on here conveyed in specific and intimate images, my mind is dazed by the breadth of the high-wire act that is the song itself. One of the great pop poets of the past hundred years.
Sashizakura
Faith? Isn't it an outpouring of grief after another miscarriage with Cait?...though I suppose enough of those would make anyone lose faith in anything in general. At least he found a functioning baby maker eventually...