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.
Georgie and Her Rival
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It sounded like a tiny man
And the one she had said "I can't see you, but I'll call you
Whenever I can"
Sometimes the phone would ring, when she was half-asleep
A voice would drag her down with its suggestions
Though she often felt cheated, she never felt cheap
Well heaven knows what fills the heart and makes you feel so alive
It's impossible to tear apart
Georgie and her rival
It was half-past February
And he hadn't called since New Year's Day
Maybe he'd found another woman to say those words no chapel girl should say
Her mother would phone and always keep talking
She'd try to be polite, making faces
But somewhere in the back of her mind, her rival was stalking
[Chorus]
Her rival would always wait till the eighth or ninth bell
He'd be desperate anyway and drunk as well
She always liked to hurt him to prove he was prepared
To love her anyway that she wanted
So she could tell which she preferred
He sat up with his address book trying to think what mood he's in
His finger traced past Georgie's name to someone who needed less
Persuading
He didn't hear through her disguise he didn't leave her in a rush
Just like the promise that he left on her machine
That almost made her blush
The radio plays a lover's symphony
"The number you have dialed has been re-directed"
Now she puts him on the speaker-phone
Whenever she has company
[Chorus]
The song "Georgie and Her Rival" by Elvis Costello tells the story of a woman named Georgie who hates her own name and is in love with a man who is also seeing someone else. Georgie's lover rarely calls her and when he does, it's always in the middle of the night, suggesting that their relationship is not a healthy one. Her mother calls frequently, but she is only a distraction from the pain Georgie feels because of her unfaithful lover. Georgie's rival is always lurking in the background, waiting to make his move. Georgie enjoys hurting him to show that he's willing to do anything for her.
The chorus of the song states "Well heaven knows what fills the heart and makes you feel so alive. It's impossible to tear apart Georgie and her rival." This lyric suggests that relationships can be complicated, and it's not always easy to let go of a toxic love even when you know it is destructive. The song is a reflection of how broken and damaging some love affairs can be.
Overall, the song is about unrequited love and how people often become entangled in painful relationships, unable to break free. It's a sad yet relatable story that many people can relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
Georgie grew to hate her name
Georgie disliked her name because it sounded like a name for a small, insignificant person.
It sounded like a tiny man
Georgie's name sounded diminutive and unimportant.
And the one she had said "I can't see you, but I'll call you
Whenever I can"
Georgie's romantic interest promised to call her whenever he could, despite not being able to physically see her.
Sometimes the phone would ring, when she was half-asleep
A voice would drag her down with its suggestions
Georgie would often receive phone calls from her romantic interest late at night, and his words would affect her emotionally.
Though she often felt cheated, she never felt cheap
Georgie never felt inferior or low because of her relationship with her romantic interest, despite feeling unsatisfied at times.
[Chorus:]
Well heaven knows what fills the heart and makes you feel so alive
It's impossible to tear apart
Georgie and her rival
Georgie and her romantic interest's relationship is complex and intense, and cannot be easily explained or broken.
It was half-past February
And he hadn't called since New Year's Day
Maybe he'd found another woman to say those words no chapel girl should say
Georgie is worried that her romantic interest is seeing someone else and saying things he shouldn't be.
Her mother would phone and always keep talking
She'd try to be polite, making faces
Georgie's mother talks a lot on the phone and Georgie has to try to hide her annoyance.
But somewhere in the back of her mind, her rival was stalking
In Georgie's mind, her romantic interest's other partners are always present and a source of anxiety.
[Chorus]
Georgie's relationship with her romantic interest is still intense and difficult to understand.
Her rival would always wait till the eighth or ninth bell
He'd be desperate anyway and drunk as well
Georgie's romantic interest's other partners would often call him late at night when they were drunk and desperate.
She always liked to hurt him to prove he was prepared
To love her anyway that she wanted
So she could tell which she preferred
Georgie would purposely hurt her romantic interest to test his devotion to her, so she could decide whether she wanted to stay with him or not.
He sat up with his address book trying to think what mood he's in
His finger traced past Georgie's name to someone who needed less
Persuading
Georgie's romantic interest was considering calling someone else from his address book who he thought would be easier to be with than Georgie, who is more demanding.
He didn't hear through her disguise he didn't leave her in a rush
Just like the promise that he left on her machine
That almost made her blush
Georgie's romantic interest didn't realize that she was pretending to be someone else on the phone, but still left a message that made Georgie flustered.
The radio plays a lover's symphony
"The number you have dialed has been re-directed"
Now she puts him on the speaker-phone
Whenever she has company
Georgie now plays music and puts her romantic interest on speaker-phone whenever she has visitors, so they can hear how devoted he is to her.
[Chorus]
The complexity and intensity of Georgie's relationship with her romantic interest is still present at the end of the song.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DECLAN MACMANUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind