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.
Go Away
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One, two, one, two, three, four
Here in my little spy movie
With my garter and dagger
And my gag and my cuff
And my gunslinger swagger
You used to be so thrilling
It's a switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
And betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Budapest intrigue
Three hours of black and white
Squinting at subtitles
Through a telescopic sight
Hungarian melody
Repeating endlessly
Is this the end I see?
Approaching in front of me
A switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
In this hysterical epic
Secret passage of the palace
Powder from a hollow ring
Into the poisonous chalice
Unfrocked fondler
In a half moonlit gondola
Pampered hog in a ringlet wig
Gamboled a merry jig
You're always pursuing
But she won't need possessing
Just undoing and undressing
Please don't stop confessing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
In my mystery caper
As I lower my lamp
On a fey little gunsel
Who dreamed of drilling that vamp
I'm walking the shade
Of this silent parade
With my pepper and mace
And my heartbroken face
Rainy railway station
Drowns out a tearful parting
Last canister rolling
On our little melodrama
Is a one-horse opera
A screwball comedy
Mistaken identity
Well, who do you want to be?
A switch that you're flicking
A fuse you're always tripping
A button that you're pressing
A number that you're pushing
You're always delaying
Denying
Or betraying
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Go Away, Go Away
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you go away?
Hey hey
Why don't you
Go away
Why don't you go away?
The lyrics of Elvis Costello's song "Go Away" are a mix of spy movie clichés and the emotions of a broken-heart. Costello sets the scene with his "garter and dagger" and portrays himself as the hero in his "little spy movie." However, the theme of betrayal and heartbreak is always present, as he talks about a woman who used to be his "hand-painted villain." He is frustrated with her because she's always "delaying, denying, and betraying." He wants her out of his life, and yet he can't stop thinking about her; he asks, "why don't you come back, baby? Why don't you go away?"
The song mixes the world of espionage with the terrain of a failed relationship, with references to everything from Hungarian intrigue to secret passages to screwball comedies. The lyrics are meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as the juxtaposition of spy movie melodrama with the emotions of a broken heart make for an almost absurd combination. However, Costello's ability to weave the two together makes the lyrics poignant and memorable.
Line by Line Meaning
Are we rolling?
Are we starting?
Here in my little spy movie
In this made-up scenario in my mind
With my garter and dagger
With my weapons
And my gag and my cuff
And my restraints
And my gunslinger swagger
And my confident walk
You used to be my hand-painted villain
You used to be my enemy
You used to be so thrilling
You used to excite me
It's a switch that you're flicking
You're doing something to affect the situation
A fuse you're always tripping
You're causing problems
A button that you're pressing
You're making choices
A number that you're pushing
You're making calculations
You're always delaying
You're taking too long
Denying
Not accepting the situation
And betraying
Breaking my trust
Why don't you come back, baby?
Why don't you return to me?
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you leave me alone?
Go Away, Go Away
Leave me alone
Budapest intrigue
Complicated situation
Three hours of black and white
A long time of serious thinking
Squinting at subtitles
Struggling to understand
Through a telescopic sight
With clarity
Hungarian melody
Beautiful song
Repeating endlessly
Playing over and over
Is this the end I see?
Is this the end of the situation?
Approaching in front of me
Coming closer
In this hysterical epic
In this dramatic story
Secret passage of the palace
Hidden way in the palace
Powder from a hollow ring
Explosive substance from a ring
Into the poisonous chalice
Mixing with deadly drink
Unfrocked fondler
Exposed molester
In a half moonlit gondola
In a boat under the moonlight
Pampered hog in a ringlet wig
Arrogant person in a fancy wig
Gamboled a merry jig
Danced happily
You're always pursuing
You're always chasing after something
But she won't need possessing
But it's unnecessary to own her
Just undoing and undressing
Just getting undressed
Please don't stop confessing
Please don't withhold the truth
In my mystery caper
In my mysterious situation
As I lower my lamp
As I dim the light
On a fey little gunsel
On a strange criminal
Who dreamed of drilling that vamp
Who wished to hurt that woman
I'm walking the shade
I'm feeling the darkness
Of this silent parade
Of this quiet march
With my pepper and mace
With my weapons
And my heartbroken face
And my sad expression
Rainy railway station
Wet train station
Drowns out a tearful parting
Hides the emotional goodbye
Last canister rolling
Final container moving
On our little melodrama
In our small drama
Is a one-horse opera
Is an insignificant performance
A screwball comedy
A crazy situation
Mistaken identity
Wrong person
Well, who do you want to be?
Who do you want to pretend to be?
Hey hey
Hey hey
Why don't you
Why don't you
Go away
Leave me alone
Why don't you go away?
Why don't you leave me alone?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind