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.
He’ll Have To Go
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let's pretend that we're together, all alone.
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low,
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go.
Whisper to me, tell me do you love me true,
Or is he holding you the way I do?
Tho' love is blind, make up your mind, I've got to know,
You can't say the words I want to hear
While you're with another man,
If you want me, answer "yes" or "no,"
Darling, I will understand.
Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone.
Let's pretend that we're together, all alone.
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low,
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go.
The lyrics to Elvis Costello's song "He'll Have To Go" depict a conversation between two people who are trying to rekindle their romantic relationship. They are physically separated and the singer is using the telephone as a means of communicating with their former lover. The singer is urging the person on the other end of the line to tell their current companion that he must leave, so the two of them can be alone together.
The song is a classic plea for a second chance at love. The singer says "Let's pretend that we're together, all alone," indicating that they are willing to overlook whatever happened in the past and create a romantic fantasy between them. When the singer asks if the other loves them "true," it's clear that they are still emotionally invested in their former partner.
As the conversation continues, the singer is willing to end the call if the person on the other end cannot commit to being with them. This ultimatum shows that the singer's feelings are strong and that they are not willing to continue living in a state of longing and unfulfilled desire.
Overall, the lyrics to "He'll Have To Go" are a timeless expression of love and longing that continues to resonate with people to this day.
Line by Line Meaning
Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone.
Come closer to the phone, so that it feels like we're close together while talking.
Let's pretend that we're together, all alone.
Let's imagine that we're in the same room, enjoying each other's company.
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low,
I'll ask the person in charge to lower the volume of the music so that we can hear each other better.
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go.
You need to tell your friend who is present with you that they have to leave as we want to talk alone.
Whisper to me, tell me do you love me true,
Speak softly and let me know if you really love me or not.
Or is he holding you the way I do?
Are you being held with the same affection that I would show you?
Tho' love is blind, make up your mind, I've got to know,
Although love is often unpredictable, you need to decide what you want so that I can understand the situation.
Should I hang up, or will you tell him he'll have to go?
Either you should ask your friend to leave or I should hang up the phone, as we cannot continue talking like this.
You can't say the words I want to hear
You're unable to say what I want to hear from you.
While you're with another man,
You're currently in the company of another man.
If you want me, answer "yes" or "no",
If you're interested in being with me, let me know either way without making it complicated with indecisive answers.
Darling, I will understand.
I'll accept your decision, whatever it may be.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HARLAN HOWARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Felix' Vids
Is this an official music video? If not it absolutely has to be
Stavros
Just something I put together over a few beers. Cheers