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.
High Fidelity
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Even though you're feeling like another man
There's nothing that he can do for you
To shut me away as you walk through
Lovers laughing in their amateur hour
Holding hands in the corridors of power
Even though I'm with somebody else right now
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
High fidelity
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
There's a new kind of dedication
Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel
Maybe I got above my station
Maybe you're only changing channel
Even though you're nowhere near me
And I know you kiss him so sincerely now
Even though the signal's indistinct
And you worry what silly people think
Who just can't wait to feel so frozen out
I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions
I suppose he'll never know about
High fidelity
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
High fidelity
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
The song High Fidelity by Elvis Costello & The Attractions is about the painful experience of seeing an ex-lover with someone else, even though you have moved on with your own life. The singer is still feeling the hurt and unable to get over the past, despite being in a new relationship. The lyrics suggest that the singer is feeling left out and frozen, watching his ex-lover with her new partner. He feels the need to reach out to her through the song, asking if she can hear him and reminding her of the unique and powerful love they once shared, a love that he believes cannot be replicated or replaced. The line, "Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel" suggests that there may be hope for a reconciliation or a new start, but the singer is unsure and remains stuck in his own feelings of longing and despair.
The metaphor of "high fidelity" is used throughout the song as a way to describe the intense and unwavering nature of the singer's love for his ex-lover. High fidelity refers to the ability of a sound system or recording to reproduce sound accurately, without distortion or loss of quality. This metaphor suggests that the singer's love is pure, true, and unwavering, like a high fidelity recording. The song's chorus repeats the question "Can you hear me?", suggesting that the singer is desperate to be heard and to have his love recognized.
Overall, High Fidelity is a poignant and heartfelt song about the pain of lost love and the struggle to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Some things you never get used to
There are some experiences that remain difficult to process, no matter how many times they happen
Even though you're feeling like another man
Even if you feel like a completely different person than the one you were before
There's nothing that he can do for you
There's nothing that the new person in your life can do to replace what we had
To shut me away as you walk through
To ignore me or act like you don't care when you see me
Lovers laughing in their amateur hour
Young couples with their naive and inexperienced ideas about love
Holding hands in the corridors of power
People in positions of authority flaunting their relationships for all to see
Even though I'm with somebody else right now
Even though I'm trying to move on and be with someone else
High fidelity
A reference to the quality of sound reproduction in audio equipment, suggesting a plea for clear communication and honesty
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Are you really listening to me and understanding how I feel?
There's a new kind of dedication
Perhaps you've found a new type of commitment
Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel
Maybe you'll discover this new form of dedication if you keep searching
Maybe I got above my station
Perhaps I overestimated my importance in your life
Maybe you're only changing channel
Perhaps you're simply switching to a new interest or phase of life
Even though you're nowhere near me
Even if you're physically distant from me
And I know you kiss him so sincerely now
And I'm aware that you're affectionate with your new partner now
Even though the signal's indistinct
Even though our communication is unclear or difficult
And you worry what silly people think
And you're concerned about what others might say or believe about us
Who just can't wait to feel so frozen out
People who enjoy feeling excluded from intimate relationships and romantic connections
I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions
I'm sure your new partner feels lucky to have won your affection
I suppose he'll never know about
He'll never fully understand the depth of history and emotion between us
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sexxxbucks
ome things you never get used to
Even though you're feeling like another man
There's nothing that he can do for you
To shut me away as you walk through
Lovers laughing in their amateur hour
Holding hands in the corridors of power
Even though I'm with somebody else right now
[Chorus:]
High fidelity
Can you hear me?
There's a new kind of dedication
Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel
Maybe I got above my station
Maybe you're only changing channel
Even though you're nowhere near me
And I know you kiss him so sincerely now
Even though the signal's indistinct
And you worry what silly people think
Who just can't wait to feel so frozen out
I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions
I suppose he'll never know about
[Chorus]
@Dman3827
Finally remembered this song. It was at the end credits of a sopranos episode. Couldn't figure out who sang it. I thought it was that blind guy who sang angel eyes.
Elvis Costello is seriously underated. Never on the radio either.
@jue4353
Love the sopranos for bringing me more new music
@xcalabur18
definitely
@lhooq27
I was just about to write this very thing. As a matter of fact, I credit the episode that used this for opening my eyes to Mr. Costello's brilliance twenty-two years ago. This isn't to say that I wasn't aware of him or didn't like him prior, but after hearing this, I made a trip to the record store the next day, bought Get Happy, and started my now vast collection of his albums.
@simonboccanegra3811
@@lhooq27 Someone at The Sopranos was a fan, as there was also "Complicated Shadows" at the end of a season 1 episode. The better of his two recordings of it (from All This Useless Beauty).
@jimmyjammer
Bruce’s bass line drove this song , a underrated genius of a bassist
@yummyyum36719
That rift is one of the great tragedies of rock.
@peterowen9183
@@yummyyum36719 Agree. Davey's a great, inventive bassist who fits in perfectly, and Elvis has made many brilliant (and great-sounding) LPs post-Bruce. But at the same time, there are very few bassists who can get anywhere near Bruce Thomas, and he is a real loss. Something magical about the Attractions line-up, and Bruce was a big part of it.
@yummyyum36719
@@peterowen9183 I have been chatting with Bruce online...totally nice guy, very humble about his abilities, and very open. I'm a 'trained" musician and I have been throwing out theoretical reasons why his contributions are so great,. He says "I was just intuitive". Yeah...intuitive...like Bach.
Bruce turned every already great Elvis song into a two part Baroque invention. Then Steve filled it in with his masterful keys and Pete drove the crap out of it.
It's near Beatles in terms of being both legendary and fleeting. Bruce is pretty content. He's a jazz fan, loves his new career writing...no bitterness coming out over the internet there.
@peterowen9183
@@yummyyum36719 Thank-you for that. I've never chatted to either of them so I've only seen the Bruce/Elvis thing from the outside and via the media. However I've heard, lately, that they have talked more and are a bit more at ease with each other, which is great. These things happen - friends fall out, for all kinds of reasons, and while they may be on better terms now, I don't think we are going to hear Bruce play on an Elvis Costello record again. But your Beatles comparison is apt - as John Lennon said about the Beatles break-up, 'it's not the end of the world - a pop group broke up. You got all the records if you want to go back and reminisce'. And actually, we do have Bruce playing (brilliantly) on about 10-and-a-half Attractions LPs. So if we're happy with that, and Bruce is content and enjoying life...great.