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.
How to Be Dumb
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
While you were living like a saint
And all the time the very one you trusted was washing off
Somebody else's paint
Now you've got yourself a brand new occupation
Every fleeting thought is a pearl
And beautiful people stampede to the doorway
They're here to help you
Satisfy your desire
There's a bright future for all you professional liars
[Chorus]
Now you know how to be dumb
Are you ready to take your place in the modern museum of mistakes?
Don't you know how to be dumb?
Like a building thrown up overnight in one of those reverse earthquakes
They emptied out all the asylums, they emptied out all the jails
The "new bruise" was the name of a dance craze
By "Jesus cross and the cruel nails"
Followed up by "torturing little beaver"
With their contraption of barbed wire
Between the fear and the fever lies all the rejection they require
They'll be howling by midnight, they'll be drooling by dawn
Skulls shrunk down to the size of their brains
Heads shaven and shorn
[Chorus]
Trapped in the house of the perpetual sucker
Where bitterness always ends so pitifully
You always had to dress up your envy in some half-remembered
Philosophy
Now you're masquerading as pale powdered genius
Whose ever bad intention has been purged
You could've walked out any time you wanted but face it you
Didn't have the courage
I guess that makes you a full time hypocrite or some kind of
Twisted dilettante
Funny though people don't usually get so ugly 'til they think
They know what they want
Scratch your own head stupid
Count up to three
Roll over on your back
Repeat after me
Don't you know how to be dumb?
Are you ready to take your place in the modern museum of mistakes?
Don't you know how to be dumb?
Like a building thrown up overnight in one of those reverse earthquakes
The lyrics of Elvis Costello's "How to Be Dumb" are a scathing critique of society's obsession with success at any cost. The song begins with the singer admitting that he wanted to destroy his own powers of concentration, while someone else, presumably a friend, was living a virtuous life. However, the person he trusted was revealed to be a fraud, washing off somebody else's paint. The singer then takes aim at his own critics, ridiculing those who try to satisfy their desires by lying and manipulating others.
Costello's contempt for these people is palpable, as he compares them to inmates in asylums and jails who have been let loose on the world. He also mocks the dance craze of the "new bruise" and describes the fear and rejection that drives people to join these movements. Further, he expresses disdain for those who masquerade as geniuses but are really full-time hypocrites, twisting philosophy to suit their own ends.
The chorus of the song is a biting attack on society's obsession with success at any cost. The singer asks if his listeners know how to be dumb, and whether they are ready to take their place in the modern museum of mistakes. He describes this museum as a place where people are constantly trying to outdo each other in their stupidity and recklessness, like a building thrown up overnight in one of those reverse earthquakes. In essence, the song is a call to reject the cult of success and to embrace a simpler, more honest way of life.
Line by Line Meaning
I was hell-bent on destroying my powers of concentration
I intentionally tried to ruin my focus and attention.
While you were living like a saint
You were living a virtuous and moral life.
And all the time the very one you trusted was washing off somebody else's paint
The person you trusted was covering up their true identity and pretending to be someone else.
Now you've got yourself a brand new occupation
You have found a new job or career for yourself.
Every fleeting thought is a pearl
You consider every brief idea or notion to be valuable and precious.
And beautiful people stampede to the doorway of the funniest fucker in the world
Attractive individuals flock to the entrance of the most amusing comedian on the planet.
They're here to help you satisfy your desire
They are present to assist you in fulfilling your wishes or cravings.
There's a bright future for all you professional liars
There is a prosperous career ahead for those who are skilled at being deceitful.
Now you know how to be dumb
You have learned how to act foolish or unintelligent.
Are you ready to take your place in the modern museum of mistakes?
Are you prepared to join the current collection of regrettable human errors?
Like a building thrown up overnight in one of those reverse earthquakes
Like a structure erected spontaneously during a bizarre earthquake that moves in the opposite direction.
They emptied out all the asylums, they emptied out all the jails
All the mental health facilities and correctional institutions have been cleared out.
The "new bruise" was the name of a dance craze by "Jesus cross and the cruel nails"
The latest dance trend was called "new bruise", created by a group known as "Jesus cross and the cruel nails".
Followed up by "torturing little beaver" with their contraption of barbed wire
This was succeeded by a performance called "torturing little beaver", which involved using barbed wire as a tool.
Between the fear and the fever lies all the rejection they require
The combination of dread and excitement is enough to satisfy their need for rejection.
They'll be howling by midnight, they'll be drooling by dawn
They will be screaming and slobbering throughout the nighttime and sunrise.
Skulls shrunk down to the size of their brains, heads shaven and shorn
Their skulls have decreased in size to match their brains, and their heads have been shaved.
Trapped in the house of the perpetual sucker
Stuck in the home of someone who is always taken advantage of.
Where bitterness always ends so pitifully
In a place where resentment always results in a wretched outcome.
You always had to dress up your envy in some half-remembered philosophy
You frequently had to disguise your jealousy by using an incomplete or vague doctrine to justify it.
Now you're masquerading as pale powdered genius
Currently, you are disguising yourself as a pale and decorated intellectual.
Whose ever bad intention has been purged
Your former intention to do harm has been eliminated.
You could've walked out any time you wanted but face it you didn't have the courage
You had the option to leave at any moment but lacked the bravery to do so.
I guess that makes you a full-time hypocrite or some kind of twisted dilettante
That caustic characterizes you a chronic hypocrite or a colorful part-time art lover.
Funny though people don't usually get so ugly 'til they think they know what they want
Ironically, individuals don't typically become so unattractive until they believe they've discovered their passion.
Scratch your own head stupid
Ponder your own confusion and lack of wisdom.
Count up to three, roll over on your back
Count to three and then lie down on your back.
Repeat after me
Recite these same words after I say them.
Don't you know how to be dumb?
Don't you understand how to act foolish?
Like a building thrown up overnight in one of those reverse earthquakes
Like a structure erected spontaneously during a bizarre earthquake that moves in the opposite direction.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DECLAN MACMANUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind