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.
I Stand Accused
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
People say I love you
Yeah, I stand accused
Oh but what can I do
You belong to some other guy
Hope I never have to testify
If loving you is a big crime
I've been guilty a long time
Girl I stand accused
With no more than a chance
Yeah I stand accused
And I got no defense
All I need is a touch from your hand
Find myself on the witness stand
I'd be unable to lie girl
I got a love that won't die girl
Tell the world that I was guilty
I wouldn't stand a chance
Tell the world that I was a victim
A victim of circumstance
Girl knock myself out see if I could explain
Girl I love you so much that I'm almost insane
You disturbed my balance of mind
Couldn't help what I did at the time
I stand accused and I'm guilty
Baby I always will be
I need a witness baby
You disturbed my balance of mind
Couldn't help what I did at the time
I stand accused and I'm guilty
Baby I always will be
I need a witness baby
I stand accused of loving you
So guilty baby, oh yeah
I stand accused
I s-t-a-n-d a-see-see-you-s-e-d
I stand accused, loving you
So guilty baby, oh yeah
The lyrics of Elvis Costello & The Attractions's song "I Stand Accused" tell a story of a man who is in love with a girl who already belongs to someone else. He is being accused of loving her and he admits to it, saying that he has been guilty of this for a long time. He wishes he never has to testify because he knows he would not stand a chance against the accusations.
The lyrics are very emotional and descriptive, with the singer saying he would be unable to lie if he was on the witness stand, and that his love for this girl won't die. He also mentions that the girl has disturbed his balance of mind and he couldn't help what he did at the time.
The overall theme of the song is unrequited love and the feeling of helplessness that comes with it. The singer knows he is guilty, but he cannot help his feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Girl I stand accused
I am being accused by society in relation to my feelings for you, girl.
People say I love you
The people around us have made assumptions about my feelings towards you, girl.
Yeah, I stand accused
Yes, it is true that I am being accused of wrongdoing.
Oh but what can I do
There is nothing I can do to change my feelings for you or the accusations being made against me.
You belong to some other guy
You are committed to another man and cannot be with me.
Hope I never have to testify
I hope that I am never put in a position to give evidence about my feelings for you.
If loving you is a big crime
If loving you is considered a serious offence by society,
I've been guilty a long time
then I have been breaking that rule for a significant period of time.
With no more than a chance
I did not have much of a choice in the matter when it came to falling in love with you.
And I got no defense
I cannot defend myself against the accusations made against me because they are based on an emotional connection.
All I need is a touch from your hand
All I need to feel content is a simple yet affectionate touch from you, girl.
Find myself on the witness stand
However, I worry that even a small touch from you could lead me to confess my feelings under oath.
I'd be unable to lie girl
I wouldn't be able to lie because my love for you is so strong.
I got a love that won't die girl
My love for you is endless and will last until the end of time.
Tell the world that I was guilty
If the truth about my feelings for you were to be exposed to the world, I would not deny my wrongdoing.
I wouldn't stand a chance
I wouldn't be able to defend myself or hide my emotions if my love for you was brought to trial.
Tell the world that I was a victim
I could argue that I am the victim of circumstances beyond my control, such as falling in love.
A victim of circumstance
I am merely a product of fate and should not be judged too harshly for my emotions.
Girl knock myself out see if I could explain
I feel so passionate and overwhelmed about my feelings for you that I have been left speechless and unable to communicate my emotions.
Girl I love you so much that I'm almost insane
My love for you is so intense that it almost drives me to the point of recklessness and insanity.
You disturbed my balance of mind
You have thrown my previously stable thoughts and emotions into complete disarray.
I stand accused and I'm guilty
I admit to being guilty of loving you, even though society may consider it a crime or inappropriate.
Baby I always will be
I will always be guilty of loving you, no matter how wrong it may seem to others.
I need a witness baby
I need someone to validate my feelings and confirm the truth about my love for you.
I s-t-a-n-d a-see-see-you-s-e-d
I spell out that I am accused, emphasizing the gravity of the situation in relation to my feelings for you.
loving you
My accusations are entirely based on my feelings towards you, girl.
So guilty baby, oh yeah
I am incredibly guilty of loving you and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ray Smith, Tony Colton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind