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 Want to Vanish
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This is my fondest wish
To go where I cannot be captured
Laid on a decorated dish
Even in splendor, this curious fate
Is more than I care to surrender
Now, it's too late
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste
If you should stumble upon my last remark
I'm crying in the wilderness
I'm trying my best to make it dark
How can I tell you I'm rarer than most
I'm certain as a lost dog
Pondering a sign post
Whether in wonder or indecent haste
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste
I want to vanish
This is my last request
I've given you the awful truth
Now give me my rest
In Elvis Costello's song "I Want to Vanish," the singer expresses a wish to disappear completely, away from the prying eyes of the world. He desires a place where he cannot be captured or displayed like a decorative item. The song hints at a sense of being trapped or feeling like an object to be admired, but never truly seen. Even in moments of splendor, he feels as if he is surrendering too much of himself, and he prefers to hold on to his individuality instead of being caught up in others' expectations.
The second verse highlights the fickle nature of the entertainment industry, where something or someone of little worth can be presented as valuable and rare. The singer realizes that this is a dangerous game, and he doesn't want to be a part of it. He would rather vanish than be caught up in the web of lies and illusions that are created to ensnare people.
The final verse highlights the singer's desperation to disappear, almost as if it is his last resort. He wants to make it clear to the world that he has given them the truth, and now he desires his rest. The song's overall theme seems to be one of individualism and the desire for personal space and freedom, which can be tough to attain in a world that constantly expects us to conform.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to vanish
I desire to disappear from existence
This is my fondest wish
It's my deepest yearning
To go where I cannot be captured
I want to escape from being caught
Laid on a decorated dish
I don't want to be shown off as if I'm special
Even in splendor, this curious fate
Even if it's an unusual destiny despite looking great
Is more than I care to surrender
I don't want to give up on it, no matter how difficult it might be
Now, it's too late
I fear that my chance has passed, and I can't do anything about it
Whether in wonder or indecent haste
No matter if it's in amazement or lack of patience
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
You set up traps and deceits
To snare the rare and precious jewels
In order to catch unique and valuable things
That were only made of paste
But in reality, those things were fake or not genuine
If you should stumble upon my last remark
If you should come across my final message
I'm crying in the wilderness
I'm calling out loud alone, with no response
I'm trying my best to make it dark
I'm attempting to hide my true intentions
How can I tell you I'm rarer than most
How can I communicate that I'm exceptional, unusual compared to others?
I'm certain as a lost dog
I'm as sure of myself as a confused and abandoned dog
Pondering a sign post
Contemplating a direction, unsure of where to go
This is my last request
This is what I want before I'm gone
I've given you the awful truth
I presented you with a terrible reality
Now give me my rest
Now let me be at peace
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DECLAN MACMANUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind