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.
Lip Service
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I know you're so attractive
Getting in some sharp practice
You better not do anything reckless
But everybody is going through the motions
Everybody is going through the motions
Are you really only going through the motions?
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
But if you change your mind, you can send it in a letter to me
Don't make any sudden movements
These are dangerous amusements
When did you become so choosy?
Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes
But everybody is going through the motions
Everybody is going through the motions
Are you really only going through the motions?
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
But if you change your mind, you can send it in a letter to me
But if you change your mind, you can send it in a letter to me
But if you change your mind, you can send it in a letter to me
The lyrics of Elvis Costello's "Lip Service" convey a sense of frustration towards someone who is only offering empty words and not taking any meaningful action. The opening lines suggest that the person in question is attractive and perhaps charismatic ("you left the motor running"), but the singer is wary of their behavior ("you better not do anything reckless"). The chorus emphasizes the theme of superficiality and insincerity, with the repeated refrain of "lip service is all you'll ever get from me."
The subsequent verses continue to express a sense of disappointment and disillusionment with the individual in question. The lines "when did you become so choosy?/Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes" suggest that the singer feels the other person is putting on airs and distancing themselves from their previous relationship. The repeated refrain of "everybody is going through the motions" speaks to a kind of ennui or malaise that seems to be affecting not just the specific situation the song is addressing, but a broader societal or cultural trend.
Overall, the lyrics of "Lip Service" convey a sense of disappointment and disillusionment with someone who is not living up to their promises or offering anything of substance. The repeated refrain and the evocative images of reckless behavior and dangerous amusements create a vivid portrait of someone who is more concerned with appearances than with anything deeper or more meaningful.
Line by Line Meaning
You left the motor running
You may have left, but you're not gone for good.
But I know you're so attractive
I can't resist you despite your flaws.
Getting in some sharp practice
You're up to something sneaky.
You better not do anything reckless
I don't want you to get hurt on my account.
But everybody is going through the motions
Everything seems stagnant and mundane for everyone.
Are you really only going through the motions?
But are you really content with this routine?
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me
I won't commit to anything more significant than mere words.
But if you change your mind, you can send it in a letter to me
If you have a change of heart, let me know in writing.
Don't make any sudden movements
Be careful not to reveal your intentions too quickly.
These are dangerous amusements
These games we're playing could get us hurt.
When did you become so choosy?
When did you become so selective about who you're with?
Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes
Don't act superior to me; you're not as put-together as you seem.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind