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.
Lipstick Vogue
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't say a word if there is any doubt
Sometimes I think that love is just a tumor
You've got to cut it out
You say you're sorry for the things that you've done
You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it
I wouldn't worry, I had so much fun
It's you, not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
It's you, not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
Oh yeah
Get to the slot machine, almost dead on arrival
Just hit me one more time with that live wire
Maybe they told you you were only a girl in a million
You say I've got no feelings, this is a good way to kill them
Select the control and then insert the token
You want to throw me away but I'm not broken
You've got a lot to say, well, I'm not joking
There are some words they don't allow to be spoken
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being
It's you, not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
It's you, not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
The lyrics of "Lipstick Vogue" by Elvis Costello are complex and difficult to interpret, but they seem to revolve around the idea of a toxic, manipulative relationship. The first stanza warns against false expressions of love and suggests that love can be something dangerous that needs to be removed like a tumor. The second verse acknowledges the hurtful behavior of the other person but also implies that the singer has been enjoying the drama and excitement of the relationship. The chorus seems to address the other person, acknowledging their uniqueness and warning them not to treat the singer like just another disposable object, a "mouth in the lipstick vogue."
The third verse contains more enigmatic imagery, with the singer comparing themselves to a slot machine and suggesting that they are being used and thrown away like a broken toy. But they also push back against this mistreatment, insisting that they are not broken and pointing out that certain truths cannot be silenced. The final repetition of the chorus adds a note of finality, implying that this is the end of the line for the relationship and that the other person is the last of a certain type, perhaps the last of the "lipstick vogue" that the singer has experienced.
Overall, the lyrics of "Lipstick Vogue" are characterized by the tension between the singer's passion and pleasure in the relationship and their hurt and anger at being mistreated. They suggest a personality that is both drawn to drama and aware of the dangers of toxic relationships, struggling to reconcile these conflicting impulses.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't say you love me when it's just a rumor
Don't tell me you love me when you're not sure of your feelings
Don't say a word if there is any doubt
Don't speak if you're not confident of what you're saying
Sometimes I think that love is just a tumor
Sometimes I feel that love is like a growth that needs to be removed
You've got to cut it out
You have to get rid of the love if it's not real
You say you're sorry for the things that you've done
You apologize for the actions you've taken
You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it
You apologize insincerely
I wouldn't worry, I had so much fun
I don't care, I enjoyed myself
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being
Sometimes I almost feel like I have emotions
It's you, not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
You're not just another person following the latest trend
Get to the slot machine, almost dead on arrival
Approach life like a risky game where the odds are against you
Just hit me one more time with that live wire
Give me more excitement and danger
Maybe they told you you were only a girl in a million
Maybe they made you feel special, unique and extraordinary
You say I've got no feelings, this is a good way to kill them
You claim I don't have emotions, this attitude is detrimental to my feelings
Select the control and then insert the token
Take charge and show your presence
You want to throw me away but I'm not broken
You want to discard me, but I'm still intact
You've got a lot to say, well, I'm not joking
You have many points to make but I'm not taking it lightly
There are some words they don't allow to be spoken
There are some phrases that are not socially acceptable to say
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
I'm not just another follower of fashion, I'm the last one
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
I'm not just another person copying what others do, I'm the last one
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
I'm not just another insignificant voice in popular culture, I'm the last one
Not just another mouth, the last of the lipstick vogue
I'm not just a disposable trend-follower, I'm the last one standing
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Elvis Costello
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind