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.
Mystery Dance
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He jumped out the window 'cause he couldn't sit still
Juliet was waiting with a safety net
He said, "Don't bury me 'cause I'm not dead yet"
Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
I want to know about the mystery dance
Why don't you show me
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
Well, I remember when the lights went out
And I was tryin' to make it look like it was never in doubt
She thought that I knew, and I thought that she knew
So both of us were willing, but we didn't know how to do it
Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
I want to know about the mystery dance
Why don't you show me
'Cause I've tried and I've tried, and I'm still mystified
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
Well, I was down under the covers in the middle of the night
Tryin' to discover my left foot from my right
You can see those pictures in any magazine
But what's the use of looking when you don't know what they mean?
Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
I want to know about the mystery dance
Why don't you show me
'Cause I've tried and I've tried, and I'm still mystified
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The song "Mystery Dance" by Elvis Costello describes a young couple, Romeo and Juliet, who are struggling to navigate their relationship. Romeo is restless and ready to kill, and when Juliet is waiting with a safety net, he jumps out the window because he can't sit still. The chorus of the song asks, "Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance? I want to know about the mystery dance. Why don't you show me?" This line seems to suggest that the characters are struggling to communicate and understand each other.
The second verse describes a moment when the "lights went out" and the characters were trying to make a move on each other but didn't know how. They were both willing, but they "didn't know how to do it." In the final verse, the singer, presumably Elvis Costello himself, is also struggling to understand the mysterious dance of love. He is "tryin' to discover my left foot from my right" and can't understand the images he sees in magazines.
Overall, the song seems to be about the challenge of understanding and connecting with others. The "mystery dance" is a metaphor for the complex, subtle interactions that make up romantic relationships. Despite the frustration and confusion, the singer doesn't want to give up: "I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied. I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied."
Line by Line Meaning
Romeo was restless, he was ready to kill
Romeo was agitated and eager to take action
He jumped out the window 'cause he couldn't sit still
Romeo was so restless that he had to escape his surroundings
Juliet was waiting with a safety net
Juliet was prepared to catch Romeo when he fell
He said, "Don't bury me 'cause I'm not dead yet"
Romeo was not ready to give up, despite feeling overwhelmed
Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
The singer is curious and eager to learn about this elusive skill
I want to know about the mystery dance
The singer is expressing a desire to learn
Why don't you show me
The singer is asking for a demonstration
'Cause I've tried and I've tried, and I'm still mystified
The singer has attempted to learn, but still doesn't understand
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer is frustrated by their inability to learn the skill
Well, I remember when the lights went out
The singer recalls a specific moment in the past
And I was tryin' to make it look like it was never in doubt
The singer was attempting to appear confident, even though they were unsure
She thought that I knew, and I thought that she knew
There was a miscommunication between the singer and their partner
So both of us were willing, but we didn't know how to do it
Neither the singer nor their partner knew how to dance the mystery dance
Well, I was down under the covers in the middle of the night
The singer was practicing in private, at night
Tryin' to discover my left foot from my right
The singer was struggling with the basic movements of the dance
You can see those pictures in any magazine
The singer had looked for help in magazines, but it wasn't helpful
But what's the use of looking when you don't know what they mean?
The singer was confused by what they saw in the magazines
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer is still struggling and frustrated by their inability to learn
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer repeats their frustration and desire to learn
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer repeats their frustration and desire to learn
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer repeats their frustration and desire to learn
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer repeats their frustration and desire to learn
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
The singer repeats their frustration and desire to learn
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind