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.
Point of No Return
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I didn't need you so
It would have been so easy then
For me to turn and go
But now there's no leavin' you
I know that for a fact
I'm at the point of no return
I told myself you'd always be
A habit I could break
But now a day without your kiss
Would be so hard to take
You just can't get off a train
That's movin' down the track
I'm at the point of no return
And for me there'll be no turnin' back
Once I could have said goodbye
But that was at the start
Now I think I'd rather die
Than be the one to say we'll part
Maybe you will break my heart
Or maybe you'll be true
No matter what the future brings
I've got to see it through
Maybe your love for me
Is nothing but an act
But I'm at the point of no return
And for me there'll be no turning back
Yeah, for me there'll be no turning back.
In Elvis Costello's song "Point of No Return," the singer reflects on how their relationship has evolved. The singer remembers the time when they didn't need their partner, and it would have been easy to leave. But now, they're at the point of no return - they know that they cannot leave their partner, no matter what. Even if their partner breaks their heart or is not sincere, the singer has committed too much to the relationship to turn back now. They would rather "die" than be the one to end the relationship.
These lyrics are an exploration of the complexities of commitment and the lengths that people will go to stay in a relationship, even if it is not healthy or fulfilling. The singer acknowledges that their love may be "nothing but an act," but they are willing to see it through anyway. The song invites the listener to consider the point of no return in their own relationships and what it means to truly commit.
Line by Line Meaning
You know that once upon a time
There was a time when I did not need you in my life.
I didn't need you so
I was independent and self-sufficient without you.
It would have been so easy then
At that time, it would have been effortless for me to leave you.
For me to turn and go
I could have easily walked away from this relationship.
But now there's no leavin' you
However, now I cannot imagine myself being without you.
I know that for a fact
This feeling is certain and undeniable.
I'm at the point of no return
I have reached a moment where I cannot go back on my feelings for you.
And for me there'll be no turnin' back
I have made up my mind and there is no changing it now.
I told myself you'd always be
I convinced myself that you were just a habit that I could easily break away from.
A habit I could break
I had confidence that I could easily end things with you at any point.
But now a day without your kiss
However, now even a single day without you seems unbearable to me.
Would be so hard to take
I cannot fathom living without you even for a day.
You just can't get off a train
It's impossible to step off a train that's already in motion.
That's movin' down the track
Once something has started, it is difficult to stop it.
Once I could have said goodbye
There was a time when I could have easily said goodbye and moved on.
But that was at the start
However, that was only in the beginning of our relationship.
Now I think I'd rather die
Now I cannot imagine leaving you and it feels like death to me.
Than be the one to say we'll part
I refuse to be the one to initiate a breakup.
Maybe you will break my heart
There is a chance that you may hurt me.
Or maybe you'll be true
Or, you might actually be sincere in your feelings.
No matter what the future brings
Regardless of what may happen in the future.
I've got to see it through
I am committed to staying with you and seeing this relationship to the end.
Maybe your love for me
Your feelings for me may only be pretend.
Is nothing but an act
And you may just be faking your love for me.
But I'm at the point of no return
However, I have passed a point of no return with you and I cannot go back.
And for me there'll be no turning back
I am fully committed to you now and will not change my mind about our relationship.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GERRY GOFFIN, CAROLE KING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@collinmccarron2093
Why is there no comments on this like it's Elvis