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.
Pony St
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And they should scatter flowers at her feet
But when they come calling I think it's appalling
They're sober and they're polite
They're deeply respectful when I would expect them
To keep her out all night
That little martinet
Will get her own way yet
I'll show you a thing or two
You used to adore me but now my life flashes before me
For you to view
Oh mother, oh mother, sometimes you are so mortifying
From the hole in your leopard skin tights I can tell you've been spying
But your generation confesses before it transgresses
Those Super-8 movies of daddy in your disco dresses
If you're going out tonight
I won't wait up
Reading "Das Kapital"
Watching "Home Shopping Club"
While you're flogging a dead horse
All the way down Pony Street
Where you live after a fashion
All the way down Pony Street
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
That lives on, that lives on, that lives on
Pony Street
Daughter, oh daughter, you know I will love you forever
But spare me the white ankle socks with the lace and the leather
For you and your cartoon threat do no good to resist me
For I am the genuine thing but for you it's just history
If you're going out tonight
How can you be sure
Where you lay your pretty head
Mother may have been before
So you're flogging a dead horse
All the way down Pony Street
Where you live after a fashion
All the way down Pony Street
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
That lives on [5x]
She lives on Pony Street [2x]
She lives on, she lives on [2x]
In "Pony St." by Elvis Costello, the singer sings about a girl who lives on Pony Street. Despite being deemed a very special person, she is surrounded by people who don't quite appreciate her the way they should. "They should scatter flowers at her feet," the singer notes. But when people come calling, they are sober and polite instead of wild and rowdy, which is what the singer would expect given the girl's status. This is likely why he calls her a "martinet," as she seems to be uncontrollable and demand people to do whatever she wants.
Still, the singer isn't afraid of a bit of destruction. "If you need instruction in mindless destruction, I'll show you a thing or two," he boasts, indicating that he can still bring the energy and chaos that the little girl perhaps wants to see. The second verse seems to be directed towards the singer's mother, who is described as mortifying with her leopard skin tights and Super-8 movies of "daddy in your disco dresses." The singer seems to be exasperated with his mother, but he still loves her, telling her "you know I will love you forever."
Overall, "Pony St." seems to be a song about youthful energy and misunderstood genius. The little girl on Pony Street represents that untameable spirit that wants to run wild, but she's misunderstood by the sober and polite people around her. Meanwhile, the singer is still youthful at heart and unafraid of destruction or chaos, even as he's exasperated with his mother.
Line by Line Meaning
She lives on Pony Street
The subject of the song resides on Pony Street
And they should scatter flowers at her feet
The subject should be celebrated for her exceptional qualities
But when they come calling I think it's appalling
The subject is unhappy with the company that comes to visit her
They're sober and they're polite
The visitors are well-behaved and courteous
They're deeply respectful when I would expect them
The subject expected the visitors to behave differently in her presence
To keep her out all night
The subject is surprised that the visitors aren't more adventurous
That little martinet
The subject refers to herself as a strict disciplinarian
Will get her own way yet
The subject is confident that she will eventually have things her way
If you need instruction in mindless destruction
The subject is offering to provide guidance in reckless behavior
I'll show you a thing or two
The subject is confident in her ability to teach others
You used to adore me but now my life flashes before me
The subject is reflecting on a past relationship that is no longer positive
For you to view
The subject is allowing the listener to observe her life
Oh mother, oh mother, sometimes you are so mortifying
The subject is addressing her mother, who can be embarrassing
From the hole in your leopard skin tights I can tell you've been spying
The subject accuses her mother of watching her discreetly
But your generation confesses before it transgresses
The subject believes that her mother is old-fashioned in her approach to morality
Those Super-8 movies of daddy in your disco dresses
The subject is referencing an embarrassing family event
If you're going out tonight
The subject is addressing someone else who is leaving for the evening
I won't wait up
The singer will not wait for the person to return
Reading "Das Kapital"
The subject will pass the time by reading a specific book
Watching "Home Shopping Club"
The subject will also watch a specific television program
While you're flogging a dead horse
The artist is accusing the person leaving of wasting time on a hopeless task
All the way down Pony Street
The artist is referencing the street where the subject lives
Where you live after a fashion
The singer is implying that the subject's lifestyle is only average
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
The subject is known for being the center of attention during questionable activities
That lives on, that lives on, that lives on
The subject's reputation for misbehavior continues to exist
Daughter, oh daughter, you know I will love you forever
The mother is expressing her eternal love for her child
But spare me the white ankle socks with the lace and the leather
The mother is uncomfortable with her daughter's fashion choices
For you and your cartoon threat do no good to resist me
The mother believes that her daughter's threats are pointless against her
For I am the genuine thing but for you it's just history
The mother implies that she is superior to her daughter in every way
How can you be sure
The singer is asking how the person leaving knows what will happen
Where you lay your pretty head
The singer is suggesting that the person may not be safe where they are sleeping
Mother may have been before
The mother may have also slept in that location
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
The subject is often at the center of questionable activities
That lives on [5x]
The subject's reputation for misbehavior continues to exist
She lives on, she lives on [2x]
The subject continues to reside on Pony Street
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind