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.
Poor Fractured Atlas
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To try to recapture his anger
He's screaming some words at the top of his lungs
Until he begins to feel younger
But back at his desk in the city we find
Our trembling punch-drunken fighter
Who can't find the strength now to punish the length
Of the ribbon in his little typewriter
Poor fractured Atlas
Threw himself across the mattress
Waving his withering pencil
As if it were a pirate's cutlass
I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden
He said "that's how the child in me planned it
A woman wouldn't understand it"
I believe there was something that I wanted to say
Before I conclude this epistle
But you would forgive me for holding my tongue
'Cause man made the blade and the pistol
Yes, man made the waterfall over the dam
To temper his tantrum with magic
Now you can't be sure of that tent of azure
Since he punched a hole in the fabric
Poor fractured Atlas
Threw himself across the mattress
Waving his withering pencil
As if it were a pirate's cutlass
I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden
He said "that's how the child in me planned it
A woman wouldn't understand it
A woman wouldn't understand it
A woman wouldn't understand it"
The lyrics to "Poor Fractured Atlas" by Elvis Costello center around a man who is struggling to cope with his anger and frustration. The first stanza describes him retreating to the woods with his gun to capture his rage, but the second stanza portrays him back at his desk in defeat. He is unable to punish even the length of a ribbon in his typewriter, indicating a significant loss of power and confidence. The chorus describes him as "Poor fractured Atlas" - referencing the Greek god who holds up the world on his shoulders - throwing himself across his mattress, waving his pencil as if it were a pirate's cutlass, and trying to increase his burden.
Throughout the song, Costello provides commentary on the human condition, suggesting that man is responsible for creating both the tools of destruction (blades and pistols) and the wonders of the world (waterfalls and magic). The implication is that man's rage and frustration can lead to both destructive and creative outcomes. The final line of the song, "A woman wouldn't understand it," suggests that this man's struggle is explicitly male, and maybe even tied to societal expectations of masculinity.
Overall, "Poor Fractured Atlas" is a character study of a man who is struggling to understand and control his emotions, while also commenting on broader societal issues around gender and power.
Line by Line Meaning
He's out in the woods with his squirrel gun
He's trying to release his anger by going to nature with a gun
To try to recapture his anger
He wants to feel angry again and be in control of his emotions
He's screaming some words at the top of his lungs
He's shouting out his frustrations
Until he begins to feel younger
Expressing his anger makes him feel young and powerful again
But back at his desk in the city we find
Returning to the real world, he feels defeated and weak
Our trembling punch-drunken fighter
He's not physically strong, but still fights with his writing
Who can't find the strength now to punish the length
He's struggling to finish his writing and lacks motivation
Of the ribbon in his little typewriter
He's struggling to write, even though he's only dealing with a small piece of technology
Poor fractured Atlas
The character is struggling to hold up his own weight, mirroring Atlas in Greek mythology
Threw himself across the mattress
The character is physically exhausted and emotionally drained
Waving his withering pencil
His writing tool represents his struggle and loss of motivation
As if it were a pirate's cutlass
He sees his writing tool as a weapon, which shows the importance of writing to him
I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden
He's adding to his own problems by focusing on negative thoughts
He said 'that's how the child in me planned it'
He's exploring his inner child and how it affects his current state of mind
A woman wouldn't understand it
He doesn't think a woman would be able to empathize with his struggles
I believe there was something that I wanted to say
The character is struggling to articulate his feelings into words
Before I conclude this epistle
Just before he ends his writing, he feels an obligation to say something more
But you would forgive me for holding my tongue
He decides not to say what's really on his mind
'Cause man made the blade and the pistol
The character is recognizing the destructive power of man-made creations
Yes, man made the waterfall over the dam
He's acknowledging the positive power of man-made creations
To temper his tantrum with magic
Man-made creations can both create anger and soothe it through the beauty of nature
Now you can't be sure of that tent of azure
He's lost confidence in the beauty of nature
Since he punched a hole in the fabric
He's physically damaged nature and lost its beauty
A woman wouldn't understand it
He still believes a woman wouldn't be able to understand his emotions
A woman wouldn't understand it
Repeating this line emphasizes his belief that women can't understand his struggles
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind