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.
Possession
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If there's anything that you need
There's no need to be evasive
Money talks and it's persuasive
Possession
Possession
Possession
Now you're sending me your best wishes
Signed with love and vicious kisses
You lack lust, you're so lacklustre
Is that all the strength you can muster
Possession
Possession
Possession
Even when we are out of touch
Now I know that I've seen too much, seen too much
So I see us lying back to back
My case is closed, my case is packed
I'll get out before the violence
Or the tears or the silence
Possession
Possession
Possession
Possession
Possession
Possession
Elvis Costello's song Possession is a poignant tale about a crumbling relationship where one partner is desperate to hold on to the other, clinging tightly to possessions and any shred of hope to keep them together. In the opening stanza, the singer acknowledges that money can talk and be persuasive, hinting at a transactional aspect to their relationship. The repetition of the word "possession" throughout the song underscores the desperation of the partner trying to hold on.
The second stanza begins with the other partner sending "best wishes" that are "signed with love and vicious kisses." Although seemingly affectionate, the singer sees through the façade and notices the lack of true passion in the relationship. The repetition of "possession" serves as a warning that the partner's desperate attempts to hold on could lead to violence or a breakdown in communication.
In the final stanza, the singer acknowledges that the relationship is over, and they are ready to move on. "My case is closed, my case is packed" symbolizes a finality to the relationship. The singer recognizes the risk of staying in a toxic relationship that ends in violence, tears, or silence. The repetition of "possession" throughout the song serves as a cautionary tale and a reminder of the dangers of holding onto possessions and toxic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
If there's anything that you want
If there's something you desire or need
If there's anything that you need
If there's something you must have
There's no need to be evasive
No need to avoid saying what you want
Money talks and it's persuasive
Money can influence people to do things
Possession
Strong desire to own or control something
Possession
Powerful urge to hold or dominate something
Possession
Intense need to have or control something
Now you're sending me your best wishes
Now you're sending me messages to convey your goodwill
Signed with love and vicious kisses
Signed with a kind of love, but also with malice
You lack lust, you're so lacklustre
You are without passion, unexciting
Is that all the strength you can muster
Is that all the energy and effort you can generate
Even when we are out of touch
Even when we are not in contact
Now I know that I've seen too much, seen too much
Now I understand I have witnessed too much
So I see us lying back to back
I imagine us spooning together
My case is closed, my case is packed
I've made my decision and I'm ready to go
I'll get out before the violence
I will leave before any conflict arises
Or the tears or the silence
Or before tears are shed or an awkward silence falls
Possession
Strong desire to own or control something
Possession
Powerful urge to hold or dominate something
Possession
Intense need to have or control something
Possession
Strong desire to own or control something
Possession
Powerful urge to hold or dominate something
Possession
Intense need to have or control something
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@aljustal6554
"So I see us lying back to back---my case is closed, my case is packed---I'll get out before the violence---or the tears, or the silence"
@sratus
'If there's anything that you want'- the same opening line as From Me to You by The Beatles.
@lads.7715
"I'll get out before the violence,
Or the tears ....or the silence "
@sratus
He's a lyrical master
@pcno2832
He took the other route, at least as far as the silence was concerned, the next year when he covered "A Good Year For the Roses".
@lads.7715
EC Bio: song written during the 10 minute ride to the Holland studio, and immediately recorded the moment they walked in the door. His opening organ line is sped-up version of Dylan's "Is Your Love in Vain" which EC was listening to that morning.
@stoneyll
Elvis is King~!
@tonyferguson4058
So wonderful, timing beat sentiment.
@drstevie
Immense song & LP.
@mamalama7204
NEEDS MORE VIEWS!!!