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.
Sad About Girls
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You want to leave him without even a warning, a trace, or a calling card
Sad about girls who know perfectly well why he's so sad about this girl
He's so mad about this girl tonight
So understanding--oh, she's so undemanding
So in control, so on the whole--she's so good to you until it gets to you
Sad about girls in your polythene world
That the next girl to suffer, putting you [posed?]
Unwrap and love you before she can know you
She's just got to show you the way that you're gonna be sad
Sad about girls that awake to escape in the morning
Get up and leave without even a warning
But no where is sad as the girls in the night
So ready to please you, so ready to bite
Sad about girls who know perfectly well he's so sad about this girl
You're so sad about your girl tonight
Sad about girls tonight
So sad about girls tonight
The lyrics to Elvis Costello & The Attractions' song Sad About Girls paint a picture of a man who is perpetually sad about the girls in his life. He longs for escape from them, but cannot seem to break free. The opening lines address the girls who sneak away in the morning, leaving without a trace. The singer is so sad about these girls that he cannot help but be mad about them. He seeks comfort in an understanding and undemanding girl who seems to be in control of their relationship, but she too becomes a source of sadness once he realizes he cannot keep up with her expectations. The overarching theme of the song is the cycle of heartbreak that the singer cannot seem to escape, no matter how hard he tries.
The lyrics of Sad About Girls are a commentary on the tumultuous nature of relationships and the impact they can have on one's emotional well-being. The repetitive nature of the song's structure reinforces the cyclical nature of the singer's romantic experiences - he is consistently let down by the girls in his life, and no amount of change seems to alter his predicament. The song is a melancholic reflection on the struggles of seeking love and companionship.
Line by Line Meaning
To all the girls that awake to escape in the morning
This line addresses girls who wake up early in the morning just to leave their partner without telling anything, which suggests that they don't want to be with that person anymore.
You want to leave him without even a warning, a trace, or a calling card
The girl wants to leave without letting her partner know by leaving any signs, giving a warning or without even leaving any contact information behind.
Sad about girls who know perfectly well why he's so sad about this girl
This line talks about those girls who already know why he is so sad and depressed about his girl.
He's so mad about this girl tonight
He is really angry and upset about this girl he is with tonight.
So understanding--oh, she's so undemanding
She is understanding and not at all demanding, which makes her appear to be someone who will be very easy to get along with and be in a relationship with.
So in control, so on the whole--she's so good to you until it gets to you
She seems to be in control of everything and does everything right, but eventually it gets to him, which could mean that he is asking too much from her.
Sad about girls in your polythene world
This line describes the girls in his world whom he perceives as being plastic, fake and not genuine.
Where you unwrap and rewrap and know when she leaves
This line refers to how he treats women as being disposable and replaceable, just like something which can be unwrapped and rewrapped without any emotional consequence.
That the next girl to suffer, putting you [posed?]
The next girl that he gets involved with will suffer the same fate as the previous one, and he doesn't seem to understand how this could be hurtful for both him and the girl.
Unwrap and love you before she can know you
This line suggests that the next girl he is with will fall in love with him before even knowing him completely.
She's just got to show you the way that you're gonna be sad
The girl will show him how the sadness he carries in his heart will continue to affect his future relationships if he doesn't change his ways of treating women.
But nowhere is sad as the girls in the night
The girls who leave at night after spending time with him are really sad and unhappy in their own way, and he doesn't seem to care about their feelings towards him.
So ready to please you, so ready to bite
The girls he spends time with pretend to be happy and interested in him, but they are just biting time until they get what they want from him.
You're so sad about your girl tonight
He is so sad about the girl he is with tonight.
Sad about girls tonight
This line is a repetition of the title of the song, which means he is still upset and unhappy about the girls he has been with tonight.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: FAY HART, STEVE NIEVE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kelly Smith
Loved this song from the first time I heard it. Another hidden gem. Would have been an excellent addition to the wonderful Trust LP.
leononder
i really love the album mad about the wrong boy its as timeless as inspiration
The Elder
One of Earth's most perfect songs....
dripdried
Wow, that would have been a great addition to Trust. I wore down the grooves on that album as I did on every other EC and Co. record through the late 80's.
Tara Avery
An indispensable outtake. Thank you.
John Fleming
Previously only knew this as a tune off "Mad About the Wrong Boy " Attractions album without Costello. Not on my copy of Trust... Good to hear a missed song from 30 years ago. Thanks.
charlyW34
Very cool indeed.
Timothy Shoemaker
chilling