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.
Seconds of Pleasure
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She`s only a hired hand,
Now you are tired of me.
Expensive care is meaningless,
Feeling nothing and caring less.
Cut off at the pass,
She knows where you were headed,
She wants double-time or a temporary wedding.
Though she? With forty-five years
For seconds of pleasure.
I thought I knew you too well,
Now I find the man is a mystery,
And the promises you made
Are really only ancient history.
Everyday goes by without a hitch,
You say the urge becomes an itch.
You say that I`m no go for you, that`s rich,
Or am I being bitchy?
And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure,
Though she forty-five years
For seconds of pleasure.
And the hands on the clock move so precisely,
You say you only kissed her once or twice.
You didn't do it for love, you didn't even do it with stealth.
I can`t help you now,
I can`t help myself.
Committed to life and then commuted to the outskirts.
I was living for thirty minutes at a time
With a break in the middle for adverts.
You treat me like a piece of human furniture.
You say when? you sad soul,
If you can look all that you like,
But I won`t let you touch and poke.
And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure,
Though she? Forty-five years
For seconds of pleasure.
In "Seconds of Pleasure," Elvis Costello sings of being in a relationship with someone who is no longer interested in him. The other person claims that their relationship was never important to them and that their hired hand means more to them than Costello ever did. The singer realizes that he doesn't really know this person at all and that their past promises were just empty words. As the relationship deteriorates, Costello finds himself stuck in a life that he never wanted and feels like a piece of human furniture. Meanwhile, the other person is content to lead a life of leisure, even though they had to sacrifice years of their life for moments of pleasure.
The lyrics to "Seconds of Pleasure" can be interpreted in a multitude of ways, but one common theme is the idea of dissatisfaction and the realization that sometimes what we think we want isn't what we really need. The other person in the song is chasing fleeting moments of pleasure that will never bring them true happiness, while Costello is left feeling used and trapped. The song is a commentary on the harmful effects of pursuing pleasure at the expense of meaningful relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
You say you don`t desire me,
The singer is being rejected by their lover.
She`s only a hired hand,
The lover is only using the singer for their own benefit.
Now you are tired of me.
The relationship has become stale and unfulfilling.
Expensive care is meaningless,
Money cannot buy happiness or love.
Feeling nothing and caring less.
They have lost all emotion and investment in the relationship.
Cut off at the pass,
The singer's plans or desires have been foiled.
She knows where you were headed,
The lover knows the singer's intentions or thoughts.
She wants double-time or a temporary wedding.
The lover wants more than the artist can give, or they want to get married for a short period of time only.
And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure,
The lover enjoys a comfortable and luxurious life.
Though she? With forty-five years
Despite having reached middle age.
For seconds of pleasure.
The pleasure is temporary and fleeting.
I thought I knew you too well,
The artist believed they had a good understanding of their lover.
Now I find the man is a mystery,
The lover's true intentions or desires are unclear.
And the promises you made
The lover made commitments they did not keep.
Are really only ancient history.
The promises were made a long time ago and are no longer relevant or true.
Everyday goes by without a hitch,
Things appear to be going smoothly.
You say the urge becomes an itch.
The lover's desires become unbearable.
You say that I`m no go for you, that`s rich,
The lover is being hypocritical or unfair.
Or am I being bitchy?
The singer questions whether they are being unreasonable.
And the hands on the clock move so precisely,
Time passes predictably and without pause.
You say you only kissed her once or twice.
The lover admits to infidelity, but downplays the extent of their actions.
You didn't do it for love, you didn't even do it with stealth.
The lover acted impulsively and without caution.
I can`t help you now,
The singer is unable or unwilling to assist the lover.
I can`t help myself.
The artist is struggling with their own problems and cannot focus on the lover's issues.
Committed to life and then commuted to the outskirts.
The lover made commitments, but then retreated from them.
I was living for thirty minutes at a time
The singer's life feels repetitive and unfulfilling.
With a break in the middle for adverts.
The singer's life feels like a TV show, with commercials interrupting their day.
You treat me like a piece of human furniture.
The lover is neglectful and takes the artist for granted.
You say when? you sad soul,
The lover shows no concern or empathy for the artist's feelings.
If you can look all that you like,
The lover can admire others, but it does not mean they will act on those feelings.
But I won`t let you touch and poke.
The singer denies the lover physical intimacy.
And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure,
The lover enjoys a comfortable and luxurious life.
Though she? Forty-five years
Despite having reached middle age.
For seconds of pleasure.
The pleasure is temporary and fleeting.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind