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.
Shallow Grave
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hope that I'll be buried deep
Let me be the one that fortune favors
Even good children got shallow graves
Throw another clown to the lions
Throw another Joan on the blaze
Cast me away on the cruel calm ocean
and leave me for days and days and days and days and days
I won't lie, I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
Dig me down deep where the dead men sleep
I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
Bless the poor ''cause like the rich
They all end up in a ditch
In this world of fools and knaves
Even good children got shallow graves
The tinker, the tailor, the fabulous five
Nobody gets out of this alive
Chorus
Dig me down deep where the dead men sleep
I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
Dig me down deep where the dead men sleep
I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
Dig me down, dig me down, dig me down deep
I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
The lyrics of Elvis Costello's "Shallow Grave" explore themes of mortality and the inevitability of death. Throughout the song, the singer expresses their desire to be buried deep so that they won't lie in a poor, shallow grave like so many others. The opening lines suggest that the singer is contemplating their own death and hoping that they will be fortunate enough to be buried deeply, implying that they believe this will afford them some level of protection, dignity, and respect in death. Even as the singer acknowledges that no one can escape death, they still express a desire to be treated with kindness and decency in their final resting place.
The lyrics also touch on the idea that death is a great equalizer - regardless of one's social or economic standing, everyone ultimately winds up in the same place. The reference to the poor and the rich all ending up in a ditch underscores this point. The line "Even good children got shallow graves" suggests that not even innocence can guarantee a proper burial or escape the harsh reality of death. The reference to throwing "another clown to the lions" and "another Joan on the blaze" may be a commentary on how certain individuals, particularly historical figures or those with non-conformist views or behaviors, are often singled out for punishment, persecution, or ostracization.
Overall, "Shallow Grave" is a bleak and melancholic song that acknowledges the inevitability of death and the desire for a degree of dignity and respect in death. Through its imagery and themes, the song serves as a reminder of our shared mortality and the importance of treating each other with kindness and compassion.
Line by Line Meaning
When I fall in endless sleep
When I die and fall asleep eternally
I hope that I'll be buried deep
I hope to be buried deep down in the grave
Let me be the one that fortune favors
May luck favor me even when I'm dead
Even good children got shallow graves
Even the innocents get buried in shallow graves
Throw another clown to the lions
Sacrifice another fool to the lions
Throw another Joan on the blaze
Burn another woman at the stake
Cast me away on the cruel calm ocean
Throw my body into the merciless calm sea
and leave me for days and days and days and days and days
Let me drift for many days until I'm lost at sea
I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
I refuse to be buried in a shallow grave
I won't lie, I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
I will not settle for being buried in a poor shallow grave
Dig me down deep where the dead men sleep
Bury me deep where the dead people rest
Bless the poor ''cause like the rich
Bless the poor because they end up like the rich
They all end up in a ditch
Everyone ends up being buried in a pit
In this world of fools and knaves
In this world of foolish and deceitful people
The tinker, the tailor, the fabulous five
All kinds of people end up the same in the end
Nobody gets out of this alive
Everyone dies eventually
Dig me down, dig me down, dig me down deep
Bury me lower and deeper into the ground
I won't lie in this poor shallow grave
I won't settle for being buried in a poor shallow grave
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind