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.
Shot With His Own Gun
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
By a man with a mind like the gutter press
So disappointed to find it's no big sin
Lying skin to skin
Shot with his own gun
Now dad is keeping mum
Shot with his own gun
Now somebody has to pay for the one who got away
What's on his mind now is anyone's guess
Losing his touch with each caress
Spending ev'ry evening looking so appealing
He comes without warning
Leaves without feeling
Shot with his own gun
Now dad is keeping mum
Shot with his own gun
On your marks, man, ready, set
Let's get loaded and forget
The little corporal got in the way
And he got hit by an emotional ricochet
It's a bit more now than dressing up dolly
Playing house seems so melancholy
Shot with his own gun
Now dad is keeping mum
Shot with his own gun
Oh it's too sad to be true
Your blue murder's killing you
In "Shot With His Own Gun," Elvis Costello tells a story of a man who is experiencing a fall from grace. The man in question is someone who was once respected, but who has since lost his way. He has become a literal victim of his own actions, having been undressed by someone who may or may not be more powerful than he is. This individual is described as having "a mind like a gutter press," suggesting that he is someone who is driven by base and vulgar urges. The singer sounds almost empathetic towards the fallen man, remarking on how disappointed he must be to find out that there is nothing meaningful in the physical act of sex. To be "lying skin to skin" is not enough to satisfy the man's deeper desires, whatever they may be.
The refrain of "shot with his own gun" becomes a metaphor for the man's situation. He has been wounded by something that he himself carried. The gun in question could be a physical weapon or a metaphorical one - perhaps the man has been betrayed by someone he trusted, or perhaps he has simply been caught in the trap of his own lies. In any case, the wound is self-inflicted. The man's father knows what has happened but is "keeping mum," indicating that this is a family secret that must be buried to maintain their reputation. The man's guilt and shame are also reflected in the lyrics "now somebody has to pay for the one who got away."
The verses feature various images of decay and degradation, from the man losing his touch with his caresses to spending every evening trying to be alluring but ultimately empty. The references to the "little corporal" and "dressing up dolly" suggest that the man is metaphorically playing at being someone he is not, caught in a cycle of childish play-acting that has become melancholy and depressing. The final lines of the song, "your blue murder's killing you," serve as a warning to the man that his guilt and shame will ultimately lead to his downfall.
Line by Line Meaning
How does it feel now? You've been undressed
How do you feel now that someone has exposed your secrets?
By a man with a mind like a gutter press
The person who exposed your secrets is like a journalist hungry for scandalous material
So disappointed to find it's no big sin
Disappointed to discover that the secrets are not as scandalous as expected
Lying skin to skin
Being physically intimate with someone else
Shot with his own gun
The person who exposed your secrets has now fallen victim to his own scandalous behavior
Now, dad is keeping mum
The authority figure in the situation is staying silent
Now somebody has to pay
There are consequences to actions and someone has to bear the brunt
What's on his mind now is anyone's guess
It's unclear what the person who exposed the secrets is thinking now
Losing his touch with each caress
Not as skilled in the art of seduction as before
Spend ev'ry evening looking so appealing
Trying to attract others with appearance and charm
He comes without warning, leaves without feeling
Casually entering and exiting relationships without emotional attachment
On your marks, man, ready, set
Getting ready to engage in wild and reckless behavior
Let's get loaded and forget
Intending to indulge in drugs or alcohol to escape reality
The little corporal got in the way
A small mistake led to bigger problems
And he got hit by an emotional ricochet
The consequences of careless actions were unforeseen and hurtful
It's a bit more now than dressing up dolly
The situation was more complicated than expected
Playing house seems so melancholy
The fun and games of a relationship have given way to sadness and disappointment
Oh, it's too sad to be true
The situation is so depressing that it feels unreal
Your blue murder's killing you
Your own negative behavior and consequences are causing harm to yourself
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind