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.
The Very Thought Of You
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I forget to do
The little ordinary things
That everyone ought to do
I`m living in a kind of daydream
I`m happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem to me
The mere idea of you
The longing year for you
You`ll never know how slow the moments go
Till I`m near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eye in stars above
It`s just the thought of you
The very thought of you
My love
The mere idea of you
The longing year for you
You`ll never know how slow the moments go
Till I`m near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eye in stars above
It`s just the thought of you
The very thought of you
My love
Elvis Costello's "The Very Thought of You" is a love song that expresses the overwhelming impact of one person on the singer's life. The lyrics describe the feeling of being so consumed with love that everyday activities are forgotten, and how mere thoughts of this person fill every moment with joy. The song is a tribute to the power of love to transform and shape our lives.
The singer begins by admitting that thoughts of their beloved are so powerful that they forget to do the little things that are expected of them. The mundane details of life pale in comparison to the joy of being in love. The singer says that they are living in a daydream and happy as a king. They admit that to others, this may seem foolish, but to them, nothing else matters. The mere idea of their loved one is enough to make them feel complete.
In the second verse, the singer expresses the longing for their loved one when they are physically apart. Time stands still, and every moment feels impossibly slow until they can be reunited. The singer sees their lover's face in every flower and their eye in the stars above. The song ends on a simple note, with the repeated phrase "the very thought of you, my love" underscoring the idea that even the smallest reminder of this person is enough to keep the singer's heart full.
Line by Line Meaning
The very thought of you
Thinking of you brings me so much joy and happiness
And I forget to do
I get so lost in my thoughts of you that I forget about my daily routine
The little ordinary things
Daily tasks that everyone should do
That everyone ought to do
These tasks are important and necessary for everyone to complete
I'm living in a kind of daydream
My thoughts about you are so vivid and dreamlike that it's almost like living in a fantasy world
I'm happy as a king
Thinking of you brings me so much joy that I feel as happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem to me
Even though I know it might seem foolish, I can't help but think about you constantly
That's everything
Thinking about you is all that matters to me
The mere idea of you
Just the thought of you makes me feel so happy
The longing year for you
I feel such a strong desire to be with you
You'll never know how slow the moments go
Time seems to drag on when I'm not with you
Till I'm near to you
I can only feel content and at peace when I am close to you
I see your face in every flower
Your face is so beautiful and vivid in my mind that I see it everywhere, even in nature
Your eye in stars above
I see your eyes shining bright, like stars in the night sky
It's just the thought of you
The mere thought of you is enough to make me feel happy and content
The very thought of you
Thinking of you is the most important thing in my life
My love
My feelings for you are so strong and deep that it's hard to put into words
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, CONSALAD CO., Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ray Noble
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
sykorant
I've liked Costello since the beginning, when we all just thought of him as a new wave wonder. He kept making even better music...he didn't pass on like so many others. He brought us music that we whistled, we hummed, and he brought us a discography that is amazing in its range. I've listened to it all, but this one track, the version you posted, sounds better than I have heard. So TY for sharing this with us all.
Esteban Nemo
What a lovely song, sung so beautifully by Elvis Costello.
Mary Hyland
Saw him do this live at Jones Beach back in 1991 amid a thundering downpour. It was so beautiful.
deborahsuewho
@melifluousMOUTH It was released when I was pregnant with my (now) 16-year-old. I used to sing it to him - it's still "our song", but don't tell him that. Thanks for your comment and you are most welcome.
Ene Illaj
The very thought of you, Dami... ♥ ~
deborahsuewho
@melifluousMOUTH sshhhh -