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.
Town Cryer
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And everybody knows
I'm a little down
With a lifetime to go
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
They're so teddy-bear tender and tragically hip
I'm never going to cry again
I'm going to be as strong as them
They say they'd die for love and then they live it out
They'll give you something to cry about
And suddenly you really fall to pieces
I'm the town cryer
And everybody knows
I'm a little down
With a lifetime to go
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
They're so teddy-bear tender and, and tragically hip
Love and unhappiness go arm-in-arm
Long-suffering friends of your fatal charm
Living for the pity that you're going to get hurt?
Just a little boy lost in a big man's shirt
And suddenly you really fall to pieces
I'm the town cryer
And everybody knows
I'm a little down
With a lifetime to go
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
They're so teddy-bear tender and tragically hip
The song "Town Cryer" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions can be interpreted as a reflection on the emotional vulnerability of men in relationships. The singer, who refers to himself as the "town cryer," admits to being "a little down with a lifetime to go." He feels that he is not as emotionally strong as other men who use their "splendor of their trembling lip" to show their tenderness, and considers himself to be "just a little boy lost in a big man's shirt." However, he also suggests that he is tired of being emotional and wants to be as "strong as them," possibly indicating a desire to conform to societal norms of masculinity. The final lines of the song, "They'll give you something to cry about, and suddenly you really fall to pieces," suggest that the singer's fear of being emotionally vulnerable may stem from the potential pain and hurt that can come from love.
Costello's use of juxtaposition in the lyrics is fascinating. He describes the other men as "teddy-bear tender and tragically hip," playing with the idea that tenderness and hipness can exist side by side. He also contrasts the idea of "living for the pity that you're going to get hurt" with the reality that sometimes love does lead to hurt.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm the town cryer
I am someone who proclaims news and announcements to the public
And everybody knows
Everyone is aware of my presence and my job
I'm a little down
I am feeling sad or unhappy
With a lifetime to go
Despite my current emotions, I still have a long life ahead of me
Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place
Perhaps you doubt my intentions and sincerity
Why don't you take a good look at my face?
Can you not see the honesty in my expressions?
Other boys use the splendor of their trembling lip
Other men use emotional tactics to appear sensitive and compassionate
They're so teddy-bear tender and tragically hip
They present themselves as both comforting and stylish
I'm never going to cry again
I have resolved never to show my emotions or vulnerabilities
I'm going to be as strong as them
I will adopt the same tough exterior as those other men
They say they'd die for love and then they live it out
Those men claim to be willing to sacrifice everything for their relationships, and often do so
They'll give you something to cry about
Their behavior will create unnecessary hardship and pain
And suddenly you really fall to pieces
You are left feeling completely fragmented and broken
Love and unhappiness go arm-in-arm
Romantic love is often linked to negative feelings like sorrow and misery
Long-suffering friends of your fatal charm
Those who are drawn to you often endure long periods of distress as a result
Living for the pity that you're going to get hurt?
Are you intentionally seeking compassion from others because you expect to be hurt?
Just a little boy lost in a big man's shirt
You are a vulnerable child struggling to navigate the responsibilities and demands of adulthood
And suddenly you really fall to pieces
As a result of all these conflicting emotions and external pressures, you break down completely
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Elvis Costello
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind