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.
Uncomplicated
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hope you`re satisfied what you have done
You think it`s over now
But we've only just begun
I asked for water
And they gave me rose` wine
A horse that knows arithmetic
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
Uncomplicated
I want to buy you
A big blue diamond
Cheap white plastic shoes
That don`t walk out and don`t let in
I want to show you
How I love you
When you`re over me
There`s no one above you
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
Uncomplicated
Uncomplicated
You think it`s over now
But this is only
This is only
This only, the beginning
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
Uncomplicated
Uncomplicated
Uncomplicated
You think it`s over now
But this is only
This is only
This only, the beginning
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
It`s in your eyes
Uncomplicated
Uncomplicated
Uncomplicated
The song "Uncomplicated" by Elvis Costello appears on his 1986 album "Blood & Chocolate". The lyrics describe a tumultuous and complicated relationship that the singer has with their partner. The song opens with the line "Blood and chocolate, I hope you're satisfied with what you have done", suggesting that there has been some sort of betrayal or hurt caused by the partner. The singer then goes on to describe their desire to show their love and dedication to their partner, despite the pain they have caused.
The lines "I asked for water, and they gave me rose wine / A horse that knows arithmetic, and a dog that tells your fortune" are somewhat surreal and add to the overall feeling of confusion and frustration in the relationship. The singer seems to be saying that they asked for something simple and were given something strange and unexpected.
The repeated refrain of "It's in your eyes, uncomplicated" suggests that the singer sees simplicity and clarity in their partner's eyes, even though there are complexities in their relationship. The song ends with the line "You think it's over now, but this is only the beginning", perhaps indicating that the singer is willing to keep working on the relationship despite its difficulties.
Line by Line Meaning
Blood and chocolate
The combination of pleasure and pain, sweetness and bitterness
I hope you're satisfied what you have done
You may have achieved your goal, but what you sacrificed or changed may not be worth it
You think it's over now, but we've only just begun
Don't mistake this as the end, there are more challenges ahead
I asked for water and they gave me rose wine
What you asked for is not what you got, and it has turned out better
A horse that knows arithmetic, and a dog that tells your fortune
Things that are unusual, unique, or valuable
It's in your eyes, uncomplicated
The feelings are clear and straightforward, no need for further explanation
I want to buy you a big blue diamond, cheap white plastic shoes that don't walk out and don't let in
I want to give you valuable things and also offer you something practical that will stay with you
I want to show you how I love you, when you're over me there's no one above you
I want to prove my love to you and let you know that no one else is more important than you
You think it's over now, but this is only the beginning
This may seem like the end, but there is still more to come
It's in your eyes, uncomplicated
The emotions are pure and straightforward
You think it's over now, but this is only the beginning
This may seem like the end, but there is still more to come
It's in your eyes, uncomplicated
The feelings are simple, genuine, and easy to understand
You think it's over now, but this is only the beginning
This may seem like the end, but there is still more to come
It's in your eyes, uncomplicated
The emotions are crystal clear and not complicated
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DECLAN MACMANUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind