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.
Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There hung a crescent moon
To light the view
But I don't whisper the words
When the moment arose
I wonder how he knows
You say your tongue is tied
Your words escape and hide
He's prepared to read your mind
That's very well till you find
Because of the wine you drank
Your mind is still a blank
I wonder how he knows
I guess I will wonder until
I pluck up the courage to tell him
How I feel
So close I can feel his heart tremble
That look in his eyes as they close
I wonder how he knows
I wonder how he knows
The song "Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue" by Elvis Costello and The Metropole Orchestra is a romantic love song that describes the hesitation and uncertainty of a person in expressing their feelings to their loved one. The song starts with an enchanting image of a crescent moon hanging over a veil of midnight blue. The singer of the song is in a state of confusion and is unsure about expressing their emotions to the person they love. They wonder how their love interest can understand their feelings without even being told. The fear of rejection and the fear of not being able to express their emotions properly is evident throughout the song.
The singer of the song is addressing someone who seems to be kind and benevolent, someone who is willing to listen and understand them, but they are not able to find the right words to express their emotions. The song seems to suggest that love is not just about the words spoken but also about the unsaid emotions and the inexplicable bonds between two people. The singer is in awe of their love interest and wonders how they know so much about them even without any verbal communication.
The song is a perfect example of Elvis Costello's mastery in conveying complex emotions in simple and relatable lyrics. The haunting melody and the beautiful arrangement of the orchestra add to the romantic mood of the song. Overall, "Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue" is a heartfelt expression of the fear, uncertainty, and beauty of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Upon a veil of midnight blue
Under the dark blue sky,
There hung a crescent moon
A crescent moon was visible in the sky,
To light the view
Illuminating the surroundings,
But I don't whisper the words
Although I have words to say,
When the moment arose
The opportunity presented itself,
I wonder how he knows
I question how he has insight,
You say your tongue is tied
You express that you are tongue-tied,
Your words escape and hide
You struggle to communicate your thoughts,
But he's so patient and kind
However, he is understanding and compassionate,
He's prepared to read your mind
He is willing to understand without verbal communication,
That's very well till you find
This works until you realize,
Because of the wine you drank
The alcohol you consumed,
Your mind is still a blank
Leaving you unable to form coherent thoughts,
I guess I will wonder until
I suppose I will speculate until,
I pluck up the courage to tell him
I muster the confidence to express myself,
How I feel
My true emotions,
So close I can feel his heart tremble
Being near enough to feel his heart beating,
That look in his eyes as they close
The expression on his face as he shuts his eyes,
I wonder how he knows
I ponder how he understands.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind