Elvis Costello Fan Forum

Chiming in here to echo IbMePdErRpIoAmL's excellent review posted earlier! This was my 3rd concert on the "Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers Tour, having been to Akron in October and Indianapolis in June. I agree that BY FAR this was the best "sounding" of the three shows, right f...

The Paul Simon Covers Album is a good guess. He's already recorded "Peace Like A River" and "Congratulations" . . . and that hint with the Statue of Liberty could be a clue for "An American Tune," which EC has performed live before . . .

Some notes from last night . . . I think when Elvis plays a proper indoor theater (vs. an outdoor "shed"), he's willing to try more ballads and crooning (which I prefer). And with a day off tomorrow and a short 3-hour ride to Chicago ahead, I'm not surprised we got a 2-and-a-half hour show...

And the bedside crucifixion turns from wood to phosphorescent.
- Little Palaces, 1986

Good Friday arrived, the sky darkened on time 
'Til he almost began to negotiate 
She held his head like a baby and said "It's okay if you cry" 

- All This Useless Beauty, 1996

Just to amend the previously posted set-list . . . the song " . . . And In Every Home" was also played in Akron. Cracking good show. Close to 2-and-half-hours. Hit the first note at 8:11pm and hit the last at 10:36pm. Could just be where I was seated (5th row just left of Center), but the ...

I've always cringed over "There's already one spaceman in the White House, what do you want another one for?" from Peace In Our Time. The lyric was somehow implying that the current president Ronald Reagan (a Republican) was somehow equivalent to Senator John Glenn of Ohio (a Democrat), wh...

Curious what you guys think if the question were posed this way: If you had approximately 6 minutes of your life that you could never get back, would you rather spend it on "Tokyo Storm Warning" (from Blood & Chocolate) or "Stick Out Your Tongue" (from Wise Up Ghost). For me,...

Admittedly, it's a "cover" song, but the singing on "World Of Broken Hearts" (1982 b-side) is unlistenable . . .

I seem to recall EC mentioning that he and Roseanne Cash got to talking about growing up Catholic - because the specific Catholic Church building EC frequented as a child was being torn down at the time. This song is less inscrutable in the context of both of them agreeing that unlike some folks who...

For those who missed Elvis 'n Steve on Jay Leno's Tonight Show Monday night, I think you can fast forward to the performance from this Tonight Show link of Monday's entire episode. Worth a look. EC gets so choked up in the final verse that he flubs a line . . . But it's "real." In fact, at...

[quote="Poor Deportee"]It's a surprisingly complex lyric...I don't have Jack's gift for lyrical/poetic interepretation, but the pronouns seem decidedly shifty here, in patented Elvis fashion. It seems to me pretty clear that the entire lyric could be spoken by God Himself (the "he&quo...

And someone mentioned they heard a tinkling piano "quote" from All The Rage on My New HAUNT as well . . .

Amazon has something called "Wise Up: Thought Rem" scheduled for November 19. (Is that a real title or a peculiar distortion of "Wise Up Ghost Remix"?) http://www.amazon.com/Wise-Up-Thought-Elvis-Costello/dp/B00FI2PJ5G/[/quote] The "Thought" in question must be "Bl...

I wonder if Wise Up Ghost would seem a little unsatisfactory with an early fade? That line "Yield some sighs up" I found difficult to make out until I just looked it up on the wiki page.[/quote] "Yield some sighs up" is a great line. From the Gospel according to St. Mark (Chapter...

Yanyna wrote:Does somebody know why some words in the names of songs are written with capital letters?

He did the same thing way back in 1983 if you look at the lyric sheet for the Punch The Clock LP. Certain words were ALL CAPS for some reason . . .

With the ongoing discussion of the religious imagery in mind, I found this traditional Catholic prayer that any Altar Boy EC's age would have known by heart: Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and enkindle in them the Fire of Thy Love. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created...

With regard to Poor Deportee's observation about the noticeable increase in EC's use of religious (Catholic) imagery, possibly the result Ross passing away, EC was quoted in the Quietus interview recently about Thatcher's dementia: "So, on a human level I'm enough of a good Catholic, residually...

Now that we know WHERE his foot is . . . does anyone recognize the BRAND of shoe he is wearing? Can't make out the name on the velcro strap over the laces. Any guesses?

Regarding "Gold" over "Orange" on the Long Journey Home, I seem to recall that one of the reasons Elvis could write the lyrics at the kitchen table in 10 minutes was that he nicked a bit from one of the Catholic Hymns he sang as a boy ("O Queen Of The Holy Rosary"). If ...