There is a documentary short film called "Letter of Thanks" which apparently tells the story of the female soldier who wrote the letter which inspired EC to write "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet." You can see the trailer on You Tube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZVDx3BmDU
and there is more info at the studio's website
dmajorfilms.com
There is a photo of the letter's author and EC, which reminds me that she did eventually get back home and actually met Elvis...I guess the film gives the details
Dave
"Letter of Thanks" documentary
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/h-l/jc9307a.html
Juice, 1993-07-01
(extract)
A girl named Constance wrote a letter to the pop star called Elvis Costello. She was in the Middle East - she didn't tell him where - as part of Desert Storm. She was twenty-three and had joined the military to get money for college. She told him she was sleeping with her eyes open, waiting for the attack to come. She listened to his records on her Walkman. They were a comfort, the best thing she had aside from photos of her family and her gas mask. When Elvis read this letter, his first reaction was "serves you right."
Later he thought about it some more, this human being in fear reciting her little litany of belongings, and decided it was also heart-rending. But it was the first reaction that interested him most, and it was that which he used on his latest record, The Juliet Letters, a collaboration with the classical string group the Brodsky Quartet. In the song "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet," the narrator quotes, with a sneer, Constance's barely changed letter. The narrator is not a musician, but a writer. Writers, Elvis explains with a piercing but slightly amused stare, are nastier.
There is an account somewhere of Elvis meeting Constance after a show but I , at the moment, can't find it. Later, hopefully.
http://www.dmajorfilms.com/Letter_of_Thanks1.htm
On the eve of the First Gulf War, a frightened young soldier wrote a heartfelt letter to famed songwriter and musician Elvis Costello, whose music reached her in a way no one else’s could. She returned home and was astounded to discover that Elvis had been as moved by her words as she was by his; he transformed her ‘letter of thanks’ into the intense and beautiful song, “I Thought I’d Write To Juliet”. Her story and spirit are a testament to the fact that even in our darkest hour we can still find light.
See the Constance/Elvis photo here -
http://heartland.bside.com/2008/films/l ... rtland2008
Juice, 1993-07-01
(extract)
A girl named Constance wrote a letter to the pop star called Elvis Costello. She was in the Middle East - she didn't tell him where - as part of Desert Storm. She was twenty-three and had joined the military to get money for college. She told him she was sleeping with her eyes open, waiting for the attack to come. She listened to his records on her Walkman. They were a comfort, the best thing she had aside from photos of her family and her gas mask. When Elvis read this letter, his first reaction was "serves you right."
Later he thought about it some more, this human being in fear reciting her little litany of belongings, and decided it was also heart-rending. But it was the first reaction that interested him most, and it was that which he used on his latest record, The Juliet Letters, a collaboration with the classical string group the Brodsky Quartet. In the song "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet," the narrator quotes, with a sneer, Constance's barely changed letter. The narrator is not a musician, but a writer. Writers, Elvis explains with a piercing but slightly amused stare, are nastier.
There is an account somewhere of Elvis meeting Constance after a show but I , at the moment, can't find it. Later, hopefully.
http://www.dmajorfilms.com/Letter_of_Thanks1.htm
On the eve of the First Gulf War, a frightened young soldier wrote a heartfelt letter to famed songwriter and musician Elvis Costello, whose music reached her in a way no one else’s could. She returned home and was astounded to discover that Elvis had been as moved by her words as she was by his; he transformed her ‘letter of thanks’ into the intense and beautiful song, “I Thought I’d Write To Juliet”. Her story and spirit are a testament to the fact that even in our darkest hour we can still find light.
See the Constance/Elvis photo here -
http://heartland.bside.com/2008/films/l ... rtland2008
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
A Musician feature from 1994 says the meeting happened after the March '93 Town Hall show in New York -
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... 1993-03-18
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... 1993-03-18
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
http://johnandnan.wordpress.com/2008/11 ... r-through/
(extract)
'Then we saw a short documentary, Letter of Thanks, the heartwarming story of how a letter written on the eve of Desert Storm to Elvis Costello by a young female soldier became a song. Lots of footage of dogs being washed (really), but we never got to hear the @#%$*! letter OR the song.'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1304583/
(extract)
'Then we saw a short documentary, Letter of Thanks, the heartwarming story of how a letter written on the eve of Desert Storm to Elvis Costello by a young female soldier became a song. Lots of footage of dogs being washed (really), but we never got to hear the @#%$*! letter OR the song.'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1304583/
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackal ... l_mond.php
Film
FilmBar's Such a Deal Monday Screens Three Documentaries by Local Filmmakers
By Bryan Dugan Mon., Jun. 20 2011
Tonight, FilmBar's dishing out a movie deal -- three documentary shorts and a chance to ask questions and chat with the local creators for $3.
The event, which starts at 8 p.m., is the latest installment of Such a Deal Monday -- the theater's weekly screening of a film (or three) for a few bucks.
Tonight kicks off with Kooz, a documentary by Jenna Duncan, on the man who helped create an MLB power team out of the New York Mets. The film looks at Jerry Koosman's life, the ups and downs on the field, and his departure from the baseball world after retiring.
The Keepers by Nick Blumberg, Gardenia Coleman, and Mallory Kidd, goes behind-the-scenes of the Phoenix Zoo. The film features zoo keepers and their daily activities with the animals they care for. Blumberg, Coleman, and Kidd are all students at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The event ends with a slightly bittersweet account of a soldier who wrote Elvis Costello a letter on the eve before she left for the First Gulf War. The letter inspired Costello to write a song and eventually inspired the making of "Letter of Thanks" by Doug Passon.
FilmBar is at 815 N. 2nd Street in Phoenix.
http://www.dmajorfilms.com/#!letter-of-thanks
Film
FilmBar's Such a Deal Monday Screens Three Documentaries by Local Filmmakers
By Bryan Dugan Mon., Jun. 20 2011
Tonight, FilmBar's dishing out a movie deal -- three documentary shorts and a chance to ask questions and chat with the local creators for $3.
The event, which starts at 8 p.m., is the latest installment of Such a Deal Monday -- the theater's weekly screening of a film (or three) for a few bucks.
Tonight kicks off with Kooz, a documentary by Jenna Duncan, on the man who helped create an MLB power team out of the New York Mets. The film looks at Jerry Koosman's life, the ups and downs on the field, and his departure from the baseball world after retiring.
The Keepers by Nick Blumberg, Gardenia Coleman, and Mallory Kidd, goes behind-the-scenes of the Phoenix Zoo. The film features zoo keepers and their daily activities with the animals they care for. Blumberg, Coleman, and Kidd are all students at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The event ends with a slightly bittersweet account of a soldier who wrote Elvis Costello a letter on the eve before she left for the First Gulf War. The letter inspired Costello to write a song and eventually inspired the making of "Letter of Thanks" by Doug Passon.
FilmBar is at 815 N. 2nd Street in Phoenix.
http://www.dmajorfilms.com/#!letter-of-thanks
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2 ... -memories/
Letter leads to Costello song, lifetime of memories
by Hayley Ringle
Aug. 08, 2011
Arizona Republic News
When Constance Vitale joined the Army in 1989, she brought a Walkman and her favorite cassettes, never realizing at the time how important they would be.
Vitale grabbed music from Talking Heads, Blondie, Joni Mitchell, the Clash and, most important, her beloved Elvis Costello.
She grew up in New York and New Jersey, and music always had been an important part of the Scottsdale woman’s life. Costello’s music was especially big and became even more important to her once the Gulf War began in 1990.
His music helped her get away from the carnage of Operation Desert Storm, the sleepless nights wondering if she would make it to morning, and the confusion that fills a young woman’s head when she is unsure if she did the right thing by joining the Army in the first place.
Costello’s music, Vitale said, was one of the few “safe havens” she and her fellow troops had. Between those headphones was a place where she could lie back and “go home.”
Vitale said she had joined the Army at age 21 because she needed a positive direction in her life and had nothing going for her. She also wanted to help her country.
War was tough on her and her fellow soldiers as she worked with the Air Defense Artillery guarding supplies.
“We were scared,” said Vitale, who was trained to protect herself from chemical warfare. “Most of the time we were waiting for something to hit. . . . We were always on high alert.”
Sitting in her bunker one night during Operation Desert Storm, she decided to write to Costello to thank him and let him know his music was a “sonic landscape” of her life.
She had found Costello’s address in a book of celebrity addresses and wrote the letter, never imagining Costello would ever get it, let alone actually read it.
“Writing was a good medium to express things I couldn’t say to my squad,” Vitale said.
One day, she returned to her bunker in Iraq and found a note from her best friend, Joan Palmeri, who asked that she call home as soon as possible.
“Who died?” Vitale thought.
She called her friend in New York and could make out only a few excited words: “Elvis. Letter. You. Album.”
Palmeri had bought the new Costello album and immediately recognized one of the songs. She scanned the lyrics and saw the name Constance and the familiar words about Constance writing a “letter of thanks” to Costello.
Vitale couldn’t believe that Costello actually had read her letter and had been so moved by her words that he based a song on it.
“I told her I’d be home in a couple months and to calm down,” Vitale said.
Palmeri shipped the cassette to her friend, fast-forwarding the tape to the first part of the song and attaching a note to just push “play” on Side 2.
The song, “I Thought I’d Write to Juliet,” appears on the album “The Juliet Letters,” a collaboration between Costello and the Brodsky Quartet that represents a collection of made-up letters, except for Vitale’s.
The song was written from the perspective of a cynical writer receiving a letter from a “train wreck” kid who doesn’t understand what she’s doing.
“It caused me to float,” Vitale said. “I had an out-of-body experience.”
The words from her letter were almost verbatim in the song, which is “emotional as hell.”
“It was almost impossible to take it in,” Vitale said. “I was listening to my written words coming out of his mouth. This was my idol.”
Listening to the song now still elicits excitement for Vitale, who bounces up and down as she explains the song and the musical arrangement.
“It’s beautifully composed and arranged like magic,” Vitale said. “This is exactly how I felt musically: the melodrama with the sounds of the violin. Listen carefully as the air-raid siren comes in with the violin. It’s creepy.”
When Vitale got out of the Army, Palmeri was waiting to pick her up from the Newark, N.J., airport with Costello tickets in hand for a performance that night at the Town Hall in New York.
It was March 18, 1993.
“I was intoxicated, filthy and out-of-my-mind crazy,” Vitale remembered.
Palmeri told Vitale’s story to some die-hard fans, who gave the young women their backstage passes. They were told to go to the elegant after-show party at a nearby hotel.
“There I was like a train wreck, drinking a lot, thinking I would get kicked out,” Vitale said. “There were celebrities, tuxes, elegance and us. I tried to stay as invisible as I can in a baseball hat and a dirty Army jacket.”
But Palmeri grabbed Vitale and led her to a group of people surrounding their idol. Palmeri reached through the crowd, grabbed Costello’s elbow.
An annoyed Costello looked over the rim of his glasses, and Palmeri said, “This is Constance from the sad and pathetic letter.”
Costello asked, “Is this a gag? . . . I can’t believe it’s you.”
An instantly sobered Vitale answered, “Man, I can’t believe it’s you either.”
And then time stood still as Vitale talked with the singer who got her through the war, whose music brought her such joy.
Since that day, Vitale, 43, has met Costello, 57, many times, always managing to get backstage after flying to various shows throughout the country.
Each time they meet, she says, he gives her a big hug.
Vitale, who moved to Arizona in 1996 to be near her mom, is now a mobile dog groomer and trainer.
During one of her grooming visits, she met Doug Passon, his wife and their dog, Monty. Passon asked Vitale if he could tell her story in a documentary.
Passon, a federal-court defense attorney, needed a subject for his class project at Scottsdale Community College. Her story was turned into the 21-minute “Letter of Thanks.”
The award-winning documentary has been shown locally and at film festivals. It won “Best Arizona Short Film” at the 2009 Phoenix Film Festival.
“The only reason I’m doing this is to spread the gospel,” said Vitale, referring to Costello as “Jesus.”
“I think the documentary is brilliant and gives some good PR to Elvis,” she added. “And Elvis really likes it.”
Letter leads to Costello song, lifetime of memories
by Hayley Ringle
Aug. 08, 2011
Arizona Republic News
When Constance Vitale joined the Army in 1989, she brought a Walkman and her favorite cassettes, never realizing at the time how important they would be.
Vitale grabbed music from Talking Heads, Blondie, Joni Mitchell, the Clash and, most important, her beloved Elvis Costello.
She grew up in New York and New Jersey, and music always had been an important part of the Scottsdale woman’s life. Costello’s music was especially big and became even more important to her once the Gulf War began in 1990.
His music helped her get away from the carnage of Operation Desert Storm, the sleepless nights wondering if she would make it to morning, and the confusion that fills a young woman’s head when she is unsure if she did the right thing by joining the Army in the first place.
Costello’s music, Vitale said, was one of the few “safe havens” she and her fellow troops had. Between those headphones was a place where she could lie back and “go home.”
Vitale said she had joined the Army at age 21 because she needed a positive direction in her life and had nothing going for her. She also wanted to help her country.
War was tough on her and her fellow soldiers as she worked with the Air Defense Artillery guarding supplies.
“We were scared,” said Vitale, who was trained to protect herself from chemical warfare. “Most of the time we were waiting for something to hit. . . . We were always on high alert.”
Sitting in her bunker one night during Operation Desert Storm, she decided to write to Costello to thank him and let him know his music was a “sonic landscape” of her life.
She had found Costello’s address in a book of celebrity addresses and wrote the letter, never imagining Costello would ever get it, let alone actually read it.
“Writing was a good medium to express things I couldn’t say to my squad,” Vitale said.
One day, she returned to her bunker in Iraq and found a note from her best friend, Joan Palmeri, who asked that she call home as soon as possible.
“Who died?” Vitale thought.
She called her friend in New York and could make out only a few excited words: “Elvis. Letter. You. Album.”
Palmeri had bought the new Costello album and immediately recognized one of the songs. She scanned the lyrics and saw the name Constance and the familiar words about Constance writing a “letter of thanks” to Costello.
Vitale couldn’t believe that Costello actually had read her letter and had been so moved by her words that he based a song on it.
“I told her I’d be home in a couple months and to calm down,” Vitale said.
Palmeri shipped the cassette to her friend, fast-forwarding the tape to the first part of the song and attaching a note to just push “play” on Side 2.
The song, “I Thought I’d Write to Juliet,” appears on the album “The Juliet Letters,” a collaboration between Costello and the Brodsky Quartet that represents a collection of made-up letters, except for Vitale’s.
The song was written from the perspective of a cynical writer receiving a letter from a “train wreck” kid who doesn’t understand what she’s doing.
“It caused me to float,” Vitale said. “I had an out-of-body experience.”
The words from her letter were almost verbatim in the song, which is “emotional as hell.”
“It was almost impossible to take it in,” Vitale said. “I was listening to my written words coming out of his mouth. This was my idol.”
Listening to the song now still elicits excitement for Vitale, who bounces up and down as she explains the song and the musical arrangement.
“It’s beautifully composed and arranged like magic,” Vitale said. “This is exactly how I felt musically: the melodrama with the sounds of the violin. Listen carefully as the air-raid siren comes in with the violin. It’s creepy.”
When Vitale got out of the Army, Palmeri was waiting to pick her up from the Newark, N.J., airport with Costello tickets in hand for a performance that night at the Town Hall in New York.
It was March 18, 1993.
“I was intoxicated, filthy and out-of-my-mind crazy,” Vitale remembered.
Palmeri told Vitale’s story to some die-hard fans, who gave the young women their backstage passes. They were told to go to the elegant after-show party at a nearby hotel.
“There I was like a train wreck, drinking a lot, thinking I would get kicked out,” Vitale said. “There were celebrities, tuxes, elegance and us. I tried to stay as invisible as I can in a baseball hat and a dirty Army jacket.”
But Palmeri grabbed Vitale and led her to a group of people surrounding their idol. Palmeri reached through the crowd, grabbed Costello’s elbow.
An annoyed Costello looked over the rim of his glasses, and Palmeri said, “This is Constance from the sad and pathetic letter.”
Costello asked, “Is this a gag? . . . I can’t believe it’s you.”
An instantly sobered Vitale answered, “Man, I can’t believe it’s you either.”
And then time stood still as Vitale talked with the singer who got her through the war, whose music brought her such joy.
Since that day, Vitale, 43, has met Costello, 57, many times, always managing to get backstage after flying to various shows throughout the country.
Each time they meet, she says, he gives her a big hug.
Vitale, who moved to Arizona in 1996 to be near her mom, is now a mobile dog groomer and trainer.
During one of her grooming visits, she met Doug Passon, his wife and their dog, Monty. Passon asked Vitale if he could tell her story in a documentary.
Passon, a federal-court defense attorney, needed a subject for his class project at Scottsdale Community College. Her story was turned into the 21-minute “Letter of Thanks.”
The award-winning documentary has been shown locally and at film festivals. It won “Best Arizona Short Film” at the 2009 Phoenix Film Festival.
“The only reason I’m doing this is to spread the gospel,” said Vitale, referring to Costello as “Jesus.”
“I think the documentary is brilliant and gives some good PR to Elvis,” she added. “And Elvis really likes it.”
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the_platypus
- Posts: 367
- Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:14 pm
- Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
I always felt like Elvis' song was a little mean-spirited. That's nice that they're still in touch, though.
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Poor Deportee
- Posts: 671
- Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:30 pm
- Location: Chocolate Town
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
Interesting. Apparently the song was intended in a mean-spirited sort of way...yet for some reason I never perceived it that way at all. The preamble about asking for help in advising someone to welcome death speaks more to helplessness than derision. The 'cynical smile' is immediately balanced by the 'sinking feeling;' and my impression was always of a rather unique anti-war song, in which the hapless girl emerges less as being 'served right' for signing up, and more as a tragically naive figure who only wanted to go to college and ended up a human target. This is a much more complex lyric than the idea of a 'nasty' song (a tired motif for EC) would suggest. It's sad, first and foremost; and its real anger seems to me directed to the forces that put people in these terrible positions in the first place.the_platypus wrote:I always felt like Elvis' song was a little mean-spirited. That's nice that they're still in touch, though.
This may be me, overlaying my own assumptions on EC's lyric, of course.
Cool post about a rather moving little story. Thanks!
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
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strangerinthehouse
- Posts: 311
- Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 2:14 pm
- Location: fort myers florida
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
I never saw it as mean-spirited. To me it always seemed like EC was struggling with how to reply to the letter, how to put himself in a position he's never been in and how could he even attempt to console her. I also don't think there's a real anti-war message in the song, it simply reporting what one soldier is experiencing, how she's coping. There's no real comment on it except for the opening lyrics and those are more about him than anything else.
I always thought it was one of the most affecting songs he's written.
I always thought it was one of the most affecting songs he's written.
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Jack of All Parades
- Posts: 5716
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:31 am
- Location: Where I wish to be
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
I always liked the twist that the narrator takes in the lyric-as EC states in his album notes-the illustration of "the predicament of the two characters in being forced to reconsider their assumed positions." That ability to assume a different perspective is endearing. Not mean spirited as I hear it. PD I think you read it well as ultimately a sly disclaimer for any glory in war-that always is brought home to me when I hear that mercenary tone contained in the words 'needing funds for college'- that never fails to hurt and anger me- the thought that someone in this country has to place themselves in harms way in order to possibly secure a college education. In that regard it has a deeper resonance for me just like Dylan's John Brown.
Most telling as to where lyrical inspiration may spring!
Most telling as to where lyrical inspiration may spring!
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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the_platypus
- Posts: 367
- Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:14 pm
- Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
Yeah? Has EC ever talked about this?Poor Deportee wrote:Interesting. Apparently the song was intended in a mean-spirited sort of way...
I guess my interpretation of the song as mean-spirited comes from the music, more than the lyrics themselves. The melody, and EC's delivery, takes on a caustic and pungent tone in parts. Except for the "female soldier, my name is Constance" part, the string arrangement-- with its acerbic pizzicato and glissando at the end-- seems to convey mockery more than sympathy. Only sliding into "Last Post" do we feel the sorrow, remorseful tone that the lyrics to "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet" would indicate.
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Poor Deportee
- Posts: 671
- Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:30 pm
- Location: Chocolate Town
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
Well, not being EC's pal, I don't really know; I inferred it from the Juice article above, where it says this:the_platypus wrote:Yeah? Has EC ever talked about this?Poor Deportee wrote:Interesting. Apparently the song was intended in a mean-spirited sort of way...
I guess my interpretation of the song as mean-spirited comes from the music, more than the lyrics themselves. The melody, and EC's delivery, takes on a caustic and pungent tone in parts. Except for the "female soldier, my name is Constance" part, the string arrangement-- with its acerbic pizzicato and glissando at the end-- seems to convey mockery more than sympathy. Only sliding into "Last Post" do we feel the sorrow, remorseful tone that the lyrics to "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet" would indicate.
When Elvis read this letter, his first reaction was "serves you right." Later he thought about it some more, this human being in fear reciting her little litany of belongings, and decided it was also heart-rending. But it was the first reaction that interested him most, and it was that which he used on his latest record, The Juliet Letters, a collaboration with the classical string group the Brodsky Quartet. In the song "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet," the narrator quotes, with a sneer, Constance's barely changed letter. The narrator is not a musician, but a writer. Writers, Elvis explains with a piercing but slightly amused stare, are nastier.
This may be the writer's own spin. Certainly the heart-rending element always seemed in the foreground to me. Your own analysis is excellent and helps to shed light on the tension between contempt and sympathy than underpins the song as a whole.
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
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strangerinthehouse
- Posts: 311
- Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 2:14 pm
- Location: fort myers florida
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
The full documentary is up online!
Here's the link: http://www.azcentral.com/storytellers/v ... ons&tname=
It's a great account of Constance came to write the letter with bits from the Juliet Letters video added to include Costello's description of the song. Constance and her "Elvis sister" friend are pretty charming and the documentary, shot around the time of W's Iraq war, touches on the animosity against that second Gulf War.
Here's the link: http://www.azcentral.com/storytellers/v ... ons&tname=
It's a great account of Constance came to write the letter with bits from the Juliet Letters video added to include Costello's description of the song. Constance and her "Elvis sister" friend are pretty charming and the documentary, shot around the time of W's Iraq war, touches on the animosity against that second Gulf War.
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Goon Squad
- Posts: 1514
- Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:27 am
- Location: ......I'm here in the zoo.
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
Wow ! Just watched it and it was fascinating.
What a letter, what a song, what a story, and what a documentary !
Very powerful !
What a letter, what a song, what a story, and what a documentary !
Very powerful !
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
Thanks for the link! great documentary.
Re: "Letter of Thanks" documentary
I just got around to watching this is full and really enjoyed it. Besides the Costello factor it was well done in the way it let the visuals tell the tale, particularly the way the dog grooming all the time let you know what a kind and gentle person Constance is. My only quibble is with one of the credits - PLU is listed as having been written by Elvis.