What is your favorite Elvis Costello song ?

[when i was cruel]

I am curious to know what other people like, I've got every single song from him EVER and my favorites change all the time.

[Jeremy Dylan]

Sulphur to Sugarcane. Sly and cunning, dripping with character, a great groove, infectious melody and quotable lyrics.

[Neil.]

It's so difficult to choose - King Horse is always up there for me, but as you say, they change from day to day, because he's a genius AND prolific too. Lots of discussions of Elvis songs have done the rounds here - here are just a few (you could spend ages on this messageboard just going back and back...)

People talking about their top five: http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=6076

Other song stuff

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=5136

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=5631

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=5717

[Ypsilanti]

My top 10 or top 50 or whatever constantly changes, but Motel Matches is always in the top spot for me. It's a miracle of storytelling efficiency--a fully fleshed-out novel, squeezed into a few stanzas. It is a perfect song and This is my conviction, that I am an innocent man is absolutely my favorite line Elvis has written, ever. Also love the story he tells about how he came to write it...

[docinwestchester]

My top 10 or top 50 or whatever constantly changes, but Motel Matches is always in the top spot for me. It's a miracle of storytelling efficiency--a fully fleshed-out novel, squeezed into a few stanzas. It is a perfect song and This is my conviction, that I am an innocent man is absolutely my favorite line Elvis has written, ever. Also love the story he tells about how he came to write it...

Good choice. I saw him do it solo on electric piano at Stony Brook in 1984. He introduced it by saying "this is a song by Billy Joel...it's called Just The Way You Are..."

[terryhurley]

Poor Fractured Atlas, Human Hands, King Horse, Heathen Town....there's just too many

[Poor Deportee]

Bizarre as it sounds, I just might have to pick the Christy Moore version of 'The Deportees Club.' Truly, a neglected and incontestable masterpiece.

In terms of EC's own recordings of his songs, I always favoured 'Suit of Lights.' What a devastating expression of contempt for the culture of mass mediocrity.

[when i was cruel]

I think that from a lyrical stand point I would say that Shipbuilding might just be his best song or something off of ATUB like Poor Fractured Atlas, the reason Atlas is just such a beautiful song while being mysterious, it has character, it's playable, intelligent, emotion filled, and not to mention that "Now you can't be sure of that tent of azure since he punched a hole in the fabric." or maybe even better, "He can't find the strength now to punish the length, or a ribbon in his little typewriter."

[Poor Deportee]

I think that from a lyrical stand point I would say that Shipbuilding might just be his best song or something off of ATUB like Poor Fractured Atlas, the reason Atlas is just such a beautiful song while being mysterious, it has character, it's playable, intelligent, emotion filled, and not to mention that "Now you can't be sure of that tent of azure since he punched a hole in the fabric." or maybe even better, "He can't find the strength now to punish the length, or a ribbon in his little typewriter."

Hmmm. Not to dump on anybody's beloved treasures, but that song, like several on ATUB, always left me somewhat cold. I agree that the "ribbon" line is great, as is the whole first verse and chorus, but the second verse always struck me as pretentious. Whenever you get lyrics, especially extended lyrical riffs, instructing us on what "man" does, you risk entering the realm of the abstract and ponderous. The "azure" line does precisely this, being a windy way of complaining about the breach in the ozone layer. Beyond that, the double play on "man" (as both humanity itself, and the male gender) makes an argument that I find lazy at best and specious at worst (the old "if women ran the world we wouldn't have all these problems" argument - yaaawn). So while I don't consider it a bad song, I certainly don't rate it with his best. But I'm not looking to put anyone down, that's just my take on it.

[Jack of All Parades]

It will always be "Almost Blue". This is the first song by EC that cemented his place in the Songbook for me. Its sophisticated usage of internal rhyme-both consonantly and with vowels is exhilarating. The shadings of meaning and shifting of perspective is subtle. The play on the color within both the color and sonic palette is exemplary. There is a reason it is reasonably covered by other artists, as most of his songs are not; it is that good and invites multiple interpretations. It has always demonstrated for me that EC knows how to write a "classic" and I have always appreciated its vulnerability. It does not happen often but when it does, like this, it is memorable and lasting.

[pophead2k]

Like most of us I go through various phases, but the tune I keep coming back to for all of these years is 'You Tripped at Every Step'. To me it has everything: a fantastic melody, a very strong set of lyrics, a great performance, and a relatively rare moment of EC expressing sympathy along with some relatively low-key contempt. Stone cold classic for sure.

[sabreman]

"Watch Your Step" is probably my favorite. I just like everything about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OR25MqP ... re=related

[Miclewis]

I have so many favorite EC songs. But, I would have to say that "I'll Wear It Proudly" has always had a special place in my heart.

[migdd]

Poisoned Rose

[Ypsilanti]

Hmmm. Not to dump on anybody's beloved treasures, but that song, like several on ATUB, always left me somewhat cold. I agree that the "ribbon" line is great, as is the whole first verse and chorus, but the second verse always struck me as pretentious. Whenever you get lyrics, especially extended lyrical riffs, instructing us on what "man" does, you risk entering the realm of the abstract and ponderous. The "azure" line does precisely this, being a windy way of complaining about the breach in the ozone layer. Beyond that, the double play on "man" (as both humanity itself, and the male gender) makes an argument that I find lazy at best and specious at worst (the old "if women ran the world we wouldn't have all these problems" argument - yaaawn). So while I don't consider it a bad song, I certainly don't rate it with his best. But I'm not looking to put anyone down, that's just my take on it.

I don't know...I rather like how he draws a line from a man--a no longer young man--himself--no longer feeling so able to conquer the world with his withering pencil/penis...to mankind, rather a tired bunch with who have ultimately failed in their attempts to conquer the world, each other & the forces of nature...to the sad, old globe itself--also no longer fresh and young, quite the worse for wear due to mankind's actions upon it. For me, that's just heart-breaking. It's a beautiful, mournful song--beautifully played and sung.

And I don't mind the "tent of azure". It is supposed to be poetry, after all. He surely wouldn't just say "ozone layer". If he's windy and pretentious for using metaphors, well, what kind of songs would he end up without them? And I don't think he's saying anything about "if women ran the world we wouldn't have all these problems". What I hear is more along the lines of...the lonely, defeated state a man finds himself in at middle age--as he traces his life all the way back to boyhood--is something which is ultimately separate from female experience--women can neither affect it nor improve it.

Although, I'll grant you,,, the part about the squirrel gun is a bit much...

[Poor Deportee]

Hmmm. Not to dump on anybody's beloved treasures, but that song, like several on ATUB, always left me somewhat cold. I agree that the "ribbon" line is great, as is the whole first verse and chorus, but the second verse always struck me as pretentious. Whenever you get lyrics, especially extended lyrical riffs, instructing us on what "man" does, you risk entering the realm of the abstract and ponderous. The "azure" line does precisely this, being a windy way of complaining about the breach in the ozone layer. Beyond that, the double play on "man" (as both humanity itself, and the male gender) makes an argument that I find lazy at best and specious at worst (the old "if women ran the world we wouldn't have all these problems" argument - yaaawn). So while I don't consider it a bad song, I certainly don't rate it with his best. But I'm not looking to put anyone down, that's just my take on it.

I don't know...I rather like how he draws a line from a man--a no longer young man--himself--no longer feeling so able to conquer the world with his withering pencil/penis...to mankind, rather a tired bunch with who have ultimately failed in their attempts to conquer the world, each other & the forces of nature...to the sad, old globe itself--also no longer fresh and young, quite the worse for wear due to mankind's actions upon it. For me, that's just heart-breaking. It's a beautiful, mournful song--beautifully played and sung.

And I don't mind the "tent of azure". It is supposed to be poetry, after all. He surely wouldn't just say "ozone layer". If he's windy and pretentious for using metaphors, well, what kind of songs would he end up without them? And I don't think he's saying anything about "if women ran the world we wouldn't have all these problems". What I hear is more along the lines of...the lonely, defeated state a man finds himself in at middle age--as he traces his life all the way back to boyhood--is something which is ultimately separate from female experience--women can neither affect it nor improve it.

Although, I'll grant you,,, the part about the squirrel gun is a bit much...

Funnily enough, I *like* the squirrel gun line - it's a suitably bizarre image conveying a certain bathetic impotence.

Perhaps because I'm fascinated by songwriting, being a lifelong dabbler in it myself, I love these kinds of discussions. So bear with me! I have no real rebuttal to your riposte, other to say that while I see what you're saying, the second verse just doesn't work for me. There's nothing wrong with metaphor, obviously; but the 'azure' line in particular just feels contrived. Had he used 'blue' instead of 'azure,' he'd have needed to rework the rhyme, but at least he'd have avoided sounding self-consciously 'poetic;' he'd have been speaking in ordinary vernacular - nobody but a prig goes around saying 'the sky is especially azure today, isn't it, my dear?' - which is usually a good idea in popular music unless you've got a specific reason dictated by the terms of the song. So part of my beef with the second verse is overly precious word choice. Another part of it is the sheer obviousness of the metaphor. 'The ozone layer! Duh!' The 'squirrel gun' seems an effective metaphor for all sorts of things (phallic inadequacy, falling short of an inflated self-image, etc.) precisely because it's not so glaringly transparent. It's also not completely fanciful, squirrel guns being real objects, unlike 'tents of azure' which are a purely artifical concoction. Add prettified lingo to a metaphor that is both obvious and completely artificial, you've got a dodgy metaphor IMHO.

And then there's the whole issue of songs that go on about "man." This sort of thing tends to bother me because "man" is basically an abstract concept (to paraphrase DeMaistre, no one ever met "man") and I dislike abstraction in lyrics, as in poetry; I'm a Waste Land guy, not a Burnt Norton guy. I'll grant that not everyone feels that way...some people love abstraction, just like they love Rush lyrics...all of which I will never understand. Anyway, I thought he got away with it in 'The Scarlet Tide' and pulled off the trick magnificently in 'Monkey To Man' (another lost EC hit, that one), but mostly this is bad policy and it hurts this particular lyric.

One thing I'll concede. If this song hadn't appeared on the same album as 'All This Useless Beauty,' with its even more contrived and self-consciously arty final verse, as well as the reworked and inferior version of 'Other End of the Telescope,' it might never have troubled me. ATUB has a few too many of these kind of moments for my taste.

Wow, I just hijacked the thread. Sorry. Carry on!

[Jack of All Parades]

PD- god I abhor "The Four Quartets" spare me all the Anglican 'salvation' nonsense-"Time present and time past/are both perhaps present in time future,/and time future contained in time past" still cannot take that trope or the entire poem. I am a "Hollow Men" man.

Most of ATUB is full of bloat-EC really went off the rails lyrically with that album for me. Enjoyed your 'man' call out and will gladly use it as further justification for my dislike of the song "Red Cotton"[something we hashed out in the Spike Demo thread], witness the cloying stanzas which utilize that ploy in the song. I too need to now hop off and restore the thread.

[FAVEHOUR]

As to the "tent of azure" line, I vaguely recall reading that he borrowed that phrase from an Oscar Wilde poem.

[And No Coffee Table]

As to the "tent of azure" line, I vaguely recall reading that he borrowed that phrase from an Oscar Wilde poem.

Google reveals at least three 19th century uses of the phrase.

George Shepard Burleigh's The Garden (1849):

Here, throned in beauty, reigns supreme delight,
Whether hoarse Winter growls along the wold,
Or walks majestic Summer, queenly dight,
Circled with glories woven manifold;
Whether dun war-ranks of marauding Night
Drive bleeding Day into his western hold,
Or morn, victorious on the mountain height,
Unfurls his tent of azure fringed with gold;
Here whitest thought, dove-wing'd, from purest hearts,
Hangs on the breath of every whispering flower,
And, through their sweets, its sweeter sense imparts,
A living joy to bless the weariest hour;
And yet so humble is my little all,
There is no room for envy's shafts to fall.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust (1878 translation by Anna Swanwick):

In thy tent of azure hue,
Queen supremely reigning,
Let me now thy secret view,
Vision high obtaining!
With the holy joy of love,
In man’s breast, whatever
Lifts the soul to thee above,
Kind one, foster ever!

Émile Zola's Fruitfulness (1900 translation by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly):

On the following day those happy nuptials were celebrated in affectionate intimacy. There were but one-and-twenty at table under the oak tree in the middle of the lawn, which, girt with elms and hornbeams, seemed like a hall of verdure. The whole family was present: first those of the farm, then Denis the bridegroom, next Ambroise and his wife Andree, who had brought their little Leonce with them. And apart from the family proper, there were only the few invited relatives, Beauchene and Constance, Seguin and Valentine, with, of course, Madame Desvignes, the bride's mother. There were twenty-one at table, as has been said; but besides those one-and-twenty there were three very little ones present: Leonce,
who at fifteen months had just been weaned, and Benjamin and Guillaume, who still took the breast. Their little carriages had been drawn up near, so that they also belonged to the party, which was thus a round two dozen. And the table, flowery with roses, sent forth a delightful perfume under the rain of summer sunbeams which flecked it with gold athwart the cool shady foliage. From one horizon to the other stretched the wondrous tent of azure of the triumphant July sky. And Marthe's white bridal gown, and the bright dresses of the girls, big and little; all those gay frocks, and all that fine youthful health, seemed like the very florescence of that green nook of happiness. They lunched joyously, and ended by clinking glasses in country fashion, while wishing all sorts of prosperity to the bridal pair and to everybody present.