Favorite Elvis Costello Song?

[elvis_Costello]

Thanks for the CD moods.
I gotta say even if I dont have a lot of CDs, I have listened to a lot of the songs on Blood and Chocolate...
That album is awesome.

I also like Spike a lot too.

[watercamp]

Ask your parents to bring you to a used cd store, here the prices range between 5 and 10$ for the newer single ones and 10 to 15$ for the Rhino doubles.

Favorite EC song...like others have said it changes on a daily basis, last month I did a 16 version compilation of Alison for the 35th anniversary, so let's go with that.

[elvis_Costello]

OK!!! I so will.
I'm pretty sure my mom wont mind spending some money on an Elvis Costello CD anyways

[Otis Westinghouse]

My default one is Sleep of the Just, and I never fail to feel I haven't quite to the bottom of the mystery of its words. King Horse is another, but could be substituted by others from GH, or Imp Bed. Or right now and after the Numbers selection at the recent show, My Three Sons, as that sums my life up in many ways as it does for Elvis, and what could be lovelier than the lines:

Here’s your pillow
Go to sleep and I will follow
May you never have anymore sorrows
That’s not something that you can count upon
Still I want it for my three sons

[so lacklustre]

King Horse
Seconds of Pleasure
Lipstick Vogue
So Like Candy
Just Another Mystery
She's Pulling Out the Pin
Accidents Wh
Possession

[elvis_Costello]

I already listened to like half of these songs, so I'll listen to the last few tomorrow.
Oh, and my mom said she was going to buy the My Aim Is True album. Just saying

[SoulForHire]

I really envy you. Oh, the joy to discover EC songs for the first time.

[Kevin Davis]

I think my favorite will always be the one that hooked me: "Episode of Blonde."

[History History]

I couldn't possibly choose one song but one I do always come back to is Ghost Train.

[elvis_Costello]

I tried looking up Ghost Train, and I cant seem to find it.

@lacklustre
I love Possession. I just heard it a few seconds ago. I think it convinced me to also get the Get Happy! album.

[when i was cruel]

I too envy you just discovering these EC songs, my mind was damn near blown when I heard ATUB when I was 9, my favorite album ever made.

[History History]

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYDT86TrQdM

By the way, the Dj's not me!

[elvis_Costello]

Oh that's ghost train?! I've heard that song before!!! I didnt realize it.
Haha thats one odd little boy. O_O

[History History]

It could be someone on here

[elvis_Costello]

That'd be awesome.
He seems pretty cool. And he's an awesome lipsinger.

[elvis_Costello]

OK, so out of all the new songs I listened to, the best 3 are:
Ghost Train
So Like Candy
Possession

[Otis Westinghouse]

Good taste, those last two are high on my list too. Was very sad the wheel didn't quite fall on SLC at the recent gig I saw.

[elvis_Costello]

Good taste, those last two are high on my list too. Was very sad the wheel didn't quite fall on SLC at the recent gig I saw.

Haha I guess you'll have to keep on coming till it falls on it

[elvis_Costello]

I'm also pretty obsessed with the song Beyond Belief. I heard it before, but once I listened to it with no distractions, its AMAZING.
Oh my god.

Also, for the record, I was jsut on pandora, and I found an amazing version of Chelsea, incase anyone's interested. Its called (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea (Live, 1978). The live songs are always amazing, but this one was like, REALLY GOOD

[Poor Deportee]

My default one is Sleep of the Just, and I never fail to feel I haven't quite to the bottom of the mystery of its words. King Horse is another, but could be substituted by others from GH, or Imp Bed. Or right now and after the Numbers selection at the recent show, My Three Sons, as that sums my life up in many ways as it does for Elvis, and what could be lovelier than the lines:

Here’s your pillow
Go to sleep and I will follow
May you never have anymore sorrows
That’s not something that you can count upon
Still I want it for my three sons

'Sleep of the Just' seems to be a story amounting to a critique of the culture and life of the military. The narrative is uncertain, but ends with a profound cringe in classic Costello fashion, as the soldier (apparently) is aroused by a soft-porn photo of what is probably his sister...but I leave it to those suaver in the art of song interpretation to pursue this.

Funny you should mention it, though, because as I pondered the question posed in this thread, the ones that leapt to mind (and I think any other way of doing it is dishonest, really) were the following:

Suit of Lights
I Want You
God's Comic
Sleep of the Just
Beyond Belief
Jimmie Standing in the Rain

I'll nominate 'Mr. Feathers' as my eccentric dark horse choice. Always loved that one for its perfect encapsulation of McCartneyish musicality + perverse Lennonish lyric.

[Ulster Boy]

Sleep of the just would be a favourite, too. I've always thought of it as one of his more straightforward-ish lyrics He intro'd it in 86 by explaining the first and second verses were based on a real incident when he and Cait took a bus to a music festival in north-west Ireland. The bus strayed across the border between South and North and was stopped by the British Army at a checkpoint (living here, not an unusual experience; but quite daunting if you weren't used to it).

The soldier asks the usual checkpoint questions; EC makes a wry joke about this play on words, and describes the surreality of their dress sense (there are photos of EC around this time in a frock ("holy") coat and top hat looking like an undertaker; the soldier wears a red military beret).

Second verse describes the "powerful" (fine, grand) day, and the scene. EC decides not to challenge the soldier on any views he might have on the Irish situation. He introduces his stong love (for Cait), then something happens to the bus. Then, the jump to the sad family tale of the soldier's sister, and his shame at her tawdry "profession" ("Immaterial girl" a dig at Madonna?).

Of course this is all my conjecture but makes sense to me. What I'm not clear on is who the chorus is directed to - the soldier?

[the_roofdog]

I thought it was sung from the point of view of the girl, to the soldier. In fact I always thought the first two verses were EC singing as the girl as well, though I never knew what to make of "holy coat" (thought it was along the lines of Sunday best/church clothes). Your post has shed a lot of light there, thanks.

[Little Fool]

Not sure that I understand Zoe and the saxophone reference, surely Chet was on trumpet.

[the_roofdog]

Change it to

*any track on goodbye cruel world*
*insert unwelcome saxophone here*

[elvis_Costello]

It sounds so much like a saxophone though! Oh well I changed it