Tramp The Dirt Down

[LyricLover]

Elvis Costello must release Tramp The Dirt Down as a single, guaranteed no.1. What say you Elvis?

[deerfried]

Indeed, I was just realizing as I listened to Spike today that NOW Elvis can "stand there laughing and tramp the dirt down."

[paysfortheprivilege]

I think that one of the main reasons ttdd was resurrected on the last uk was mt's then recently exposed leading role in the hillsborough cover up. Do not doubt the strength of his allegiance to lfc. No silence at ot last night and no silence at any football ground this weekend. And rightly so...

[Neil.]

I hope he keeps quiet and lets the song do the talking as a historical record of his feelings. To release it as a single off the back of someone's death would seem a tasteless, to say the least! It's been in the news and is apparently selling on iTunes, where of course it's available as ever. Let it do whatever it does without Elvis promoting it.

I'd rather people got into Elvis via a different song than this!

[paysfortheprivilege]

One of the joys of the digital world. No one has released or rereleased anything..mt would have approved

[Ulster Boy]

Indeed, I was just realizing as I listened to Spike today that NOW Elvis can "stand there laughing and tramp the dirt down."

He'll get warm feet, as her body is being cremated.

[Neil.]

It's currently Number 9 in the Amazon pop download charts (Tue 9th April 2013 - 9pm). Don't know how this will play out in the official chart.

[verbal gymnastics]

There is no way Elvis would release this as a single. Laissez faire.

[Neil.]

Funny to see Elvis's scathing song next to One Direction in the Amazon pop MP3 chart at the mo!

[John]

Neil, that is priceless!

[Fishfinger king]

What sort of example is this setting our kids???


Ant & Dec just can't spell properly.......

[Neil.]

Wednesday morning, and the scabrous ballad has now inched past One Direction...

[sheeptotheslaughter]

I bet Ant and the other Dec and 1D are far higher in the official chart when it is announced on Sunday. I know I should be too old to care about chart positions.

[Neil.]

Elvis's despairing lament is now ahead of Justin Timberlake, at number two in the Amazon mp3 pop downloads chart!

[sheeptotheslaughter]

On Itunes it is only 106. Not sure if I am looking at the right one. It is number 5 on the rock chart

[johnfoyle]

I really am going to have to stop seeing EC angles in news stories...

[johnfoyle]

Elvis Costello & B P Fallon, Slane, 1985


Elvis first played 'Tramp on Irish radio in May 1987 -

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... _Orchestra

Here's a sound file -

http://www.mediafire.com/?ficu9utd0vdmvid


A earlier version of 'Tramp was, of course, Betrayal

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Betrayal
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... f_Betrayal
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... -09_London

[John]

Here's a link to my recording from the 1989 BBC Late Show special. This really was a great programme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIKpOTYoaB8

[Azmuda]

EC sang alternate lyrics in Thurles on August 3, 1991:

When England was the whore of the world, Margaret was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as the black tarmacadam
And if she seemed bulletproof I put it down to black magic
Every day now we're invited to pity the tragic
Forlorn faded figure whose story's on sale
As she finally swallows the fine bitter flavour that she likes to think is betrayal
While I pity those who forgot and forgave
I believe she should be hounded down into her grave
Along with the glove puppet that they put in her place
The simpering chump with the whimpering face
And whose classless society we all might applaud
On the day he gets round to shutting down the House of Lords
And kicking the royal cuckoos out of the nest
And placing the Queen Mother under arrest

[Neil.]

The song is currently number 23 in the overall MP3 chart on Amazon - not that far behind 'Ding Dong'. It's in the top ten rock downloads on iTunes. Could a last-minute surge send it into the actual top forty? It would be fascinating to see what the BBC does with that situation.

But perhaps Amazon purchases aren't part of the official UK chart?

[Man out of Time]

Amazon download sales should count, in the way that i-tunes downloads count. I cannot see why they would not.

Rules on what is eligible for the "Official UK Chart" are at the link below- but are mostly concerned with marketing gimmicks that would distort sales figures (e.g. giving away a free album or concert ticket with every single). I cannot see why an MP3 download of TTDD would not be eligible.

http://www.officialcharts.com/singles-chart/

What Elvis really needs to "hype" this song is a marketing man like Jake Riviera. Perhaps if Elvis turned up outside St Paul's Cathedral with a portable Marshall amp and a man with a sandwich board (with the song title on it) and started busking.....

And a related point - I trust that we can rely on Colin Top Balcony or someone to take a good quality stopwatch to the Philharmonic Hall show in June, because I will want to know exactly how long it takes from Elvis walking on stage until an audience member bellows "Tramp The Dirt Down". Rather like the Spanish audiences who insist that he sing "She", on the forthcoming tour Elvis will have to allow for Northern English (and Scottish) audiences wanting to hear TTDD sung again.

If I were Elvis I would just come on alone and play it first to get it out of the way and move on...


MOOT

[Neil.]

I do think Elvis keeping quiet is probably a good thing. The song speaks for itself, and if he started touting it in the media, it would look like he was cashing in on Thatcher's death - even if he was only doing it to make a political statement.

But I do hope the song gets into the official charts on its own steam - does anyone know how to look at the full iTunes chart? All I can seem to find is the 'top ten' page.

Also, as MOOT says, the song is probably going to hang heavy in the air during the summer tour - and now that Thatcher's gone, it might seem weird to play it, like someone stuck in the past. That said, with the reverberations still being felt, the legacy lives on - all those massive industries gone to private companies, so that the profits are not in the pockets of the workers, but the pockets of the few who own shares (who do none of the work).

[John]

Neil, you need to login to iTunes, click on iTunes store, then on Top Singles. You will then find TTDD at the dizzy heights of number 176 and falling fast.

I can't explain the difference between this and Amazon where it is at number 6.

I don't think there is any chance of it being in the top 40.

[Neil.]

Ah, right. I don't have an iTunes account - okay, fair enough. Shame if it doesn't chart - would be v interesting. It seems that 'I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher' is starting to climb the chart, so the BBC might have a dilemma there! But I wish it was with Tramp the Dirt...

[Top balcony]

And a related point - I trust that we can rely on Colin Top Balcony or someone to take a good quality stopwatch to the Philharmonic Hall show in June, because I will want to know exactly how long it takes from Elvis walking on stage until an audience member bellows "Tramp The Dirt Down". Rather like the Spanish audiences who insist that he sing "She", on the forthcoming tour Elvis will have to allow for Northern English (and Scottish) audiences wanting to hear TTDD sung again.

If I were Elvis I would just come on alone and play it first to get it out of the way and move on...
MOOT

Moot - yeah I'm fearful that this will happen too (although I may drown it out as I always yell "Welome Home" at the first opportunity).

I'd prefer him to reply " I've retired that f****** song, the witch is dead"

Colin Top Balcony