40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
You may be right, maybe the fun DOES begin tomorrow! Or you may be making an incorrect assumption about tomorrow's subject! We shall see!
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Jack of All Parades
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Well if it involves a certain guitarist and a 'voice' and one of the all-time great 'Blue' songs from his pen I am all ears, eyes and full of eager anticipation with my face squished up close to the glass........
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Poor Deportee
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Amazing that a beginning as unpromising as Idiophone yielded such a strong album. I don't rate it as quite a masterpiece, though, for two reasons: first, there are too many key weak tracks on it. "This is Hell" should work but instead drags - I think the writing just isn't clever enough to sustain the conceit; "Still Too Soon To Know" might be an OK song in the "Tin Pan Alley" tradition, but is surely Exhibit A for EC's 1990s over-singing; "Science Fiction Twin" is a great lyric in desperate search of a coherent melody. The album also lacks a sufficient quotient of Great Songs to make us utterly forget the plodders - there's no equivalent to "I Want You" or the magnificent quartet closing King of America on here. Most - all? - of the good songs are of the "solid" rather than blazingly brilliant variety.
My second reason for not falling over my chair in praise of BY has to do with the incoherent identity of the album...it starts as a random collection of songs, which would be fine with me, but then coalesces on the second side into a kind of personal reverie. In this, it resembles ATYB and SPSC: effectively "half" a concept album. It's like it takes half an album before the record makes up its mind. The same holds for the ballyhooed Attractions "reunion." In fact they're only reunited on some of these tracks. To an extent, I find myself wishing he'd go all in, one way or the other.
(In a more positive vein, apart from the obvious gem "Rocking Horse Road," I always enjoyed "Pony St." in particular. A mordantly hilarious generational saga, complete with the frantic ending, "SHE LIVES ON!! SHE LIVES ON!!" as though this is precisely the opposite of what the characters would wish).
My second reason for not falling over my chair in praise of BY has to do with the incoherent identity of the album...it starts as a random collection of songs, which would be fine with me, but then coalesces on the second side into a kind of personal reverie. In this, it resembles ATYB and SPSC: effectively "half" a concept album. It's like it takes half an album before the record makes up its mind. The same holds for the ballyhooed Attractions "reunion." In fact they're only reunited on some of these tracks. To an extent, I find myself wishing he'd go all in, one way or the other.
(In a more positive vein, apart from the obvious gem "Rocking Horse Road," I always enjoyed "Pony St." in particular. A mordantly hilarious generational saga, complete with the frantic ending, "SHE LIVES ON!! SHE LIVES ON!!" as though this is precisely the opposite of what the characters would wish).
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
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
(Jack, tomorrow WILL be fun for you!)
PD: diff'rent strokes! But I think a lot of the things you view as flaws are precisely the things that make BY a great album.
Unlike some of EC's 00s albums where he essentially takes songs from larger incomplete or obscure projects ("Secret Songs", "The Delivery Man", "Prison Song" etc), BY is an album of new EC songs intended only for this album. It's not like he was writing a personal/confessional piece and then gave up and dumped the songs onto BY. I think that's a key distinction.
As I pointed out, it does have herky-jerky origins and yes, it does veer towards the confessional near the end. But it arrives at its destination organically-- he is making this album up as he goes along.
But the confessional songs are also of a piece with the jump-around-the-genres first half. I think this is both a valid structure and actually kind of a brilliant one. Far from being "half a concept album" I see it as an album with distinct sections and a deliberate design that was arrived at without any Master Plan in advance.
I don't think the album would have been better if it had all been like the first half or all like the second half.
ALSO: the fact that The Attractions are only reunited for a handful of tracks doesn't take the shine off it-- the "Distractions" tracks are every bit as good! It's just the way things turned out. There is an element of improvisation to the entire process of Brutal Youth that makes it special. Costello sort of stumbled into making a great album, first by making those Wendy James demos, then by making a racket with Pete, and the whole thing was like a snowball rolling down a hill!
PD: diff'rent strokes! But I think a lot of the things you view as flaws are precisely the things that make BY a great album.
Unlike some of EC's 00s albums where he essentially takes songs from larger incomplete or obscure projects ("Secret Songs", "The Delivery Man", "Prison Song" etc), BY is an album of new EC songs intended only for this album. It's not like he was writing a personal/confessional piece and then gave up and dumped the songs onto BY. I think that's a key distinction.
As I pointed out, it does have herky-jerky origins and yes, it does veer towards the confessional near the end. But it arrives at its destination organically-- he is making this album up as he goes along.
But the confessional songs are also of a piece with the jump-around-the-genres first half. I think this is both a valid structure and actually kind of a brilliant one. Far from being "half a concept album" I see it as an album with distinct sections and a deliberate design that was arrived at without any Master Plan in advance.
I don't think the album would have been better if it had all been like the first half or all like the second half.
ALSO: the fact that The Attractions are only reunited for a handful of tracks doesn't take the shine off it-- the "Distractions" tracks are every bit as good! It's just the way things turned out. There is an element of improvisation to the entire process of Brutal Youth that makes it special. Costello sort of stumbled into making a great album, first by making those Wendy James demos, then by making a racket with Pete, and the whole thing was like a snowball rolling down a hill!
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
I love Brutal Youth. Every track is a corker - such a great kaleidoscope of images and sounds - but with a unified production feel. A lot of total classics on this album - Kinder Murder is an amazing rocker, London's Brill is a jaw-dropping love letter in song. And I love My Science Fiction Twin, even. What an hilarious song! I even like (what I would imagine most people would find annoying) 20% Amnesia. Still Too Soon To Know? Devastating! All the Rage? Beautiful. And what's the problem with 'This Is Hell'? What a wonderful song! I'd happily introduce anyone to Elvis via this album - it's his last truly great album till National Ransom (and that's not to say there wasn't a great deal of great stuff in between!) x
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
I'm also a huge fan of this album. Admittedly, I'm not the pickiest Costello fan, but there are no skipable tracks on this one for me. In this day when I usually shuffle my 16,000 track iPod like my own radio station, I still make time to listen to this one from front to back. As I've said in this forum before, 'You Tripped at Every Step' is probably my all time favorite EC track.
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Jack of All Parades
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
As you intimated yesterday, CWR, fun times indeed. I have written about a particular song on this ep before- it continues to stand for how I feel about this entire ep:
Deep Dead Blue:
Deep dead blue
That I invite
Bringing on disguise of night
Turn the whole Kaleidoscope
Deep dead blue
Deep dead blue that nightly shades
Most unlikely escapades
As the lights that frighten fade
Till the dawn drags into view
I'm lost in deep dead blue
Deep dead blue
I'd rather stay
Far from the cruel colored day
Leave me in my monochrome
Till I find a finer hue
Beyond the deep dead blue
Declan McManus
"I like this version by Molly Johnson[PD-another Canadian who knows what she is doing]:
http://youtu.be/ZBiivGx4dqE
There is for me no contemporary songwriter more alive and attuned to the hues of this world than Declan. And no one is more attuned to the particular shade of blue than him. Blue inhabits his work like a spirit; it is a ‘Being without being in blue’. Blue seems to represent a nature for him, signifying a patch of melancholy where blue colors are sung in several shades and variations. I have been spending a great deal of time with the above song and its ‘minor keyed’ approach to love or lack there of. It holds my interest because it musically attains what the lyric states, leaving the listener and hopefully the singer in ‘my monochrome /‘till I find a finer hue /Beyond the deep dead blue’. Interestingly that alternative pops up at the end of the song as the notes go chromatic dropping from the black keys to the white melodic ones.
The fact that the lyric drops ever deeper into the ‘deep dead blue’ is exciting for me. And I cannot shake the subtle reference to “Full Fathom Five” from that other great English lyric writer of the 16th century. It must be a ‘deep’ psychological pain that forces one so low below the waves into that part of the ‘deep’ that has no color, that is so ‘monochrome’. What a terrible word and condition to find oneself suffering. To sink like lead-a dull lifeless color if ever there was one- to the bottom. My mind tries to wrestle with what could sink a soul so low: emptiness, loneliness, worthlessness, grief...it definitely is an absence of something. A far better writer, William Gass, puts it this way- “Joy breaking gloom continues to hammer[just like in those minor black keys in the tune]. So it’s true: Being without Being is blue.”
Declan has taken of late in his tour shows to placing a spoke on his ‘spinning wheel’ that proudly proclaims he can ‘sing the colors of the rainbow’. It is true he can and no where more than in his regular explorations of that multi-meaning shade of blue. Again Mr. Gass puts it better than me in his sagacious and salacious essay “On Being Blue” as both writers know most deeply the sexual nature of ‘blue’."
For me this is when EC gets to be 'fun'. This recording has always been a positive example of how a gifted musician goes about his craft- he expands his palette and experiments. He gets out of his comfort zone and tries to stimulate his muse. It does not always work but if a listener is willing to follow down whatever rabbit hole the artist goes there are often rewards to be found. In the case of this record it was the song "Deep Dead Blue" and the startling rearrangements that older material could bear. If I was ever a fan of Declan this ep solidified my appreciation. The man refused to pander and audience be damned this was where he had me completely- this little ep paved the way for my enjoyment of subsequent projects that I look forward to CWR re- introducing to all of us.
Deep Dead Blue:
Deep dead blue
That I invite
Bringing on disguise of night
Turn the whole Kaleidoscope
Deep dead blue
Deep dead blue that nightly shades
Most unlikely escapades
As the lights that frighten fade
Till the dawn drags into view
I'm lost in deep dead blue
Deep dead blue
I'd rather stay
Far from the cruel colored day
Leave me in my monochrome
Till I find a finer hue
Beyond the deep dead blue
Declan McManus
"I like this version by Molly Johnson[PD-another Canadian who knows what she is doing]:
http://youtu.be/ZBiivGx4dqE
There is for me no contemporary songwriter more alive and attuned to the hues of this world than Declan. And no one is more attuned to the particular shade of blue than him. Blue inhabits his work like a spirit; it is a ‘Being without being in blue’. Blue seems to represent a nature for him, signifying a patch of melancholy where blue colors are sung in several shades and variations. I have been spending a great deal of time with the above song and its ‘minor keyed’ approach to love or lack there of. It holds my interest because it musically attains what the lyric states, leaving the listener and hopefully the singer in ‘my monochrome /‘till I find a finer hue /Beyond the deep dead blue’. Interestingly that alternative pops up at the end of the song as the notes go chromatic dropping from the black keys to the white melodic ones.
The fact that the lyric drops ever deeper into the ‘deep dead blue’ is exciting for me. And I cannot shake the subtle reference to “Full Fathom Five” from that other great English lyric writer of the 16th century. It must be a ‘deep’ psychological pain that forces one so low below the waves into that part of the ‘deep’ that has no color, that is so ‘monochrome’. What a terrible word and condition to find oneself suffering. To sink like lead-a dull lifeless color if ever there was one- to the bottom. My mind tries to wrestle with what could sink a soul so low: emptiness, loneliness, worthlessness, grief...it definitely is an absence of something. A far better writer, William Gass, puts it this way- “Joy breaking gloom continues to hammer[just like in those minor black keys in the tune]. So it’s true: Being without Being is blue.”
Declan has taken of late in his tour shows to placing a spoke on his ‘spinning wheel’ that proudly proclaims he can ‘sing the colors of the rainbow’. It is true he can and no where more than in his regular explorations of that multi-meaning shade of blue. Again Mr. Gass puts it better than me in his sagacious and salacious essay “On Being Blue” as both writers know most deeply the sexual nature of ‘blue’."
For me this is when EC gets to be 'fun'. This recording has always been a positive example of how a gifted musician goes about his craft- he expands his palette and experiments. He gets out of his comfort zone and tries to stimulate his muse. It does not always work but if a listener is willing to follow down whatever rabbit hole the artist goes there are often rewards to be found. In the case of this record it was the song "Deep Dead Blue" and the startling rearrangements that older material could bear. If I was ever a fan of Declan this ep solidified my appreciation. The man refused to pander and audience be damned this was where he had me completely- this little ep paved the way for my enjoyment of subsequent projects that I look forward to CWR re- introducing to all of us.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Brutal Youth
With much thanks to Connor for his excellent series counting down to the release of Wise Up Ghost. This seemed a good point to join in with some comments and contributions as it was during the Brutal Youth tour that I final went to see Elvis –The Bradford gig.
I liked the album, particularly the singles that came from it. I didn’t focus on the ‘band gets together again’ bit—by this point Elvis was one of those people who was clearly going to do what he wants with who ever he wants. I’d liked the move into ‘country’ via Almost Blue and had enjoyed the Easy Listening of ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself from Stiff Live Stiffs.
Thanks to Connor’s series, I’ve gained some interesting tracks from youtube etc. For that I thank him. The process of turning my old VHS tapes into files that I can share has taken some time. Moving them to youtube is another (painful) learning curve. These are my first 3 contributions-I hope the work.
The first is an interview he have to Zoe Ball on a show called Ozone. It’s from the BY tour. The interview is interesting in retrospect in that Elvis avoids both eye contact and the blindingly obvious (now) split with him and Bruce Thomas.
Ozone: Zoe Ball talks to Elvis Costello
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rqHXIwf ... e=youtu.be
These are from a later date and should be attached to other days of Connor’s series but I include them here to see if they work. Both are from a Jonathan Ross show. The acoustic Alison is lovely but the file with Amsterdam supporting him on Doll Revolution is of more interest.
Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello: Alison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwTrCecf ... e=youtu.be
Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello & Amsterdam: Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VidqYyjG ... e=youtu.be
I will attempt to make other files available. Any clues as how to speed uploading much appreciated. If the links don’t work, then my files are under Mrcjp52
With much thanks to Connor for his excellent series counting down to the release of Wise Up Ghost. This seemed a good point to join in with some comments and contributions as it was during the Brutal Youth tour that I final went to see Elvis –The Bradford gig.
I liked the album, particularly the singles that came from it. I didn’t focus on the ‘band gets together again’ bit—by this point Elvis was one of those people who was clearly going to do what he wants with who ever he wants. I’d liked the move into ‘country’ via Almost Blue and had enjoyed the Easy Listening of ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself from Stiff Live Stiffs.
Thanks to Connor’s series, I’ve gained some interesting tracks from youtube etc. For that I thank him. The process of turning my old VHS tapes into files that I can share has taken some time. Moving them to youtube is another (painful) learning curve. These are my first 3 contributions-I hope the work.
The first is an interview he have to Zoe Ball on a show called Ozone. It’s from the BY tour. The interview is interesting in retrospect in that Elvis avoids both eye contact and the blindingly obvious (now) split with him and Bruce Thomas.
Ozone: Zoe Ball talks to Elvis Costello
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rqHXIwf ... e=youtu.be
These are from a later date and should be attached to other days of Connor’s series but I include them here to see if they work. Both are from a Jonathan Ross show. The acoustic Alison is lovely but the file with Amsterdam supporting him on Doll Revolution is of more interest.
Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello: Alison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwTrCecf ... e=youtu.be
Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello & Amsterdam: Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VidqYyjG ... e=youtu.be
I will attempt to make other files available. Any clues as how to speed uploading much appreciated. If the links don’t work, then my files are under Mrcjp52
Last edited by CJP52 on Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Poor Deportee
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Neat interview. I'm not sure I see him as especially "nervous" or "evasive." He's diplomatic vis-à-vis the Attractions, as you'd expect at that specific juncture given that he wants/needs the reunion to succeed. Interesting to note that he's still in denial here about commercial decline (or else, his commercial erosion was still plausibly denied at this stage). Great threads he's sporting, too - and the glasses are a winner.CJP52 wrote:Brutal Youth
With much thanks to Connor for his excellent series counting down to the release of Wake Up Ghost. This seemed a good point to join in with some comments and contributions as it was during the Brutal Youth tour that I final went to see Elvis –The Bradford gig.
I liked the album, particularly the singles that came from it. I didn’t focus on the ‘band gets together again’ bit—by this point Elvis was one of those people who was clearly going to do what he wants with who ever he wants. I’d liked the move into ‘country’ via Almost Blue and had enjoyed the Easy Listening of ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself from Stiff Live Stiffs.
Thanks to Connor’s series, I’ve gained some interesting tracks from youtube etc. For that I thank him. The process of turning my old VHS tapes into files that I can share has taken some time. Moving them to youtube is another (painful) learning curve. These are my first 3 contributions-I hope the work.
The first is an interview he have to Zoe Ball on a show called Ozone. It’s from the BY tour. The interview is interesting in retrospect in that Elvis avoids both eye contact and the blindingly obvious (now) split with him and Bruce Thomas.
Ozone: Zoe Ball talks to Elvis Costello
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rqHXIwf ... e=youtu.be
These are from a later date and should be attached to other days of Connor’s series but I include them here to see if they work. Both are from a Jonathan Ross show. The acoustic Alison is lovely but the file with Amsterdam supporting him on Doll Revolution is of more interest.
Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello: Alison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwTrCecf ... e=youtu.be
Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello & Amsterdam: Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VidqYyjG ... e=youtu.be
I will attempt to make other files available. Any clues as how to speed uploading much appreciated. If the links don’t work, then my files are under Mrcjp52
Incidentally, it's not that I dislike Brutal Youth - didn't want to leave that impression. I really enjoy it as a distinctive expression of mature rock and roll. As I say, it's just the absence of Great Songs coupled with certain plodders that leaves it a clear notch below "masterpiece" to my ear. There seems to be something too forgiving in the listener who can't hear that "This is Hell" drags or that "Sci Fi Twin" bogs down in its melodically incoherent pre-chorus/chorus, for instance. (I actually don't mind "20% Amnesia" as an exercise in topical dementia). cwr's delight in the way the album came together is valid...I was trying to articulate my own response to it as someone unfamiliar with its backstory. From the very start it felt like an album with a "back to EC's roots" vibe tacked on rather than integrally incorporated into the process, at least to me. (Not that I particularly long for a "return" to the Good Old Days of EC - I don't).
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
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
That listener would be me! I think 'This Is Hell' is deliberately draggy - the whole thing is about being stupefied by an overdose of pleasure, so that drugged up, heavy-lidded, entranced feel is spot on. It definitely develops musically, with those lovely keyboard tinkles from Steve to suggest "all the passions of your youth are tranquilized and tamed' - you can picture someone completely catatonic with sated pleasure. I love it!Poor Deportee wrote:There seems to be something too forgiving in the listener who can't hear that "This is Hell" drags or that "Sci Fi Twin" bogs down in its melodically incoherent pre-chorus/chorus, for instance.
I know what you mean about Science Fiction Twin - it is a crazy mess, a bit of a racket, but it's a mess I love. You're right, I'm totally forgiving!
The lyrics are Costello at his best - some of the images are astonishing. He's a real poet, as we know:
"The words flew from his mouth and they were gently gathered by reporters..."
"His almost universal excellence is starting to disturb me
They ask how in the world he does all these things
And he answered superbly."
The possible double meaning on 'superbly' is a great joke.
And I love the laser guns zapping in and out at the end! And the harpsichord is a great choice, too, for a song about a genius - shades of Mozart!
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Jack of All Parades
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
For my ears those two songs die from an excess of logorrhea and as PD suggests do 'breakdown', both lyrically and melodically. Thank god for shuffle. I do like the line about John Coltrane and Juliie Andrews, however. Vintage cutting EC. For me he did a better job in the previous record utilizing a similar theme with "Damnation's Cellar".
I agree he is an accomplished and frequently memorable lyricist- not so certain he is a poet.
I agree he is an accomplished and frequently memorable lyricist- not so certain he is a poet.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Again, different strokes-- I'm never fully comfortable phrasing opinions on songs in terms of "there seems to be something wrong with the listener who doesn't feel the same way I do about this song"!Poor Deportee wrote:
There seems to be something too forgiving in the listener who can't hear that "This is Hell" drags or that "Sci Fi Twin" bogs down in its melodically incoherent pre-chorus/chorus, for instance.
I don't hear the same things in either "This Is Hell" or "My Science Fiction Twin" as faults. Neither would be my favorite tracks on the album, but I find them both entirely satisfying. I have zero issues with the pace of the former and find the latter not only melodically "coherent" but actually melodically enjoyable. I don't think it's a matter of any listener being too forgiving or too harsh, just that different people want and appreciate different qualities in a song!
Having said all that, today's post is the only one to focus on a single song!
DAY 25: "My Dark Life"
http://connorratliff.tumblr.com/post/59 ... n-1996-the
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Day 25: MY DARK LIFE
Oh boy, how I love that song. Everything about it works for me. It's been awhile since I've dived into it. And now I wish I could get it digitally so that I could drive around today listening to it. I'd like to think that in the strangely coincidental way that the X-Files unfolded, Connor's project will mysteriously realign Costello and Eno's collaborative trajectories, leading them to another day in the studio.
Oh, and he gives us another dick joke in this song, to boot.
Oh boy, how I love that song. Everything about it works for me. It's been awhile since I've dived into it. And now I wish I could get it digitally so that I could drive around today listening to it. I'd like to think that in the strangely coincidental way that the X-Files unfolded, Connor's project will mysteriously realign Costello and Eno's collaborative trajectories, leading them to another day in the studio.
Oh, and he gives us another dick joke in this song, to boot.
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Well done! If there is one Costello tune that is worthy of being singled out, this is it. Probably my second favorite EC song ever. The live version from the EC/SN box set is my favorite version. I hadn't seen Greil Marcus' comments before, so thanks for that.
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Poor Deportee
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Great work as usual, Connor.cwr wrote:Again, different strokes-- I'm never fully comfortable phrasing opinions on songs in terms of "there seems to be something wrong with the listener who doesn't feel the same way I do about this song"!Poor Deportee wrote:
There seems to be something too forgiving in the listener who can't hear that "This is Hell" drags or that "Sci Fi Twin" bogs down in its melodically incoherent pre-chorus/chorus, for instance.
I don't hear the same things in either "This Is Hell" or "My Science Fiction Twin" as faults. Neither would be my favorite tracks on the album, but I find them both entirely satisfying. I have zero issues with the pace of the former and find the latter not only melodically "coherent" but actually melodically enjoyable. I don't think it's a matter of any listener being too forgiving or too harsh, just that different people want and appreciate different qualities in a song!
Having said all that, today's post is the only one to focus on a single song!
DAY 25: "My Dark Life"
http://connorratliff.tumblr.com/post/59 ... n-1996-the
I certainly don't want to offend anyone in offering critical remarks of this or that work. Different strokes for different folks, yes...to some extent. There's a much wider and brain-crackingly complex discussion to be had about whether relativism really succeeds as an approach to art appreciation, but I know better than to get into that.
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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Jack of All Parades
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
There is no better 'pop' song for me about human consciousness and its darker areas. I have always appreciated that he could too clearly 'see' the source of much human trouble. This song walks a fine line between our selfish, subverted motives as individuals and our better selves capable of empathy and fellow-feeling. Every time I hear it I am reminded of how too often we, through our own cunning designs, lie to ourselves. Self-deception is a cruel thing. Marcus is right it lingers in the air. One self can be a deceiver of another; sometimes though a 'third self' overcomes the self deception.
A recently deceased poet puts the same theme this way:
"From the republic of conscience" By Seamus Heaney
I
When I landed in the republic of conscience
it was so noiseless when the engines stopped
I could hear a curlew high above the runway
At immigration, the clerk was an old man
who produced a wallet from his homespun coat
and showed me a photograph of my grandfather
The woman in customs asked me to declare
the words of our traditional cures and charms
to heal dumbness and avert the evil eye
No porters. No interpreter. No taxi.
You carried your own burden and very soon
your symptoms of creeping privilege disappeared
II
Fog is a dreaded omen there, but lightning
spells universal good and parents hang
swaddled infants in trees during thunder storms
Salt is their precious mineral. And seashells
are held to the ear during births and funerals.
The base of all inks and pigments is seawater
Their sacred symbol is a stylized boat
The sail is an ear, the mast a sloping pen,
The hull a mouth-shape, the keel an open eye.
At their inauguration, public leaders
must swear to uphold unwritten law and weep
to atone for their presumption to hold office
and to affirm their faith that all life sprang
from salt in tears which the sky-god wept
after he dreamt his solitude was endless
III
I came back from that frugal republic
with my two arms the one length, the customs woman
having insisted my allowance was myself
The old man rose and gazed into my face
and said that was official recognition
that I was now a dual citizen
He therefore desired me when I got home
to consider myself a representative
and to speak on their behalf in my own tongue
Their embassies, he said, were everywhere
but operated independently
and no ambassador would ever be relieved
A recently deceased poet puts the same theme this way:
"From the republic of conscience" By Seamus Heaney
I
When I landed in the republic of conscience
it was so noiseless when the engines stopped
I could hear a curlew high above the runway
At immigration, the clerk was an old man
who produced a wallet from his homespun coat
and showed me a photograph of my grandfather
The woman in customs asked me to declare
the words of our traditional cures and charms
to heal dumbness and avert the evil eye
No porters. No interpreter. No taxi.
You carried your own burden and very soon
your symptoms of creeping privilege disappeared
II
Fog is a dreaded omen there, but lightning
spells universal good and parents hang
swaddled infants in trees during thunder storms
Salt is their precious mineral. And seashells
are held to the ear during births and funerals.
The base of all inks and pigments is seawater
Their sacred symbol is a stylized boat
The sail is an ear, the mast a sloping pen,
The hull a mouth-shape, the keel an open eye.
At their inauguration, public leaders
must swear to uphold unwritten law and weep
to atone for their presumption to hold office
and to affirm their faith that all life sprang
from salt in tears which the sky-god wept
after he dreamt his solitude was endless
III
I came back from that frugal republic
with my two arms the one length, the customs woman
having insisted my allowance was myself
The old man rose and gazed into my face
and said that was official recognition
that I was now a dual citizen
He therefore desired me when I got home
to consider myself a representative
and to speak on their behalf in my own tongue
Their embassies, he said, were everywhere
but operated independently
and no ambassador would ever be relieved
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
After a closer listen to the words, I see that he's saying, "western leather" not, as I had thought it was, "western valor", thereby I rescind my claim that MY DARK LIFE contains a "family pride" joke
Oh, and I was at that Fillmore show (probably because Connor told me about it from 3000 miles away)! The moment I realized that he was singing MDL, I couldn't control myself and let out a shriek, and then- being from the same spot of Earth as Connor- I released a more controlled exclamation at "Peculiar Missouri".
Oh, and I was at that Fillmore show (probably because Connor told me about it from 3000 miles away)! The moment I realized that he was singing MDL, I couldn't control myself and let out a shriek, and then- being from the same spot of Earth as Connor- I released a more controlled exclamation at "Peculiar Missouri".
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
"I certainly don't want to offend anyone in offering critical remarks of this or that work. Different strokes for different folks, yes...to some extent. There's a much wider and brain-crackingly complex discussion to be had about whether relativism really succeeds as an approach to art appreciation, but I know better than to get into that."
Better not go into it here, yes, but I'd love to have an email conversation with you about this. One of my hobbies is gathering perspectives on this subject.
Better not go into it here, yes, but I'd love to have an email conversation with you about this. One of my hobbies is gathering perspectives on this subject.
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Do it on the board - it sounds interesting!
But make it into another thread, otherwise it'll clog up the Connor thread.
I don't mind if someone disagrees with me - art provokes different opinions. But if there's an argument that perhaps it shouldn't, and that there might be a 'correct' viewpoint - then that sounds like a fascinating discussion!
But make it into another thread, otherwise it'll clog up the Connor thread.
I don't mind if someone disagrees with me - art provokes different opinions. But if there's an argument that perhaps it shouldn't, and that there might be a 'correct' viewpoint - then that sounds like a fascinating discussion!
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Neil. I need to disagree with you.Neil. wrote:I don't mind if someone disagrees with me - art provokes different opinions. But if there's an argument that perhaps it shouldn't, and that there might be a 'correct' viewpoint - then that sounds like a fascinating discussion!
Art should have only one viewpoint so that everybody knows what it is all about and should not be open to interpretation or ambiguity.
By the way, I hope you are going to wear a violent nylon suit to my 50th birthday party
Going back, Brutal Youth is a terrific album in my view. The threesome of Rockinghorse Road, Just about glad and All the Rage is my favourite on any album.
My dark life is also a great experimental track for Elvis. I suspect it hasn't led to any further work because it would be difficult to try and emulate what happened. A target was set and they rose to the challenge. Further work would perhaps be more defined and limit the creative edge.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Yeah but an album would have been great, no?
In total agreement on the magnificence of this song, and it's uniqueness. Lounge music from Venus, indeed!
Hah - turns out you beat me in citing that Heaney poem, Chris.
In total agreement on the magnificence of this song, and it's uniqueness. Lounge music from Venus, indeed!
Hah - turns out you beat me in citing that Heaney poem, Chris.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Even if they never again reached the heights of "My Dark Life", I'm just sort of surprised that EC has never asked Eno to produce an album for him in the past 17 years!
Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Chris, thanks so much for that poem. Loved it.
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Jack of All Parades
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Re: 40 DAYS OF ELVIS COSTELLO: A Countdown To WISE UP GHOST
Otis- just proves 'great' mindsOtis Westinghouse wrote:Yeah but an album would have been great, no?
In total agreement on the magnificence of this song, and it's uniqueness. Lounge music from Venus, indeed!
Hah - turns out you beat me in citing that Heaney poem, Chris.
think a like. Yes, cwr, that would have been a production synthesis I would have enjoyed hearing more from over the years.jsf- sometimes the poetry gods lay one in my lap. Heaney's passing had me revisiting Opened Ground and when your friend made his selection of his countdown available today that poem was fresh in my mind. On one level it speaks in congruence with EC's lyric- even though it is traditionally read as Heaney's response to the 25th anniversary of Amnesty International.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'