EC songs that i hear now and realize, OMG, i LOVED that when it came out, i just did not remember that was EC:
The Beat
... This Town ...
... This Town ... is really getting me today. recently got Spike, and was *amazed* when i recognized the opening of the album. shocked, even. had TOTALLY forgotten that song. and i LOVED it when it was on (college?) radio.
sorta makes up for Veronica, which, having listened to in context, i still hate. loathe. despise. it's too damn catchy. stays in my head for months. it's like a really sticky nasty treat whose taste you just cannot get out of your mouth. hell for me would be Veronica on eternal replay. i blame Macca for the horror of it all.
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
veronica is a fabulous song based on a real person that just got worn out, but it will stick in your head. thanks for mentioning "the beat", the coolest song that rarely, if ever, gets mentioned around here. came up in no one's top 5, but mine.
The Beat is great! i LOVE discovering elvis tunes that i loved at one time, and totally forgot about.
praise be for college radio, otherwise the only elvis i'd have ever heard would be: the horror whose name i won't mention again, every day i write the book, and alison.
(i know the horror is a finely crafted pop tune, and it's about a real person, and it's elvis. but the stickiness of it just makes me scream.)
i'm ready to revise my five favorite tunes after my recent acquisitions.
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
That's one of the few negatives of producing a masterpiece like TYM: absolutely wonderful songs like "The Beat" get short shrift just because they're not "Pump It Up" or "Lipstick Vogue." "Little Triggers," "The Beat," "(IDWtGt) Chelsea," or "Night Rally" would be the standout track on just about any album by another artist of the era, for sparkling gems they are indeed. But EC, who could relegate "Little Triggers" to B-side status fer Chrissake, was churning out classic tunes at an amazing rate.
"But it's a dangerous game that comedy plays
Sometimes it tells you the truth
Sometimes it delays it"
I don't understand an objection to Veronica based on the fact that it stays stuck in your head. I love having an Elvis Costello song stuck in my head. Right now, I have "I've got A Golden Ticket" from Willie Wonka stuck in my head. Having any Elvis song but Broken in your head is a great thing.
That's a horror.
Veronica is a brilliant piece of work. And the bridge is one of the finest moments in pop history.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--William Shakespeare
To me both "This Town" and "Veronica" are basically two of a kind, half great, half, well, not so great.
In the case of "Veronica" the only part I like musically are the choruses and the bridge sections ("in the empress of India") and I semi-detest the verses (which to me sound like they must have correctly from P. McCartney on one of his fairly frequent bad days). On the other hand, the lyrics really are great and I love the song when played acoustically, so maybe it's just the over-production I object too.
"This Town" is much less praised, so it's easier to like it as a half-successful song. Basically, it's just sounds a bit cheesy but it's one of EC's many songs that sound like perfect opening songs for a television series. (I could be wrong but I believe that both "This Town" and "Let Them All Talk" have been used for British programs.)
Don't recall hearing This Town on a programme here, but I'm sure some detailmeister will tell us if it was. Let Them All Talk was used on the credits of a chat show (Clive Anderson), and that was weird hearing it pumping out weekly over the clapping audience. I think it might have still been running when the book of the same name came out, so suddenly we were in a 1984 time warp.
Re: "This Town" not used yet for an English TV show --
Well, good, 'cause I think it would be a perfect theme song for a show featuring a character based on my ex-boss. (An expat Brit of somewhat questionable ethics expat making beacoups bucks, and losing more of same, here in the U.S.)
Re: The Beat. Yes, TYM's secret weapon. I always forget about that song (same problem as HungUp mentioned re: "The Beat", I guess) but boy is it one of the highlights (on an album where practically every song is a highlight!)
yes - "Hand In Hand" is a classic - and talk about an intro - backwards tracking sounding all russian. All of the songs on TYM have great, great opening lines -
"I Don't Want To Kiss You - I Don't Want To Tocuh"
"No Don't Ask Me To Apologize - I Won't Ask You To Forgive Me"
"We're All Going On A Summer Holiday - Vigalante's Coming Out To Follow Me"
"See Her Picture In A Thousand Places - 'Cause She's This Years Girl"
"What Are You Girls Gonna Tell Your Mother?"
"I Don't Like Those Other Guys Looking At Your Curves"
I don't dislike Veronica, but I agree w/Pip~ if Elvis asked me to pick one song....it wouldn't be Veronica.
What I do like about Veronica is the (uncut) video. LOVE IT. Love to hear him talk and love the 'devilish look'!
I like it also because of who he wrote it about and why. That is so terribly sweet.
But I'll tell you what really erks me about that song.....because it was such a hit!!. I know that might sound weird but I just cringe at the thought of that being (one of the few) songs by Elvis that is so widely recognized and possibly regarded as 'representative ' of his body of work to the mass market. So in the sense of it being regarded as a 'pop' hit....I hate it.
My grandmother died recently, after a long struggle with Parkinson's, which robbed her of her mobility and memory, but never her kindness or wit. "Veronica," which I've always liked (somehow missed the time when it was a hit), was a huge comfort to me in the last few years of her life. Maybe it's another one of those songs where going through a particular situation can change your outlook on it.
I think you've hit the nail on the head for me as well. My grandmother lived with us for three years in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. She started really going downhill in the third year, and we had to move her to a nursing home. At Christmas time. It was a nursing home run by my sister and her husband, so we knew she was in the best possible hands. Still, it was very hard.
The very next summer, Spike came out, with Veronica as the obvious choice for a single. This was the first time I had ever really heard Elvis and paid attention. It seemed to me the song was so fitting. And unique. What other pop songs so eloquently address this topic? And without resorting to silly cliches? A poetic plea to honor your elders and to treat them with deserved dignity. Besides, it references Peggy Sue.
It was perfect. I remember feeling grateful to this songwriter for putting my feelings into words. And I still get a charge out of singing it every time Oliver's Army performs Veronica,
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--William Shakespeare
if this is how you get the song, then i think i shall never get it. i'm sorry to hear about your relatives. i KNOW it's hard dealing with alzheimers, and the like. i lost my parents thru different ailments, and all the grandparents are gone. i actually don't know any truly elderly people. i spent a large chunk of time dealing with my parents' illnesses, and for a while have avoided getting to know elderly people to avoid having to deal w/ more chronic illness.
life can truly suck. one of many reasons i love EC - his music makes the sucky times more bearable.
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
