50 Songs For 50 Days - Elvis Costello's October Surprise

[Neil.]

No. 31 - Hora Decubitus

“Life is a beautiful thing”

From “My Flame Burns Blue”

Jardine, this one's for you!

Sulky, happy to give the falsetto a whirl, though it'll probably clear the pub.

[Hawksmoor]

"The twist in the script of the insult
Scrawled on the back of your hand "

'Tripwire'

Good catch, Tripwire's a near-certainty. There's a great version out there somewhere by a kids' choir.

Brilliantly imagined, I can hear it now with gentle tinkly piano or a harp !
Alternately we could all rehearse and perform it as a choir at the next London Fan Forum with Sheep as double bass, Goon Squad as boomy baritone, VG as a tremulous tenor, me holding it all together with the melody and Neil on dog - scaring high falsetto!

I could play piano. Can do tinkly if I play up the top end of the keyboard.

[sulky lad]

Good catch, Tripwire's a near-certainty. There's a great version out there somewhere by a kids' choir.

Brilliantly imagined, I can hear it now with gentle tinkly piano or a harp !
Alternately we could all rehearse and perform it as a choir at the next London Fan Forum with Sheep as double bass, Goon Squad as boomy baritone, VG as a tremulous tenor, me holding it all together with the melody and Neil on dog - scaring high falsetto!

I could play piano. Can do tinkly if I play up the top end of the keyboard.

We've got the makings of a band too.I've just bought an electric double bass to go with my Epiphone Rivoli so that saves the world from West Country warbling !

[And No Coffee Table]

Will tomorrow's song be "Newspaper Pane"?

[sweetest punch]

No. 32 - Newspaper Pane

“I don’t spend my time perfecting the past
I live for the future
Because I know it won’t last

A bent note on a horn I can’t play
Ghosts in the window
That I can’t wish away”

From “Hey Clockface”

[sweetest punch]

No. 33 - Clowntime Is Over

“Tears on your blackmail
Written to ransom
A point of the fingernail
Says that he`s handsome”

From “Get Happy” -

[sweetest punch]

No. 34 - American Gangster Time

“Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin
For each harlot and each Puritan
Pull off their wings stick them on a pin
And just watch the money roll in”

From “Momofuku” -

[sweetest punch]

No. 35 - Weird Nightmare

“Weird nightmare
Why must you torment me?
Weird nightmare
Pain and misery
In a heart that’s loved and lost
Take away the grief you’ve caused”

From “Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus” -

[sweetest punch]

No. 36 - Poor Napoleon

“You can take the truthful things you’ve said to me
And fit them on the head of a pin”

From “Blood & Chocolate” -

[jardine]

No. 31 - Hora Decubitus

“Life is a beautiful thing”

From “My Flame Burns Blue”

Jardine, this one's for you!

Sulky, happy to give the falsetto a whirl, though it'll probably clear the pub.

Veni, vidi, inspiravi, "as long as I hold that string, I'd be a silly so and so, if I should ever let it go." Speaking of falsettos and giving it a whirl, whirlwind was a damn relief to hear whatever its lyrics. And ec's tender signoffs lately.

[Hawksmoor]

"The twist in the script of the insult
Scrawled on the back of your hand "

'Tripwire'

You were right!

[sweetest punch]

No. 37 - TRIPWIRE

“Torn from the pages of history
Repeated again and again and again
You're either for or against us
And that is how the hatred begins
Tripwire”

From “Wise Up Ghost” -

[sweetest punch]

No. 38 - It’s Time

"The party's over
Time we broke up
It always seemed like a bad dream
One where I finally woke up
This magic moment concluding our mutual fate
But if you do have to leave me
Who will I have left to hate?”

From “All This Useless Beauty”

[sweetest punch]

No. 39 - New Lace Sleeves

“Even presidents have newspaper lovers
Ministers go crawling under covers
She's no angel
He's no saint
They're all covered up with whitewash and grease paint
And you say…
The teacher never told you anything but white lies
But you never see the lies
And you believe”

From “Trust”

[Hawksmoor]

OK, we're now 30 tracks in with 20 to go. Anyone want to put their money down? I'm going to try...

We Are All Cowards Now
New Lace Sleeves
Pills and Soap
National Ransom
Peace in Our Time

So, with 11 tracks left, I've only had 'New Lace Sleeves' make the cut so far. Still optimistic for 'Pills and Soap' and 'National Ransom'.

[Top balcony]

"I never thought for a moment, that human life could be so cheap"

Trump the dirt down....

[Dr. Luther]

"I never thought for a moment, that human life could be so cheap"

Yeah.

[Hawksmoor]

Today's is 'Stick Out Your Tongue', which presumably eliminates 'Pills and Soap' as a contender. I'm still clinging fondly to the statement 'including several that will be issued here for the first time'. So far we've had two which could reasonably qualify as 'issued here for the first time: 'Shut Him Down' and 'Newspaper Pane'. Excellent though they are, I'm also going to quibble with 'two' as a reasonable definition of 'several'. Although with ten to go, and the LP dropping in less than a week, I fear that 'several' will ultimately mean 'three' and that the third will be a Clockface track released on the 50 list a couple of days ahead of the LP.

I should add that I'm not being churlish, and I'm thrilled that Elvis is releasing so much stuff online right now. But I'm an Elvis Costello fan - I'm just always hungry for new stuff!

[sweetest punch]

No. 40 - Stick Out Your TONGUE

“The sugar-coated pill is getting bitterer still
You think your country needs you but you know it never will
So pack up your troubles in a stolen handbag
Don't dilly dally boys rally 'round the flag
Give us our daily bread, give us our daily bread, in individual slices, in individual slices
And something in the daily rag to cancel any crisis”
from “Pills & Soap”

From “Wise Up Ghost”

[sweetest punch]

No 41 - We Are All Cowards Now

“They're draping stones with colour
And a roll of stolen names
Except those we never cared about
And those we need to blame
We'll extinguish that flame, just the same
We are all cowards now”

From ‘Hey Clockface’

[sweetest punch]

No. 42 - How Much I Lied

“A thief can only steal from you
He cannot break your heart
He can never touch the precious things inside
Someone like you should surely be
Miles and miles away from me
Then you'd never care how much I lied” - Gram Parsons

From “Almost Blue”

[sweetest punch]

No. 43 - All The Rage

“The twitching impulses to speak your mind
I'll lend you my microscope and maybe you will find it
Is it in that ugly place that's just behind your face?”

From “Brutal Youth”

[Hawksmoor]

OK, we're now 30 tracks in with 20 to go. Anyone want to put their money down? I'm going to try...

We Are All Cowards Now
New Lace Sleeves
Pills and Soap
National Ransom
Peace in Our Time

So, with 11 tracks left, I've only had 'New Lace Sleeves' make the cut so far. Still optimistic for 'Pills and Soap' and 'National Ransom'.

Time's getting tight. But my hit-rate isn't too shabby. 'We Are All Cowards Now': check. 'New Lace Sleeves': check. 'Pills and Soap'...I'm claiming half-a-point for 'Stick out Your Tongue'.

I'm not sure Elvis has a lot of love for 'Peace in Our Time' in recent years, and it may sound a little clunky to modern ears. But I'm holding out for 'National Ransom', giving me a final score of 3-and-a-half out of five. I'll take that.

[Top balcony]

The London government's response to the current situation :
"Tears, Tears and more Tears"

Tears, tears and more tears
I got the blues and I got them bad

[Hawksmoor]

The London government's response to the current situation :
"Tears, Tears and more Tears"

Tears, tears and more tears
I got the blues and I got them bad

Love it.

Who fancies a head-to-head stand-off on Friday? The LP will be out by then (online, if not delivered to our doors), so we could each make a final call on the last four songs/four days (Saturday to Tuesday)?