'Sparkling Day' by Elvis

[johnfoyle]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Listening to the song again with all those in mind I suggest that this is the correct version -

Oh, it was such a sparkling day
That I should be singing its praises
Just to catch my senses as they slip away
But my sentences and phrases
Are about as worthless as wonder can be
And there are words that I could say
Perhaps I lack the sense of occasion
Seems that I've been looking down so long you see
That it seemed like up to me
I should be ashamed I'm sure you will agree

Chorus

So don't go coming out for Jude or Anthony
Maybe I was lost
I'm a hopeless case
So that every night I listen carefully
But there was no message from me
No message from me
Sparkling day, sparkling day
Things I never said
Some things you never heard
Sparkling day, sparkling day
Now I wait in vain to see
That there was no message from me

When love is constant and content
You always fear some lingering temptation
Silhouettes escaping underneath locked doors
I'm astonished and amazed
Perhaps my message was erased.

Chorus

So don't go coming out for Jude or Anthony
Maybe I was lost
I'm a hopeless case
But then every night I listen carefully
But there was no message from me
No message from me
Sparkling day, sparkling day
Things I never said
Some things you never heard
Sparkling day, sparkling day
Now I wait in vain to see
That there was no message from me

Besides fixing the 'Silhouettes escaping underneath locked doors' the biggest difference was changing all the 'days' in the chorus' to 'day' and changing 'somethings' to 'some things'.

The lines -
Seems that I've been looking down so long you see
That it seemed like up to me
might also be

Seems that I've been looking down so long
You see that it seemed like up to me

[johnfoyle]

I'm re-reading One Day in this new 'flipback' format


http://www.flipbackbooks.com/

[cwr]

I like it! In fact, THIS is the kind of thing I've been hoping and wishing he would do ever since 2002-- I really want him to make an album with The Imposters of pop songs with string and horn arrangements, a la Imperial Bedroom.

He did it on the track "Impatience" but there are so many unreleased songs like "Suspect My Tears" and "Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter" that would benefit from this approach. I hope hope hope that he will eventually get around to cutting those songs in this fashion...

[invisible Pole]

Couldn't agree more. Love the melody and how he sings it.
I've been missing such pop songs from Elvis.
And I love how his voice cracks on "occasion" in the first verse. I've missed that, too.

[paysfortheprivilege]

On first hearing reminded me of little fool (in a good way). Love the orchestration

[Neil.]

Do any of you think it also has a flavour of One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston (seriously, in the verse); also, there are shades, I feel, of Jack of All Parades and even the recent Who Are All These Strangers.

[jardine]

Ah, yep, Neil, THAT's why I'm singing Jack of All Parades and All These Strangers seemingly out of nowhere!

[the_platypus]

That's most decidedly Davey on backing vocals in the chorus.

[SoulForHire]

Certainly not in the class of Jack of All Parades. Maybe it'll grow on me, but it hasn't yet.

[sheeptotheslaughter]

!!! This is now being played on BBC R2 0740 UK on Zoe Ball show ... in an hour or two will be on 'play it again' facility for a week ... sounded fine to me...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/programmes/schedules

ABOUT 1hr 37 mins in ...

Surely the thing we have missed in this Elvis actually won a vote off with The Feeling and Bruno Mars. to get the song played. Good old Radio 2 fans. Bruno Mars last couple of singles go to number 1 in the UK. 41 per cent of the vote.

I like it. Sort of what I expected.

[docinwestchester]

I noticed that my YouTube clip was getting a lot of views, I guess this is why:

http://julianstark-moviesandotherthings ... ellos.html

Nice to know that I'm helping, in my own small way, to spread the word. Which is why artists, their management and most of all the publishing companies who police the internet should embrace so-called social media because it promotes their product for free.

[SoulForHire]

At the end of the TV commercial I saw last night, right at the end the screen is devoted to note "Featuring new music by Elvis Costello." No other artists are mentioned. Kind of deceptive. Makes it seem like he does a bunch of new songs a la The Graduate with Simon and Garfunkle, rather than just one song

[johnfoyle]

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/40 ... -romance-0

"One Day" mini-review: The next big tear-jerking romance?

Matt Soergel

August 4, 2011


Though it doesn't open until Aug. 19, I got to see "One Day" this morning. I'm guessing it has a shot to be the next big tear-jerking romance.

Lone Sherfig ("An Education") directs this story that follows two friends/lovers over the course of a couple of decades, dropping in on their lives every July 15. Sounds gimmicky, perhaps, but it really builds up some emotional resonance as the years go on: It's refreshing to see a movie about the "after" in ever after.

David Nicholls' book, which I have not read, has many fans. And some of them have heading to movie message boards to beat up on Anne Hathaway, a Yank, being chosen to portray an English northerner. I'll admit that, based on just the trailer, her accent is off. Seeing the whole film, though, it becomes less of an issue; either she gets better or you just can overlook it with time. I'm not sure, but I think it's the former.

"An Education's" Carey Mulligan, say, would have been a more satisfying pick if you were being a purist, but Hathaway is fine in the role, and will certainly pull in more of an American audience, which is probably one reason some English are so annoyed.

Jim Sturgess, the handsome Paul McCartneyish guy in "Across the Universe," plays her other half, and he is quite good as a charming lost boy.

The whole movie has an low-key beauty to it, passing time in Edinburgh (beautiful), London, Paris and Brittany. By the time Elvis Costello's "Sparkling Day" comes up over the ending credits, I imagine many people will be sitting there with tears in their eyes as Elvis belts out that beautiful number. A perfect choice

[And No Coffee Table]

Amazon UK lists a 4:50 running time for "Sparkling Day", significantly longer than the 3:25 version played by Zoe Ball. Was that a radio edit?

[johnfoyle]

Probably not, just the usual Zoe Ball self-centred style of presentation ensuring that she could find time to tell us that her life is so fabulous that she hadn't found the time to read the book or some other such drivel.

[jardine]

well, if there is another minute and 25 seconds, i'm more interested than ever in the odd orchestration at 3:25, whether it is simply a little interlude to another verse or some longer orchestrated coda or whatever. what do you guess? that it is just a small orchestra pause and then back to some verse/chorus combo? or might it be something, shall we say, cooler?

[John]

Listening to this for this the first time today (just back off holidays) and I think its rather good. Return of poppy Elvis - strings, backing vocals, even a bit of Dancing Queen/Oliver's Army piano (?).

It's made the dizzy heights of the Radio 2 'C' playlist which means we may here it in the early hours of the morning a couple of times this week.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/music-events/playlist/

[johnfoyle]

Having re-read the book the rather puzzling use of 'from' instead of 'for' in the 'That there was no message from me' line makes a little bit more sense. Without giving away too much of the story Dexter, the male lead character, keeps not telling Emma, the lead female, about his feelings for her. So ,in a way, Elvis incorporates this into the lyric that is ,seemingly, from Dexter's perspective. Others who have read the book have told me they thought Emma was the central character. While accepting that a gender bias may come into play the second reading had me seeing the Dexter character being more fully formed. Perhaps the screenplay , also by the books author, seemed to show this also, given that Elvis wrote the song after only seeing the film.

I see the review of the film mentions Brittany as one of the locations used, suggesting that it was used instead of the Greek location that is in the book. Much of a muchness really but I won't say anymore so as not to spoil it all for you!

[FAVEHOUR]

I like this tune pretty well. It has this off-kilter pop sound he does rarely these days. The only thing I don't like much is the title, which I find an awkward phrase, spoken or sung. Is it in the book??

And does anyone else hear "JO-sephine, JO-sephine" when he hits that chorus?

Dave

[johnfoyle]

Is it in the book??

Not specifically though the story hinges on one particular date each year so that seems to be the reference ie. its special, even sparkling!

[Miclewis]

It never ceases to amaze me with Elvis Costello's songs; the first time I heard "Sparkling Day", I did not care for it at all. I warmed up to it on the second listen; and by the third - I'm totally hooked.
I felt this exact same way most recently with "The Spell that You Cast", which now I love and think ranks with Elvis' best "singles".

Unfortunately in this culture, recordings have to be immediately accessible to be appreciated. So, I doubt this song will be a hit. But it doesn't make much difference anyways.

[FAVEHOUR]

It took me 4 or 5 listens too.

I regret that it will be played over the closing credits, as it may not get as much attention or have as much impact (a la Scarlet Tide). "She", on the other hand, was an integral part of the film and I think it benefited from that.

Dave

[johnfoyle]

it will be played over the closing credits, as it may not get as much attention

Scarlet Tide was played over the closing credits of Cold Mountain. In fact it was the even only played over the later part of the credits, after another song. After it got a Oscar nomination Elvis remarked in a interview how he had the experience, like the rest of us, of waiting a in rapidly emptying movie house ( in Vancouver with is father-in-law, if I remember right) to hear the usage. Its Oscar nomination was , undoubtably, a by-product of the usual big studio manipulation of that system.

The marketing of this song is , so far, looking haphazard. The fact that the only exposure it has had , except for here, has been via a youTube clip that was put together by fans does not look good. I speculated earlier that Elvis would surely be doing some U.K. media stuff to tie-in with the films release. Given the lead-in time that would be needed to make this effective as regard print media deadlines and the films release in just over two weeks time that does not seem to be happening. If the film gets popular and doing serious business that will not be until early September. Its hard to see Elvis be able or willing to do spin-off gigs what with the Imposter shows that re-start on Sept. 15th.

[John]

There's a promo CD for sale on ebay for £6.80.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elvis-Costell ... =RTM637056

[History History]

There's a promo CD for sale on ebay for £6.80.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elvis-Costell ... =RTM637056

There was one for sale on Ebay that went for £24.95 before this current one. I bid on both but wouldn't go that high!

Did anyone here win it?