With only the blue light of the TV on…

I obviously have a thing for great pop songs with notable lyrics – I suppose it’s the writer in me that I always take notice of lyrics – particularly when unusual words are used or great imagery is utilized. So I suppose it would be no big surprise that I dig Elvis Costello, who once in an interview jokingly referred to himself as “rock and roll’s scrabble champion.”  His lyrics are unique, memorable, meaningful, funny, and clever.  As a songwriter, he’s really great. He’s written a ton of really tight pop songs. And his voice, while it’s been criticized rather often being called “limited and harsh”, in the opinion of this rather unimportant individual, it’s pretty great. It works well for his songs and is distinctive and I love it.

Elvis Costello has been a staple of my music collection for quite a few years now and I’ve even had the pleasure of seeing him live in 2008. The first song I had heard by him and truly took notice of was “Human Hands” off of the album, Imperial Bedroom. It’s a fantastic song with a cool piano part (Steve Nieve is a very talented pianist), great rhythm and amazing lyrics.  Starting with the crash of chords and drum fills before settling into a slightly reggae rhythm. The piano during the chorus is awesome. Some of my favorite lines are… well, the first line is pretty great: “I’ve been talking to the wall and it’s been answering me.” Paints a very specific image. And the chorus is also a lot of fun to sing along with because of the rhythm of the words with the music: “Whenever I put my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt that it’s you that I’m dreaming about, do I have to draw you a diagram?” I also love the line “Tighter and tighter, I hold you tightly. You know I love you more than slightly.”

 

A couple other songs I’ve had moments of infatuation with are “Blue Chair” and “I Want You” from Blood and Chocolate, “Oliver’s Army” from Armed Forces, and “You’ll Never Be A Man” from Trust.

 

I love the chorus in “Blue Chair”... but my favorite part is the middle eight (though, I don't think that's what it’s called since it's actually 16 measures). I especially like the line "We can watch our troubles rise like smoke into the air and drift up to the ceiling". I also LOVE the ending. As for “I Want You”, that song does something to me. I disagree with some of the interpretations of the lyrics though... there are quite a few people who seem to think he's a psycho stalker who is going to kill the girl. I don't get that image at all... I think of it more of a guy who is devastated by his girl cheating on him. After finding out, he's obsessing over the situation... wanting to know every detail, even though it hurts him to know. But that's just me... The song itself though is awesome. I love the twang of the guitar after the intro. I love Elvis' passionate, slightly hoarse, sometimes sarcastic sounding vocals. The lyrics are pretty steamy too... though, it might have something to do with the fact that every other line is "I Want You"... but the line "did you call his name out as he held you down..." Very erotic. The whole song has a very steamy and erotic feel to me... My favorite part is (big surprise) the guitar solo.

 

“Oliver’s Army” is an upbeat melody with great piano flourishes and rather serious lyrics. My favorite part is during the last verse when he’s singing harmony with himself. I kind of have a thing for harmonies, specifically when the vocalist is harmonizing with themselves. And the line of the chorus, “And I would rather be anywhere else but here today” is a line that has run through my head in a number of different situations throughout my life! “You’ll Never Be A Man” I adore for the lovely countermelody in the piano (Steve really shines in this song), the harmonies, and the clever lyrics and rhymes in the chorus.

 

Anyhow, I suppose that’s enough for the time being, but you will undoubtedly be hearing more about Elvis Costello in the future.

I’m never gonna know you now, but I’m gonna love you anyhow…

This entry has actually been rather difficult to write, because I have so much to say about this artist and when trying to choose songs to mention, I’m finding that every song that he wrote is worth talking about. There are so many gems in so many songs, it’s damn near impossible to just pick a few. I’m going to attempt to limit this post to just a few of my most played songs of his, but I’m not gonna guarantee anything!

So, Elliott Smith has been a major part of my life for the last five years. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his work, he was an indie singer-songwriter. He wrote some of the most beautiful lyrics I’ve ever heard – with absolutely gorgeous imagery and layers of emotional depth. I love the way he strings together those words... I've always had a fascination with the way a writer strings together words, where they become a beautiful poetic jumble – and he would use some really pretty words. His melodies are exquisite and feature an intricate musical structure. Elliott was an amazing guitarist and his voice… Well, I’m more than a little in love with that voice. It’s soft, haunting, ethereal … and distinctive. But you should know, he did not write happy and silly pop songs. His lyrics articulate thoughts of sadness and loneliness and feelings almost anyone can relate to at one time or another. His life was, admittedly, kind of a mess – marked by unhappiness and drug use and ending tragically with his sudden death in 2003. But the way he wrote about his troubles, it makes the pain and heartbreak beautiful.

My relationship with Elliott began in the summer of 2007 and I was immediately taken by him. The first song of his I ever heard was “Condor Avenue” from the album, Roman Candle. He wrote that song while he was still in high school. That is one song that I love singing because of all the great words and imagery he uses. “…slipped past into rhythmic quietude”, “the chimes fell over each other”, “they never get uptight when a moth gets crushed, unless a light bulb really loved him very much”, and “I’m lying down, blowing smoke from my cigarette, little whisper smoke signs that you’ll never get”… I don’t know. The words are just so pretty and paint such vivid images. You’ll hear a lot of imagery in Elliott’s songs. His words in “Waltz #2” about how she “stares into space like a dead China doll” are another example. And in the song, “Plainclothes Man” (that was recorded while he was still with his band, Heatmiser) has possibly my favorite way of describing a photograph: “A perfect moment in a flash of light”. How amazing is that? Or is it just me? … Yeah, okay.

My first favorite song of his was off the album, Figure 8. “Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud.” Love the harmonies – and love hearing Elliott singing harmony with himself. And the lyrics (as always), pretty amazing. “Stupidity Tries” was another of my favorites upon first listen. It has a wonderful build up and I love the guitar “falls” (I have no idea if that’s the technical term for what’s going on, but it happens in every verse – the first time is about 13 seconds in, after “and he’ll cut…” and the guitar notes slide down. You would think I’d know the technical terms, wouldn’t you?). And it’s pretty awesome that he uses the word “conquistador” in a song. Not often that you hear that word in music – except, y’know, the Procol Harum song, but I digress. Another song from Figure 8 that gets a lot of airtime on my playlists is “L.A.” As far as Elliott songs go, this is maybe one of the happiest. So yeah, maybe he was feeling bad the night before, but today he’s feeling better. It’s extremely catchy, more great harmonies, and the guitar… Great riff and I love (love, LOVE) the palm muted, clicky guitar bit. Kind of a ‘70s-ish vibe to it. It’s one of those songs that always makes me smile.

Honestly though, just about every song you listen to, you’re going to find something amazing in it. Some of my other most played Elliott songs are “Say Yes”, “Between the Bars” (lyrics are fantastic on both of those), “Cupid’s Trick” (as fantastic as the album version is, I am a bit partial to the live version of the song), “Coming Up Roses”, “A Fond Farewell”, “New Monkey”, “No Name #4”, “Independence Day” (fabulous groove to the song), “Bottle Up and Explode”, “Waltz #2” (yeah, I dig the way he names some of his songs too), and today my song of the moment was "Oh Well, Okay"… And then there are a couple of bootleg recordings I got my hands on, but my favorite of those may be the song, “See You In Heaven”. There aren’t lyrics, but the music, the melody… It’s beautiful and uplifting.

One of the things about Elliott though… It’s a little bizarre, but I feel a connection with him. I feel like I know him – and what’s even crazier, I feel like he knows me and understands me. It probably says more about me than I should be revealing in such a public forum, but there have been periods of my life where I’ve felt like he’s the best friend I have. I know it’s strange to feel such a strong connection with someone I didn’t even know existed until after he died (though, it may be a little reminiscent of “Pictures of Lily” by The Who), but I think it says a lot about his songwriting ability – that he was able to build that kind of connection with people through his music. I know in reality, if I had known him, he wouldn’t have been the easiest person to be friends with… I know enough about him personally to have figured that much out, but I’m also pretty sure I would have loved him just the same.

And okay, I’ve got a bit of a crush on Elliott…