Declan Patrick MacManus, a.k.a. Elvis Costello



Being the (musical) obsessive freak that I am, I've been listening to "The Very Best of" Declan Patrick MacManus, a.k.a. Elvis Costello 20 times a day. Let I make some humble suggestions if there are guys who would like to explore the incredible career of this musical enigma.

"Nice girls, not one with a defect
Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct
Red dogs under illegal legs
She looks so good that he gets down and begs"

I start the day with a high dose of "Watching the Detectives" from My Aim is True ('77), opening with these honest lyrics. I am not a reggae fan at all, that's why I can state that this is the best reggae song I've ever listened to...

"And it's the damage that we do
and never know
It's the words that we don't say
That scare me so "

Then comes the base loaded rock ballad Accidents Will Happen from Armed Forces, which goes great on the train ride I take everyday these days next to the sea in Hong Kong. Long rides mean long thoughts...

Of course these thought go in the direction of the love that all of guys like us are looking for and not finding, except in their minds, which is how I interpret his next song Everyday I Write the Book from Punch the Clock ('83) :
"And I'm giving you a longing look
Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book

Chapter One we didn't really get along
Chapter Two I think I fell in love with you
You said you'd stand by me in the middle of Chapter Three
But you were up to your old tricks in Chapters Four, Five and Six"
The melancholy goes on through the day with a few quite some doses of Indoor Fireworks from King of America, which incidentally talks about our love for melancholy:

"Everybody loves a happy ending but we don't even try
We go straight past pretending"
To the part where everybody loves to cry
"

Then I listen to Tokyo Storm Warning (
Blood & Chocolate, ('86)), which is about a guy stuck in Tokyo airport, to get rid of the melancholy and brighten my soul a bit. I particularly like the parts:

"So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are
While the k.k.k. convention are all stranded in the bar
They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery
But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday"

"Japanese god Jesus robots telling teenage fortunes
For all we know and all we care they might as well be martians"

I end my daily dose of Elvis Costello with one of the most obsessive love songs ever written. Plain and simple: I Want You

"Oh my baby baby I love you more than I can tell
I don't think I can live without you
And I know that I never will
Oh my baby baby I want you so it scares me to death
I can't say anymore than "I love you"
Everything else is a waste of breath

I want you
You've had your fun you don't get well no more
I want you
Your fingernails go dragging down the wall
Be careful darling you might fall
I want you
I woke up and one of us was crying
I want you
You said "Young man I do believe you're dying"
I want you
If you need a second opinion as you seem to do these days
I want you
You can look in my eyes and you can count the ways
I want you
Did you mean to tell me but seem to forget
I want you
Since when were you so generous and inarticulate
I want you
It's the stupid details that my heart is breaking for
It's the way your shoulders shake and what they're shaking for
I want you
it's knowing that he knows you now after only guessing
It's the thought of him undressing you or you undressing
I want you
He tossed some tattered compliment your way
I want you
And you were fool enough to love it when he said
"I want you"
I want you
The truth can't hurt you it's just like the dark
It scares you witless
But in time you see things clear and stark
I want you
Go on and hurt me then we'll let it drop
I want you
I'm afraid I won't know where to stop
I want you
I'm not ashamed to say I cried for you
I want you
I want to know the things you did that we do too
I want you
I want to hear he pleases you more than I do
I want you
I might as well be useless for all it means to you
I want you
Did you call his name out as he held you down
I want you
Oh no my darling not with that clown
I want you
I want you
You've had your fun you don't get well no more
I want you
No-one who wants you could want you more
I want you
I want you
I want you
Every night when I go off to bed and when I wake up
I want you
I'm going to say it once again 'til I instill it
I know I'm going to feel this way until you kill it
I want you
I want you"



Comments

aysenaz said…
tom waits ve elvis costello,non bir konser kaydir var bende, sarkiya lou reed de uydudan istanbuldan baglaniyor.
Ahmet C. Toker said…
Ciddi misin dalga mi geciosun benle? Lou reed istanbulda ne ariyo? Telephone Call from Istanbul'u soyluyorlar deme. Bu kadar klise bir hareket yapmazlar eminim.
aysenaz said…
yok hayir-memories of what i icra ediyorlar
aysenaz said…
tokio diyormus. o kadar zamandir dinlerim bugun farkettim

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