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.
10:04 PM
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.
5:30 PM
aysenaz said…
yok hayir-memories of what i icra ediyorlar
7:39 PM
aysenaz said…
tokio diyormus. o kadar zamandir dinlerim bugun farkettim
10:44 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balik Hafizali Millet ve Onun Oyunbaz Yöneticileri

Spor'u yakindan takip etmeyenleriniz olabilir. Onun icin olanlari kisaca size özetleyeyim. Galatasaray Basketbol Takimi sezon öncesi Avrupa'ya özel bir turnuvaya gidiyor. Cemal Nalga adli bir oyuncusu 5 mac cezali. Bu turnuvada sahada yer aliyor, ama takim arkadasinin formasiyla oynuyor. Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonuna ise macta oynamamis gibi gosteriliyor. Boylece Cemal Nalga sezona hem hazir giriyor, hem de cezasini cekmekten kurtuluyor. Asagilik bir kurnazlik örnegi. Türkiye'nin en büyük camialarindan birine, kendini Galatasaray Lisesi gelenegine adamis bir camiaya yakismayan, bu yuzden beni cok uzen bir kurnazlik hem de. Galatasaray Klübü kendi icinde hemen cezalari veriyor. Sira Basketbol Federasyonuna geliyor. Disiplin talimatnamesinde ACIK ACIK yaziyor: Basketbol Federasyonunu kandiran takim lig dusurulur. Su an linki bulamiyorum, ama acik acik yaziyor bu. Eyyamci Federasyon ne yapiyor? Lig dusurmuyor, ama lig dusurmeye es deger bir ceza veriyor. Cemal Nalga'nin ...
Read more

Brain in love...

Functional MRI is one of the coolest scientific devices ever developed. With it the scientists are able to monitor which parts of the brain are activated, when individuals are involved in different activities. From dancing to taking decisions the functional MRI has revolutionized our understanding of many fundamental human activities. As Helen Fisher put it, the most passionate human activity, the romantic love is one of the latest to be investigated in functional MRI. According to their results, love activates the reward/punishment mechanisms, along with risk taking and strategic game playing parts of the brain. Unlike people who can leave in a split second, the activity in those areas continue even 15 months after separation. Also, people who claim to be in love after 25 years still have those regions active! Lastly, the same reward region is activated in a cocaine high! Here is a 15 minute video of Helen Fisher's talk, which is definitely worth watching! Helen Fisher: The Brain ...
Read more

Joy of rediscovering a Bob Dylan discovery

I guess I won't be wrong if I say that Bob Dylan's artistic output is perhaps one of the largest in the contemporary music history. Thus one shouldn't be surprised to find interesting Dylan selections such as "Favorite Dylan Songs Starting with C" in the Internet. His website ( link to the website ), which has an incredible list of his songs, might give you an idea of about the sheer volume of his output. So from time to time I discover new favorites out of this collection. The song Series of Dreams is a voyage through well you know what, in which Dylan has no intention of telling anything specific, but just wants to paint the walls of a long and winding cave with the images. This beautiful song did not make it to any albums. I first heard it on his Greatest Hits collection a month or so ago, and was struck by it. Recently I came across an alternate version in his latest Bootleg Series Releases Tell Tale Signs. I have to say the alternate version is even be...
Read more