What's your favourite Elvis Costello song?

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It's a strange thing to talk about loving it, taking into account the subject and the emotions displayed in the song, but my favourite is I Want You. The whole spectrum of love, from sweet and tender until bitter and manic, in 6 1/2 minutes. Brilliant!

Other favourites are:
Pump It Up
Town Cryer :drool: (especially the instrumental ending)
New Amsterdam
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Complicated Shadows
I Wear It Proudly
and a whole bunch more.

Elvis Costello! :bow:
 
I Wear It Proudly is great stuff.



For me though it will always be I Want You. I also love No Action, Battered Old Bird, The Loved Ones, New Lace Sleeves is amazing, and There's a Story in Your Voice from The Delivery Man.
 
Heart-Shaped Bruise and The Scarlet Tide with Emmylou Harris! :drool:

And he's done some amazing cover versions too! I especially like the ones on the bonus disc of the reissue of Blood & Chocolate. Pouring Water On A Drowning Man! :heart: (much better than the version he did on Kojak Variety)
 
is the whole voting for "Everyday I Write The Book" sarcastic?? seriously..is it? Maybe it's just me but that's certainly my least favorite Costello song..

My vote goes for Watching The Detectives, I Want You, What's So Funny..., No Dancing, Oliver's Army

(I admit ti, I'm not very familiar with any of his recent stuff :shh: )
 
I have to agree with you there elevation2u about the 'Everyday I Write The Book' as being people's fave Elvis song. Have you guys not heard much of his material? :shrug:

No contest for me:

:love: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding :love:

And I do love me some 'Pump It Up'. Not the slowed down version he did for a while, but the lively one. And 'I Want You' is a great song as well. It's hard to just pick one. Or two. Or three.

And yes, he's done some lovely covers too, including The Beatles "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", U2's "Please",...
 
I really only know his more popular songs, but I heard him do All This Useless beauty with a symphony orchestra and it became a favorite. I think the lyrics are amazing

Its at times such as this she'd be tempted to spit
If she wasnt so ladylike
She imagines how she might have lived
Back when legends and history collide
So she looks to her prince finding hes so charmingly
Slumped at her side
Those days are recalled on the gallery wall
And shes waiting for passion or humour to strike

What shall we do, what shall we do with all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty

Good friday arrived, the sky darkened on time
til he almost began to negotiate
She held his head like a baby and said its okay if you cry
Now he wants her to dress as if you couldn't guess
He desires to impress his associates
But he's part ugly beast and hellenic deceased
So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny

She wont practice the looks from the great tragic books
That were later disgraced to face celluloid
It wont even make sense but you can bet
If she isnt a sweetheart or plaything or pet
The film turns her into an unveiled threat

Nonsense prevails, modesty fails
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity
While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise
And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts
They still think they're the gods of antiquity
If something you missed didn't even exist
It was just an ideal -- is it such a surprise?
 
"Sneaky Feelings"..............and some of you voting for tracks that came out after Armed Forces...........that definitely is a joke, right? :wink:
 
Lila64 said:
I have to agree with you there elevation2u about the 'Everyday I Write The Book' as being people's fave Elvis song. Have you guys not heard much of his material? :shrug:

I'm not a big fan of it in its original recording, but there's a couple of bootleg versions I've heard where he goes on a lovely little vamp at the end.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
I really only know his more popular songs, but I heard him do All This Useless beauty with a symphony orchestra and it became a favorite. I think the lyrics are amazing

That live album he did with Het Metropole Orkest, My Flame Burns Blue, is amazing! :up:
Almost Ideal Eyes! :love:
God Give Me Strength! :drool:
 
Oh Christ, I forgot a few

Imperial Bedroom > Beyond Belief
Get Happy!! > King Horse
Blood and Chocolate > Crimes of Paris
Armed Forces > Green Shirt
The River in Reverse > The Sharpest Thorn

And let's also appreciate how musically brilliant Steve Nieves is.
 
you know Alison was the song that I couldn't just get into, I couldn't see why it was one of his most famous and then one day on shuffle it snuck up on me...his voice, the lyrics, the guitar...I don't know but it surely captivated me with its sheer brilliance.
:love:
 
elevation2u said:
you know Alison was the song that I couldn't just get into, I couldn't see why it was one of his most famous and then one day on shuffle it snuck up on me...his voice, the lyrics, the guitar...I don't know but it surely captivated me with its sheer brilliance.
:love:

VH1 storytellers w/ Elvis Costello performing Alison - great watch
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HPyre3y0SYE
 
I really can't pick just one:

Radio, Radio
Pump It Up
Oliver's Army
Veronica
Monkey to Man
Man Out of Time
Everyday I Write the Book
What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding
 
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