Today’s slow drag is with “Spooky Girlfriend” from “When I Was Cruel,” released in 2002. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. As individual as each song on this album is, including “Dust 2…” and “Dust,” there’s a mischievous, nearly brutal cohesiveness that runs through each word uttered. The result is a timeless worldscape in which to traipse around in. There’s a confidence, a boredom, a forthright double speak that flows from one piece into the next. “Spooky Girlfriend,” with what seems to be not-so-subtle hidden messages sprinkled about, exhibits all the conflicting attributes of subterfuge and sincerity that we’ve come to admire from this singular voice. Each slow drag, as you know, is dedicated to the genius of the words themselves, but sometimes it’s difficult to not comment on say, two huge bees on the cover and a reference to an album title of a former flame’s former flame, or is it their daughter? If any of this sounds cryptic, then you’ve just not been paying attention. As Mr. Costello himself has tweeted a time or two in different contexts of course, “do keep up.”
I want a girl to make a mess To do no wrong she must confess And then perhaps hitch up her dress 'Cos when the flashbulbs explode She's such a sensitive soul I simply love the jockeyed syntax Mr. Costello uses from time to time. “To do no wrong she must confess” is an excellent example of this penchant. It not only sustains the rhyme, it complicates the meaning in a lovely infuriating way. The only way to confess is to have something you’ve done wrong, or so I thought. The verse is set down in an aaa/bb structure that crams in a lot of imagery and exposition in a very small frame. The woman he describes up to this point puts me in mind of the one who’s briefly mentioned in “London’s Brilliant Parade” from “Brutal Youth.” “She’s one of those girls that you just can’t place / you feel guilty for desiring such an innocent face / but of course they knew that when they cast her…” Sex appeal, hitching up her dress, and then of course a little bit of “This Year’s Girl” when the flashbulbs explode. There’s a wonderful dichotomy about people in the public eye that Mr. Costello captures beautifully. I want a girl who is helpless and frail Who won't pull on my ponytail I want a girl who has no past She's made up now But that won't last 'Cos when she sits on my knee And then she whispers to me "Can't you see, could be / could be Your spooky girlfriend… I could be, I could be your spooky girlfriend” Mr. Costello’s word choice is once again uniquely culled from his singular poetic vision. With so many adjectives to choose from, what word conveys more than “spooky”? It’s both playful and ominous. It’s suggestive yet non-committal. It’s confessional and cagey at the same time. This growing laundry list of wants reveals perhaps that there is no such woman who can ever fit this very specific description. Flip the script, however, and you’ll find an irreverent woman with reams of biographical information; a familiar face, maybe. The whispered part at the end feels as if it needs no flipping, no perspective. I can absolutely believe someone, or many someones, has sat on a famous knee or two and uttered such proclamations. It’s the real-life version of “I don’t want to be your lover, I just want to be your victim.” And the broken toys are scattered in the attic And the Newspapers play in the words of the fanatic And the greeting cards are your most poetic lyric And the flat champagne is sweet sugar syrup As with the jockeyed syntax, I also adore the opposite day sentiments of greeting card saccharin and non-effervescent dryness. There are some seriously conflicted emotions being bandied about. Fanatic. Groupie. Muse. Perhaps these terms might be interchangeable in this respect. Moreover, I can’t imagine it’s a coincidence that these broken toys are found “in the attic.” Now, I don’t want to come right out and say it, since it’s not what we’re here for, but c’mon. These clues can pique the interest of the most disinterested, can’t they? I want to paint you with glitter and with dirt Picture you with innocence and hurt The shutter closes Exposes the shot She says, "Are you looking up my skirt?" When you say "No" She says "Why not?" More opposites whizzing by in this sultry scenario. Glitter and dirt. Innocence and hurt. They call back to the first verse, perhaps, of two opposing realities butting up against one another. The photography references in this piece take us right back to the iconic cover art of “This Year’s Model.” The flashbulbs that explode are now joined by the shutters that “expose.” The use of the word “expose” is brilliantly placed, but can almost get lost in the mix when one of the best lines ever comes right after it: “when you say ‘no,’ she says ‘why not?” It seems impossible to not be transported back to the first time we heard this unexpectedly saucy line. Well, I ask you, what is better than the first time we hear these wonderful lines for the first time? Why, hearing them for the millionth time and still getting a tingle out of them, of course. I want a girl to turn my screw To wind my watch, to buckle my shoe And if she won't, her mother will do 'Cos when she does as she's told We'll all turn platinum and gold But when she sits on my knee I hear her whispers to me "Can't you see?" "I could be your spooky girlfriend" The list of demands keeps growing, instead of outward attributes, such as helpless and frail, however, now it’s the demands that spark the narrator’s own baser nature, perhaps, attributes that overtly speak to the libido. It seems difficult to expose your own wants and desires like this. I’m trying to stay focused, but the line about how the “mother will do” takes me right back to the album cover art, the mention of a fanatic, and of course the toys in the attic. If she does as she’s told, big things happen for all those who fall under her spell. —Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Spooky Girlfriend” from 2002’s “When I Was Cruel.” It’s a rare slow drag when I call upon circumstances and personal history, rather than sticking faithfully to the lines themselves. Interestingly, when I hear this piece at full speed, as I have done for over 20 blissful years now, it’s a fun, rollicking pop song about complicated love, unmet needs, and particular tastes, with no personal information seeping in to distract from the wonderful vibe of it all. It’s only when it’s slowed down do I find what some might call “Easter eggs.” Never before, for instance, did I suspect the line about the “broken toys scattered in the attic” might be related to the album cover’s not-so-hidden message. Then again, I could be completely wrong. That’s the best part of poetry: interpretation. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. Other gems from “When I was Cruel” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episode 2, “And You Only Wanted to Be Famous,” a slow drag with “Alibi,” episode 42, “A Creature of Habit,” a slow drag with “Tart,” episode 49, “Every Twisted Grudge,” a slow drag with “Soul for Hire,” episode 63, “I’m Counting on You,” a slow drag with the delightful “My Blue Window,” episode 81 “Gentle Airs,” a slow drag with “Radio Silence,” and episode 98, “It’s a Legitimate Expense,” that’s a slow drag with the barn burning “Episode of Blonde.” As always, thank you for helping to get the word out about this little passion project. Truly, it means the world. So, until next time, adieu, my little ballyhoo. Show Notes: Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA Twitter: https://twitter.com/slowdragremedy Email: [email protected] Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Spooky Girlfriend” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Spooky_Girlfriend “Spooky Girlfriend” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMBmd6m7h-c “Spooky Girlfriend” Cruel Smile, Live on KFOG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsRa4XojFs “London’s Brilliant Parade” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZmNE964rmk Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Comments are closed.
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AboutSlow Drag with Remedy is an Elvis Costello podcast appreciation. It's an exploration of linguistics, language, poetry, and clever wordplay as framed by the peerless poetry of the modern-day master, Elvis Costello. Slow Drag by Song
Poor Napoleon Alibi Church Underground The Big Light Georgie and Her Rival Joe Porterhouse No Hiding Place 20% Amnesia All This Useless Beauty Let Him Dangle King of Thieves Damnation's Cellar Stripping Paper Pidgin English Riot Act Bedlam The Quickening Art Luxembourg Chemistry Class Living in Paradise My Mood Swings Waiting for the End of the World Little Atoms Two Little Hitlers Crimes of Paris You Tripped at Every Step Needle Time Men Called Uncle Peace in Our Time The Loved Ones I Almost Had a Weakness Our Little Angel Invasion Hit Parade Turpentine Miracle Man A Voice in the Dark The Greatest Thing Satellite Hand in Hand Clubland Tart Glitter Gulch Stations of the Cross Science Fiction Twin Possession This Sad Burlesque Flutter and Wow Soul for Hire After the Fall Blue Chair Monkey to Man Mouth Almighty Watch Your Step ...This Town... Distorted Angel Worthless Thing No Dancing Miss Macbeth Charm School Poor Fractured Atlas Brilliant Mistake My Little Blue Window Suspect My Tears Coal Train Robberies Fish 'n' Chip Papers I Hope You're Happy Now Man Out of Time 13 Steps Lead Down Go Away Sweet Pear The Name of This Thing is Not Love Jimmie Standing in the Rain The Deportees Club The Birds Will Still Be Singing Starting to Come to Me Pay It Back Five Small Words Pretty Words Radio Silence Human Hands Night Rally I'll Wear It Proudly Motel Matches Drum and Bone Harpies Bizarre Nothing Clings Like Ivy Why Won't Heaven Help Me Next Time 'Round The River in Reverse A Room with No Number Clown Strike The Invisible Man My Most Beautiful Mistake All the Rage The Town Where Time Stood Still Episode of Blonde e of Blonde No Flag A Slow Drag with Josephine That Bridge I Burned Sour Milk Cow Blues You Little Fool Spooky Girlfriend Suit of Lights There's a Story in Your Voice Dishonor The Stars The Other Side of Summer Mischievous Ghost They're Not Laughing at Me Now White Knuckles Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind? Black and White World The World and His Wife
God's Comic The First to Leave Green Shirt The Man You Love to Hate Lip Service American Gangster Time Blame It on Cain The Spell That You Cast Lipstick Vogue The Difference Stella Hurt Tears before Bedtime |