Today’s slow drag is with “God’s Comic,” from “Spike,” released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. Just like a man who needs no introduction, I feel “God’s Comic” is a spectacular piece that needs no interpretation, just exalted appreciation. Seemingly free form in its writing, with hit-and-miss rhymes that couple low frequency words in a very pleasing manner, this is a master work of theatrical storytelling. It’s a delightfully devious piece that affords the listener the luxury of digging deep, marveling at the nuance, or simply floating along, without much thought of all the changing points of view embedded within. I’m almost tempted to say it’s a typical Elvis Costello piece, which if I wanted to simply float along I might assert, but we all know there’s just something extra special, something extra Costello about this tremendous piece. I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was a funny fella The crowd would hoot and holler for more I wore a drunk's red nose for applause Oh yes, I was a comical priest "With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece" Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar Clearly the inspiration for the memorable album cover art, this first verse has more cinematic detail to it than even the most inspired Coen Brothers elevator pitch, in much less time, remarkably. Pleasing alliteration, such as “funny fella,” and “hoot and holler,” wrap around unexpected rhymes such as priest/fleece/grease. Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead And I'm going on to meet my reward I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared He might’ve never heard God's comic Narratively, it’s reasonable to assume our protagonist is our “comical priest.” So far, at any rate. For now, let’s underline, and then put a pin in the use of our possessive noun, “God’s comic.” So, there he was on a waterbed, drinking a cola of a mystery brand Reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem" He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer the one about my son" "I've been wading through all of this unbelievable junk And wondering if I should have given the world to the monkeys" Alliteration, unexpected rhymes, this time it’s begun/son, and now a clever slant rhyme with junk/monkeys. Anyone fortunate enough to have seen this piece performed in concert might remember how Mr. Costello would follow this verse with a bit of The Monkee’s “I’m a believer.” As if this piece couldn’t get more interesting. Waterbeds, cola wars, and Andrew Lloyd-Webber, what could be more 80s? Mr. Costello goes one better when he gets meta, mentioning “requiem,” since it’s a “religious ceremony performed for the dead.” Layer upon layer of poetic goodness. It’s probably a good assumption that God’s Comic has somehow made it into the inner sanctum, giving the chorus a bit more urgency when it’s recited a second time. Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead And I'm going on to meet my reward I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared He might’ve never heard God's comic I'm gonna take a little trip down Paradise's endless shores They say that travel broadens the mind, till you can't get your head out of doors Oh, the glorious irony. I'm sitting here on the top of the world, I hang around in the longest night Until each beast has gone to bed and then I say "God bless" and put out the light I’ve always debated with myself who exactly is “sitting on top of the world.” Has the narrator now changed? The “god bless” has always thrown me. While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe And you beg and you promise and you bargain and you plead Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus It's the big white beard, I suppose I'm going up to the Pole, where you folks die of cold I might be gone for a while if you need me The stellar construction continues with the tricky slant rhymes of breathe/plead and Pole/folks/cold, as well as the brilliant repetition of the identical rhyme, “and.” There’s a total of them in the second line. “And you beg and you promise and you bargain and you plead.” Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead And you're all going on to meet your reward Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? You might have never heard, but God's comic Nietzsche famously said it, so maybe Mr. Costello is saying it as well now. It’s all too heady for a Linguist like me to parse, let alone fully understand, so all I can do is admire how a preceding verse can change the meaning of a chorus so profoundly. “And you’re all going on to meet your reward” continues to confound the entire narrative. This is done by a flick of a pronoun. Stunning in its simplicity. Who, exactly, is saying this? All this brilliance is mere child’s play, however, in comparison with the change from a possessive to a contraction. God’s comic, the comical priest that we started with, has gone through quite a journey on the way to explaining that, God is, indeed, a funny guy. You might have never heard, but he is. — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “God’s Comic” from 1989’s “Spike.” This has been a pure appreciation, with a few grammar and poetry points thrown in as admiration. It’s meta, profound, silly, devious, and thought provoking. It’s timeless, nearly flawless. I’d like to thank the dulcet tones of Mr. Ike Pigott, AKA Casi Azul, for lending his voice to God’s comic, and maybe even God himself, I never did seem to land on what all that meant. Thank you, Ike, you’re a peach. Other precious gems from “Spike” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episodes 10, “A Terrible Crime,” a slow drag with “Let Him Dangle,” episode 39, “The Secrets It Arouses,” a slow drag with “Satellite,” episode 55, “Even a Scapegoat,” a slow drag with “Miss Macbeth,” episode 65, “Chop up the chairs,” a slow drag with the inscrutable “Coal Train Robberies,” and episode 78, “Shrinking Nothingness,” a slow drag with “Chewing Gum.” So, until next time, adieu, my little ballyhoo. Show Notes: Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/ Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/indoorfirewords.bsky.social Email: [email protected] Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “God’s Comic” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=God%27s_Comic “God’s Comic” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajjBxMCMQQs “God’s Comic” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0N6TfU54o8 “Requiem” by Andrew Lloyd Webber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CG8pUpVjg “God is dead”: What Nietzsche really meant”: https://bigthink.com/thinking/what-nietzsche-really-meant-by-god-is-dead/ Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y 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 |