Today’s slow drag is with “The First to Leave,” from “The Juliet Letters,” released in 1993. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. Following the brief of the album dutifully, “The First to Leave” is a letter that serves as a pirate’s map, directing the recipient to the buried treasure of who gets to heaven and when. Mr. Costello takes the age-old conundrum of life, death, and what happens in both states, and turns it into a complicated narrative that makes the question far more interesting than the actual answer.
I should open with a kiss For if you're reading this You must have opened up your case And found this letter where I placed it In between the silk and lace There were other clues, like your walking shoes But I still refused to believe That you were meant to be the first to leave Divided into three verses of eight lines each, the listener isn’t overtly told the age, the sex, or the relationship of the concerned parties of this riddle. We can pull on some threads and get close to finding out its constituent elements, but the cleverness will overtake this endeavor, leaving us in narrative tatters. Take, for instance, the silk and lace in the letter recipient’s case. Are these fabrics strictly feminine? It feels as if they are decidedly not, or at least decidedly up for discussion. Filling in the blanks of what is made from these materials, to my way of thinking, is part of the fun. This verse starts with an /aa/ structure, then descends into a controlled burn of mid-sentence rhymes that are exceedingly elegant in their execution. “There were other clues, like your walking shoes” is lovely on its own, now couple clues/refused with believe/leave when he adds “but I still refused to believe that you were meant to be the first to leave.” Still no closer to this pair’s identity, could there be a double bluff as we’re presented with the clue of walking shoes? As we probably all assume, or at least I did at first blush, this is a letter written by someone who has recently passed, it’s reasonable to overlook the Earthly form of putting your shoes on and leaving, a divorce perhaps. An “even though you threatened to leave, you knew you never would” sort of love fights. Don’t let the pretty music fool you, there might be some of Mr. Costello brand of cognitive dissonance taking place right under our noses. Everybody here sends you their love How could I forget you still walk above Or below Perhaps you'll never know this Purgatory We never could agree There's a thought, there's a pause No time to repent Eternally yours in a permanent Lent This second verse, again starts with an /aa/ rhyme structure, and again keeps identities close to the vest, but you might agree it has changed narrators. Is it written by the person who found the letter in the first verse? The assignment of “The Juliet Letters” was to write a letter. Nothing in the brief, I imagine, dictated that there could only be one letter per piece. This letter doesn’t even have to be in response to the one in the first verse. Although, it does seem to be pointing more directly to actual life and death. Purgatory, isn’t that the place Catholics go to atone for their sins before they’re able to go to Heaven? Yet, there’s no time. Oh, it’s possible to attach, un-attach, and reattach as many scenarios as you’d like in this clever obfuscation. But if I should give you up If you're right and life just stops And I never see your face again Then from unearthly pleasures, proud and plain I shall abstain 'Til you realize, my loss is your surprise Unless you know otherwise, then don't grieve You see I had to be the first to leave As with the first verse, this verse uses mid-sentence rhymes on the sixth, seventh, and eighth lines to great effect: surprise/otherwise, grieve/leave. Again/plain/abstain fill in the gaps of the middle part of this verse with a softness as it spins an incredible riddle. Trying to assign authorship to this verse is a futile act. The beginning conjunction gives it a sort of call and response feel, so it’s anyone’s guess. The beautiful idiom busting of “unearthly pleasures” is exhilarating in how unexpected its sentiment is. “My loss is your surprise” sounds to me like a person who is in Heaven, letting someone else know there is no heaven. What could be more human than that? — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “The First to Leave” from 1993’s “The Juliet Letters.” In my professional Linguist yet hopelessly amateur poet opinion, this is poetry at its best. Lines that can be read over and over, given many different interpretations and feelings, clashing and complimenting all the words set around it, and still give the listener a sense of satisfaction as it maintains intellectual curiosity. It makes me feel fortunate to be an Elvis Costello fan. The snorts of disbelieve that accompanied those of little faith when “The Juliet Letters” was released should be punished by never having listened to such an inspired collaboration. In a blog entitled, “The Dark Ensemble: Voice and String Quartet,” Maureen Buja stated, “The most familiar accompaniment to the voice is the piano…putting the voice with larger ensembles runs the risk of drowning the voice in the volume of other instruments,” acknowledging the voice as the fifth instrument. And what a stunning voice Mr. Costello lends to this effort, an objectively smashing success, I’d say, and I’m sure you would agree. Among the examples of voice and quartet on her blog, Buja has added a piece featuring Anne Sofie von Otter with the Brodsky Quartet. Mr. Costello, uniting the world. Other precious gems from “The Juliet Letters” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episode 12, “The Maddening Smile,” it’s a slow drag with “Damnation’s Cellar,” episode 32, “Pass the Vinegar,” it’s a slow drag with “I Almost Had a Weakness,” and episode 75, “Smug Predictions,” that’s the slow drag with the hauntingly lovely “The Birds Will Still Be Singing.” And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. I’ll be back soon with another slow drag. So, please follow the show so you won’t miss an episode. You can find me on Instagram and Bluesky social, it’s the social media platform created by the well-intended people who made the original Twitter, which I simply can’t support any longer. Please contact me if you need an invitation code. As a reminder, as I continue writing my second novel, I’ve placed the audiobook version of my first novel, “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” on YouTube. Please follow the link provided if you’d like to listen for free. I know you’ll love it. And 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 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/ Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 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, “The First to Leave” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_First_To_Leave “The First to Leave” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS0dPEacnTY “The Dark Ensemble: Voice and String Quartet https://interlude.hk/the-dark-ensemble-voice-and-string-quartet-20th-century/ 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 |