Today’s slow drag is with “Lipstick Vogue,” from “This Year’s Model,” released in 1978. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. Glossy magazines might be a thing of the past, but the enduring feel of “Lipstick Vogue” remains vivid, cynical, and, if it’s not too much of a cliché, sexy. An overarching hallmark of the “This Year’s Model” album in general, this piece in particular is, of course, controlled frenzy. This seems to be the agreed-upon conceit of this entire second album, the first effort with The Attractions. There’s a giddiness that pervades the piece, and rightfully so. Don't say you love me when it's just a rumor Don't say a word if there is any doubt Sometimes I think of love as just a tumor You've got to cut it out Put down in a pleasing ab/ab rhyme pattern, we’re confronted immediately with stealthy cognitive dissonance here in this first verse. An utterance of love portrayed as something someone else has overheard, gossip, perhaps. Something about not knowing your own mind is certainly hinted at. The more straightforward admonishment comes in the second line, but by then, it’s already too late. Our narrator is on to what will prove to be his trademark wordplay, the likes of which hadn’t been heard since the immortal, “I said I’m so happy I could die…” exclamation of a year previous. The brilliant literal and the figurative treatment of the “disease” known as love, in my opinion, helps to augment the misleading moniker of “angry young man” on our beloved entertainer. Guilt and revenge as a motif, sure. More, please. But as he said himself, he’s “not angry… anymore.” You say you're sorry for the things that you've done You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it I wouldn't worry, I had so much fun Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being Their apparent communication breakdown and indifference is orchestrated for our amusement. Again, put down in an ab/ab pattern, this time using an inspired slant rhyme of mean/being, there just might be a subtle shift in perspective. Who had so much fun? Who almost feels like a “human being”? It’s not without the bounds of reason to think of this last line as the call to the direct response in the chorus that follows very close behind. It's you Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue It's you Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue Oh yeah Now, I’m not sure if the first two verses count as “conversation,” imagined or otherwise, but here in the chorus, again the focus is squarely on both the literal and the figurative. Get to the slot machine almost dead on arrival Just hit me one more time with that live wire Maybe they told you you were only a girl in a million You say I've got no feelings This is a good way to kill them Allegory or metaphor, I can decide which one is more accurate for this third verse. An allegory is a complete narrative that disguises its true subject. A metaphor typically equivocates two disparate items. This verse sports alive and dead, near misses, and a couple imponderables thrown in for good measure. The gambling metaphor is mixed, but serves its purpose of comparing almost dead with almost dead. One avoiding it, one heading straight into it. “Only a girl in a million” takes us back to the glossy magazine. But is he talking about killing the feeling, or is there another “them” pointed to offstage? Disappointed parents, perhaps? This is one of the pleasing imponderables I mentioned. Select the control and then insert the token You wanna throw me away but I'm not broken You've got a lot to say, well I'm not jokin’ There are some words they don't allow to be spoken Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being Here again, we have another question of, from whose perspective is this verse told from? Going with our glossy magazine thought, I can imagine someone stepping off a train, tossing a used magazine in the nearby bin as they leave the station, but the model inside still exists. And this is pure conjecture, and not an interpretation by any means, but the assertion that “there are some words they don’t allow to be spoken” could be the reason why it’s the mouth, and nothing else, that is continually referred to in this piece. And, in direct opposition to the suspected call and response of the first “sometimes I almost feel just like a human being,” it feels as if these words are assigned to the male gaze, a sly admission of feeling just a little dirty for having looked at sexy pictures. Not just another mouth lost in the lipstick vogue — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Lipstick Vogue” from 1978’s “This Year’s Model.” The sheer number of times focused on words themselves is impressive, a tip of the cap to the wordsmith himself. It’s truly remarkable how the animate and the inanimate dance and swirl together in this piece. It’s a great example of an Elvis Costello piece that we *think we know what it’s *about, only to find during the slow drag that so much more is going on. Even if the thesis statement of this piece is a woman in a glossy magazine, Mr. Costello has gone far beyond the service of a journeyman poet to delight and scandalize the listener. Other precious gems from “This Year’s Model” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episode 20, “Now It’s Much Too Dangerous,” that’s a slow drag with “Living in Paradise,” episode 40, “Polishing My Precious China,” it’s a slow drag with “Hand in Hand,” episode 83, “A Catchy Little Melody,” that’s a slow drag with the dystopian “Night Rally,” and episode 119, “But if You Change Your Mind,” that’s a slow drag with “Lip Service.” 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 on Spotify, Apple Music, and ad free on Amazon Music. The podcast is ad free on all these platforms. It’s a passion project, after all. So, please follow the show wherever you listen so you won’t miss an episode, and spread the word about this niche podcast to anyone you think might enjoy it as well. You can find me on social media by searching for my name, Remedy Robinson, or the name of my podcast, “Slow Drag with Remedy.” I’d love to hear your thoughts. As a reminder, as I continue writing my second novel, “The Macron and the Breve,” 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. And when you do, please go to Amazon, buy the Kindle or paperback version, and leave it a five-star review. As well, if you or someone you know needs voice work in your podcast, ad, or any other sort of project that needs a sultry voiced American woman, please get in touch. I’d love to lend my voice to whatever you need. 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] “Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Lipstick Vogue” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Lipstick_Vogue “Lipstick Vogue” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3sqZUMgcX4 Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” 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 |