Today’s slow drag is with “Poor Napoleon” from “Blood and Chocolate,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.
Seeing that I once named a beloved dog after this song, I figure it’s as good a place as any to start this linguistic appreciation of the peerless poetry of the modern-day master, Elvis Costello. I can’t lie on this bed anymore it burns my skin. You can take the truthful things you’ve said to me And fit them on the head of a pin Poor Napoleon This seems like a pretty straightforward allusion to the expression of how angels can fit/stand/dance on a very tiny surface, the number of which is slim at best. So, seeing there’s little trust or virtue to be found, maybe the person has just discovered they’re in a bed that might not be all that it seems. Either way, something has changed, and not for the better. The expression, to fit on “the head of a pin” is used as part of an example in the logic argument to get a point across, known in English as “reduction to absurdity,” an argument that becomes absurd through denial. You always look so disappointed when I take my stockings off Don’t you know the facts of life, boy Don’t you know what these things cost? The cloaking, switching, and insinuation of gender are masterfully muddled through many songs. This one is no exception. She was selling stolen kisses to traveling salesmen and minstrel singers You put a penny in the slot She called you her Magic Fingers Poor Napoleon This last line takes us back to the first line about the bed and how it burns the skin. Marketed as: “for your comfort and relaxation,” the brand “Magic Fingers” was a coin-operated “relaxation service,” that was once popular in many roadside motels in the US. For just a quarter, the motel room’s mattress would vibrate for 15 minutes. It’s possible, I suppose, that this verse helps inform the location and perhaps the circumstances of the first lines. I bet she isn't all that’s advertised I bet that isn't all she fakes Just like that place where they take your spine And turn it into soap flakes More than just a romantic failing that the first two lines of this verse might suggest, the mention of turning body parts into “soap flakes,” or laundry detergent as American’s call it, conjures the images of the so called “Corpse Factory,” or the “Corpse Utilization Plant,” where dead soldier’s bodies were reportedly melted down into tallow by their own country in order to make candles, soap, and other household goods. This later was determined to be mere propaganda, they say, an invention of British Intelligence during the First World War, and not actually true. For the purpose of “Poor Napoleon” itself, this propaganda helps to reinforce how it is possible to fit the truth “on the head of a pin.” As well, the words, “advertised” and “soap flakes” together, might, of course, deftly connote that this situation is a worthy comparison to the melodrama staple common to everyday soap operas. Bare wires from the socket to the bed where you embraced that girl Did you ever think there’s far too many people in the world? Adultery. Deception. Intrigue. Maybe even contraception. Seems there was electricity in that bed. Or could it have been from the Magic Fingers, pulled from the wall of the cheap motel, and is now strangling someone with its chord. Dark indeed. One day they’ll probably make a movie out of all of this There won’t even have to be a murder just a slow dissolving kiss Poor Napoleon A “dissolve,” as you know, is a film term that means to blend one scene into another, one situation fading out while another situation fades in. In filmmaking editing, it’s been referred to as “the hardest cut.” So good night little schoolboy, you’d better learn some self control Did you mess up your hairstyle? Pour scorn in your begging bowl The thought that all of this could be a young man’s libidinous musing brings us back to the choral lament of “Poor Napoleon.” Remember being asked, “Don’t you know the facts of life, boy?” Get all dressed up with the high hopes of conquering the world, only to make a mess of yourself and have “scorn,” or contempt “poured” into a “begging bowl,” ending up with a whole lot of nothing, sleeping alone, exiled to his own Elba. Poor Napoleon I can’t tell you what I heard exactly, probably something about “four score and” something or other, but I had no idea that the last line is “pour scorn in your begging bowl,” until I read the words for this project; just another good reason to give it slow drag. There are so many layers, so many hidden gems, and so many turns of phrase to ponder. Sometimes, however, even with Elvis Costello lyrics, it’s fun to mishear a lyric or two. Eggcorn it’s called; like when, instead of the word fighter, I hear “don’t you know the difference between a lover and writer,” because, in my mind, it makes more sense in a song about writing a book. https://grammarist.com/mondegreens/ Framed within 3:24 seconds, the poetry of this song touches upon a Latin logic argument that ends in absurdity, a mid-century novelty mattress shaker, a World War I propaganda campaign, and even a cinematic device of fading out one scene as you fade in another. I mentioned how I named my dog Napoleon after this song: “Napoleon Dynamite,” to be exact, although I’d go on to disavow the “dynamite” part after the movie of the same name was released two years later, in 2003. Calling it a “pretty embarrassing coincidence,” the filmmaker sticks by his insidious story that he was wholly unaware of Costello’s persona. I’m sure he’s a “fine figure of a man.” https://www.stereogum.com/693/napoleon_dynamite_vs_elvis_costello/news/ In 2001, When Napoleon was a puppy, each night I’d put him in his training crate saying, “good night little schoolboy. You’d better learn some self control.” A little white and brown Pomeranian (“with papers, it gets upset”), he proved himself to be a clever boy who went on to be a wonderful little companion over the course of our 16 years together. Occasionally, I’d call him my “little schoolboy” for fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjN5q9Ixen4 (at 3:25) Now, I merely say “goodnight little schoolboy” as a nice way to remember my dear departed Poli boy. In addition to the “small humiliations,” it’s the fleeting and warm moments that our “memory piles on.” Again, this has been a slow drag with “Poor Napoleon,” from the 1986’s “Blood and Chocolate.” Songwriter, Mr. Elvis Costello. Thank you very much for finding this podcast appreciation of Elvis Costello’s poetry and listening all the way to the end. For your convenience, in the show notes you can find the YouTube link to the actual song, as well as links to references made in this episode. Information can also be found in its companion blog. So, until next time, Adieu, my little ballyhoo.
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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson Twitter: @slowdragremedy Email: [email protected] Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag ---------------------- References: Reduction to absurdity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikjkCi_DhC8 Magic Fingers: https://www.retrothing.com/2007/06/magic_fingers_v.html Corpse Factory: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/the-corpse-factory.html The "hardest cut": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd3-HakNEGM&vl=en Eggcorns: https://grammarist.com/mondegreens/ Napoleon Dynamite Vs. Elvis Costello: https://www.stereogum.com/693/napoleon_dynamite_vs_elvis_costello/news/ Pomeranian reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjN5q9Ixen4 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 |