Today’s slow drag is with “The Spell That You Cast,” from “National Ransom,” released in 2010. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. A cursory look through Mr. Costello’s extensive titles on the indispensable Elvis Costello Wiki page reveals there are scant other pieces that, like “The Spell That You Cast,” use the first line as its title: “Don’t Look Now,” “Abandon Words,” and “5ive Gears in Reverse” are other examples. And while there’s nothing particularly linguistically noteworthy about this quirk, if it can even be called a quirk, I continue to find it remarkable how Mr. Costello doesn’t seem to have many “comfort” words, phrases, or mechanical structures when engineering his continual marvels. “The Spell That You Cast” is sly in its contradictions, and delightful in its cunning vulnerability. The spell that you cast Well, it seems to be wearing off fast (The spell that you cast) Come back baby, cos I don't think that I can last (The spell that you cast) This first verse, or at least in the structure I’ve chosen to bestow upon this piece, with its captivating /aa/ rhyme structure, embeds the enchanted incantation of a spell right between the dismissal of the spell’s strength itself. The thesis seems to fly in the face of the trope of breaking spells. Rather, our narrator is keen to stay under this particular hex. For now, anyway. And I wonder whether You got some other kind of lover That you like to please Better than me Don't think I can take it How am I gonna break it? The spell that you cast The spell that you cast As with the shortening of “because” to “cos” in the above verse, the motif of this piece is starting to come into focus: the eliding of words in their spoken form. As a grammatically correct songwriter, even using the suave subjunctive mood, for instance, in Momofuku’s “American Gangster Time” when he proclaims, “and she wishes he were mute and not just dumb,” it’s worth pointing out how even something that sounds wrong, as in “you got some other kind of love” is still acceptable English grammar, although, I say this with equal amounts of glee and disappointment when I point out that this construction is typically associated with American English. The brushed over word fits in well with the casual “gonna” in the seeming opposite concern from the first verse, now wanting to “break” the spell, but then, still incanting the spell. The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks. The spell that you've woven Well, it seems to be coming undone (The spell that you cast) Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going (The spell that you cast) Now back to allowing the veil to slip, openly worrying about how and when the spell will end, this part of the story tickles me to no end. It’s not just a contradiction, it’s an adorable admission of mitigated jealousy, “at least tell me where you are going.” What is more, this line is different from many of the other rushed, elided lines in this piece, as it’s well enunciated. It’s not “tell me where you’re going,” it’s “tell me where you are going,” suggesting a loss of a put-on casual demeanor. And you know quite well That I'm not the jealous kinda fella But they look in your eyes And they're all hypnotized I'm gonna miss you madly 'Cos I love you sadly The spell that you cast The spell that you cast And here, there’s even more to be tickled by. Having let slip and put jealousy on full display just a second before, the assertion that he’s “not the jealous kinda fella” is a hollow qualification to the protestation of how others are hypnotized, or, to put it another way, under a spell. Notice the elided words strung together: instead of six proper syllables in “jealous kind of fellow,” he’s truncated it to the equal but more casual sounding “jealous kinda fella.” “Gonna” and “cos” round out the more colloquially elided words found in spoken English. Madly and sadly play their silly parts well at the end of this green-eyed verse, a demonstration of being flustered. Perhaps it seems more reasonable to miss someone sadly, to love someone madly. This drive-by use of cognitive dissonance provides a prickliness this contradictory piece deserves. Jimmie come quickly ‘cos I feel quite sickly (Oh, the spell that you cast) You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley (Oh, the spell that you cast) (Oh, the spell that you cast) Here we go… Featured prominently in his own song, “Jimmie Standing in the Rain” from this very album, and then again in the sequel, the inscrutable “Under Lime” from “Look Now,” who exactly is Jimmie? I’m sure I’ll keep asking, just as I’m sure I don’t really care to ever find out the answer. There is just so much delightful silliness in this short piece. Molly/volley is a beautiful, albeit unnecessary rhyme, when the correct term, “moll,” meaning a gangster’s female companion, would have made just as pleasing of sound. I love the proper noun this one letter turns the word into, personalizing it in the process. A little like “Jimmie,” the name “Molly” is also mentioned in another piece on this same album in “Stations of the Cross.” It’s episode 44 of Slow Drag with Remedy, “The Black Keys of Her Fine Wine.” What a dense and wonderfully slippery piece; frankly, it was the most difficult piece to dissect so far. Cannonade: “a period of continuous heavy gunfire.” My word, ballyhoo, where does Mr. Costello get his incredible vocabulary? — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “The Spell That You Cast” from 2010’s “National Ransom.” Harkening back to frenetic gems found on, say, “Get Happy!”, this rollicking piece clocks in at 2:32. In that space it’s conversational, informal, contradictory, and inspired. Mr. Costello’s penchant for the ambiguous and the contradictory are woven throughout, giving it charm and staying power. Other precious gems from “National Ransom” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episode 3, “Sing Hallelujah, Sister,” a slow drag with “Church Underground,” episode 37 “Gallivant in Peg-Leg Pants,” a slow drag with “A Voice in the Dark,” episode 44, “The Black Keys of Her Fine Wine,” a slow drag with “Stations of the Cross,” episode 73, “Jingling Spurs,” a slow drag with “Jimmie Standing in the Rain,” episode 79, “Filled with Phrases,” a slow drag with “Five Small Words,” and episode 100, “Hip, Hip Hooray,” that’s a slow drag with the piece that inspired this podcast’s name, “A Slow Drag with Josephine.” 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. 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 simply adore the intelligent and spirited comments from die-hard fans of Mr. Costello, as well as those just finding him. 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, “The Spell That You Cast” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Spell_That_You_Cast “The Spell That You Cast” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEYZTE8BDuE The Difference between You Got and You Have: https://preply.com/en/question/you-got-youve-got-43032#:~:text=“You%20have%20got”%20fully%20correct,missed%20too%20many%20days%20already.”&text=“You%27ve”%20(short,”%20(have%20is%20missing). 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 |