I recently read how the singer Rod Stewart has decided to “tone down” a few songs that sound a bit tone deaf all these years later, meaning that for his corporate and private gigs, he’s reportedly not singing “Tonight’s the Night,” “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” and “Hot Legs.” My first thought was to wonder why he’d even bother to announce it. My second thought was to wonder why anyone would feel compelled to follow up with an explanation for this move, but someone did. “Back in the day,” a source is quoted, the singer was “obviously a bit of a rouge and quite the lady’s man,” and that “attitudes toward sex and courting were very different” when the songs were written in the mid 1970s. The source went on to say that times have changed, and “so has Rod.” The edict in any sort of writing has always been, “write what you know,” but blaming “the times” seems to suggest the edict doesn’t extend to finesse and imagination. So, while I commend Rod for being a better man, it only serves to remind me how stalwart the songs of Elvis Costello have remained over the course of his stellar and eclectic career. Fueled by what he once called “revenge and guilt,” I can only think of one and a half problematic song. Both, according to the Elvis Costello wiki page, are still played on occasion. My name’s Remedy. And this is an appreciation. This is an exploration of linguists, language, poetry, and impactful writing, as framed by the peerless poetry of the modern day master, Elvis Costello. --- Dig it Today’s slow drag is with “Riot Act,” from “Get Happy!” released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. His fourth album in three years, “Get Happy!” sports 20 scintillating songs, with “Riot Act” the longest at 3:35. Each song may be short, but the lyrics come fast and emphatic, yet slows down at the end to belt out these memorable lines. Forever doesn't mean forever anymore I said forever But it doesn't look like I'm gonna be around much anymore When the heat gets sub-tropical And the talk gets so topical Here’s another instance of the phenomenon that Elvis Costello pulls off so very well. In this first verse he’s rhymed forever with forever, anymore with anymore, gets with gets, and tropical with topical, adding a little kick of slant rhyme with the sub prefix of tropical and the so intensifier of tropical. Small talk in hot humid places; the restraint is commendable. Riot act - you can read me the riot act You can make me a matter of fact Or a villain in a million A slip of the tongue is gonna keep me civilian Reading someone “The Riot Act” is a well-worn idiom that has changed a bit over time, but in all of its forms remains an unmistakable rebuke. Originally meant to prevent groups of 12 or more from unlawful assembly, it’s now usually unleashed on one person from another in a very pointed manner. I recently read the actual Parliamentary act from 1714-1715. It begins, “An act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing the rioters.” The phrase “riotously and tumultuously” appears 6 times throughout with various forms of the word riot 21 times and tumult 16 times. It’s quite long, and ends with something about King George being prayed for in “expressed words” in Scotland. Why do you talk such stupid nonsense When my mind could rest much easier Instead of all this dumb dumb insolence I would be happier with amnesia Verging on anger, sure, but look at the stunning rhyme: nonsense with insolence, easier with amnesia. These words are placed in sharp contract with the less eloquent “dumb dumb,” but it all seems so fitting. It’s easy to assume this might be a lover’s quarrel, but with its cagey absence of context, up to this point it’s anyone’s guess. They say forget her Now it looks like you're either gonna be before me or against me I got your letter Now they say I don't care for the color that it paints me Another ingenious rhyme scheme: forget her and letter, against me and paints me. It must be hard work to make this seem effortless. There are two near idioms in this quick passage. The saying about how if someone isn’t with you, they are against you is placed into a puzzle of either being “before me” or “against me.” “They” say to forget her, and they also are willing this person into what to think: “they say I don’t care for the color that it paints me.” There is always a “they” providing what seems to them to be great advice that it makes us start to question our own resolve. Trying to be so bad is bad enough Don't make me laugh by talking tough Don't put your heart out on your sleeve When your remarks are off the cuff Possibly one of his more quoted lines: don’t put your heart out on your sleeve when your remarks are off the cuff. I know it helped me to understand the power of metaphor at a very young age. The rhyme scheme in this verse is pretty straight forward: enough, tough, and cuff. But sleeve is the wonderful slant rhyme with “trying to be.” Genius how it all folds in on itself like that. And, in the overall theme of the piece, who is he imploring? This all feels like a second-hand conversation about a vague notion to begin with. All rumor and conjecture. Riot act - you can read me the riot act You can make me a matter of fact Or a villain in a million A slip of the tongue is gonna keep me civilian Here we have another neat rhyme scheme: act/fact, million/civilian, but the meaning behind what will keep him civilian confounds, even though it seems at first to be straight forward. I love going back and forth on what it might mean. These little turns of phrases, villain in a million, keep me civilian, are what keep these songs alive and relevant, long after they’ve been written. Riot act - you can read me the riot act You can make me And that’s how it ends: you can make me, which just adds to its mystique. From the 1999 liner notes for the compilation release of “Girls Girls Girls,” Mr. Costello is quoted: “from the wiped out sound of this track you’d never guess that these dark thoughts were written on a beautiful beach at dawn.” Frankly, I’m surprised he thinks of them as “dark thoughts.” And paradise isn’t paradise if you see the sun come up after a night of staying up, as opposed to waking gently to the sounds of the gentle tide. -- Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Riot Act” from 1980’s “Get Happy.” “Riot Act” is a sunken treasure of metaphor, of obfuscation, of lyrics that refuse to show themselves for that they really are. It’s a living example of the difficult communication between humans. In a word: brilliant. Taking these slow drags through the written words of the poetry of Elvis Costello, removing for just a moment the stunning voice and dissonant sound, has shown me more than I thought possible. Thank you so very much for finding this appreciation, this exploration of linguists, of language, and masterful turns of phrases, all framed by the peerless poetry of the modern day master, Elvis Costello.
Show Notes:
---------------------- Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA Twitter: https://twitter.com/slowdragremedy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_with_remedy/ Email: [email protected] Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag ---------------------- References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Riot_Act Riot Act: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/8142/8142-h/8142-h.htm Revenge and guilt: https://www.treblezine.com/35781-revenge-and-guilt-elvis-costellos-my-aim-is-true-at-40/ Rod Stewart Axes Old Songs: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10122753/sir-rod-stewart-me-too-movement/ So, until next time, Adieu, my little ballyhoo 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 |