In most creative endeavors, the comments that artists receive from peers and friends alike can oftentimes be helpful and insightful, but there’s always that one weird comment that sticks with you the most. My dubious favorite among many is, “I liked the other version better.” This, from a world that preaches revision, there’s not much useful direction there, just a bit of bewilderment to proceed with. And while it is advised that no one is able to serve two masters, trying to please everyone is typically the goal of this to and fro. When you’re a genius poet, however, you take the leftovers of what others can’t use and you make a meal of it. That, in part, seems to be one component of how to continually outdo yourself. My name is Remedy Robinson. And this is an appreciation. This is an exploration of linguists, idioms, and revisions as framed by the peerless poetry of the modern day master, Elvis Costello. --- Dig it Today’s slow drag is with “Luxembourg,” from “Trust” released in 1981. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. At a scant 2:29, its nearly 30 seconds longer than it’s demo, “Seven O’clock,” written in the R ‘n B style for fellow pub rock veteran, Lee Brilleaux, lead singer of the band, Dr. Feelgood. “Seven O’clock” was reportedly received as an “object of scorn” by Brilleaux. And while both songs are recognizable as versions of each other, it’s all the better for “Trust” to have “Seven O’clock’s” leftovers. Perhaps this is a good example of how spite is a great motivation tool. Dressed up like a dog's dinner Butter wouldn't melt on your paws If this is a dog's life Then you're the cat's clothes There are three busted idioms and an original metaphor that pulls this quick hitting imagery all together nicely. A dog’s dinner is slang for a complete mess, so to be dressed like a mess is vivid in its meaning. The idiom, butter wouldn’t melt in the mouth describes a person who masquerades as innocent or sincere, when the opposite is closer to the truth. But the metaphor skews a bit when butter wouldn’t melt on your paws. The second line, builds upon the first, and then, to drive these doldrums home, the dog’s dinner gets a full dog’s life, slang for a difficult, or worse, a boring life. This complete mess of a life just keeps getting worse. They hire out your sons And hire out your daughters The man from abroad says he's already bought her And now you look like a lover but you're only a tourist I’ve always loved puzzling over these four lines, especially “now you look like a lover but you’re only a tourist.” Sometimes it’s just fun to revel in the ambiguity of it all. You're either talking or yawning You didn't listen to a thing you heard Don't start your morning moaning or you might wake up in Luxembourg After that, what a great chorus to bring it all home?! How many people could we describe as either talking or yawning? It’s a much more eloquent way to describe those who don’t listen, but who merely wait to talk, frozen with an inhale all ready to go. You get up, you get over You're worried about her body She's worryin' about her bodily odor You pull off The pull over You say that you love her when you really loathe her Serves you right, now she wants you to feed her and clothe her You pull off the pull over, in addition to being a great rhyme, is a clever way to say you’ve begun taking off your clothes, starting with your sweater. Things are heating up. But the shining star of this verse, of this entire piece maybe, is the one-two punch of “you say that you love her when you really loathe her / serves you right now she wants you to feed her and clothe her.” Dishonesty never pays. But boy can it cost. They're smiling sweetly while they're looking daggers Kick you where it really matters Send all your friends to Coventry And look for your name in last night's obituaries Ah, those wonderful incongruities. This day has gone from bad to worse. The phrase, send to Coventry lies somewhere between and idiom and historical British slang. In the 17th century political times, certain prisoners, in particular the King’s soldiers, were so detested that they were sent to Coventry as a way of being ostracized. So, it’s a reference that’s come to be understood as “deliberately” shunning someone. If you've got the Deutschmarks If you've got the Yen, then You get the shirt off her back and the clock off Big Ben Somebody's soft touch Struck all these bargains In the drinking clubs with the council men Making plans to put lead back in their pencils again The theme of you have the money, you can buy anything is rife in this song. And, leave it to Elvis Costello to correctly refer to the clock on Big Ben. The double entendres run rampant in this spirited little piece. All that in less than 3 minutes. It’s not often we have the ability to see the wire frame model of a classic muscle car like this, but thanks to “Seven O’clock,” The sharp witted “Luxembourg” built itself on the solid “Seven O’clock” foundation nicely, but funnily enough, it never makes mention of Luxembourg. Instead it focuses on a time of day, rather than a place. You're either talking or yawning So don't come around too soon Don't start your morning moaning Until seven o'clock in the afternoon My pedantic side wants to cringe at the notion that 7 o’clock is still afternoon. Nevertheless, in nearly the same amount of space, “Luxembourg’s wonderfully catty line: You say that you love her when you really loathe her Serves you right, now she wants you to feed her and clothe her started out as: Tell me why I bother I've seen enough of her Now she wants me to feed her and clothe her The clever wordplay was evident from the beginning: You got me in stitches Stitch me up this time From urges to itches Start to reply to this girl of mine The double meaning of “stitch” carries over from this first version quite nicely, even though these lines aren’t in the polished version that you seen on Trust. In stitches: Laughing, and Stitched up: placing the blame on someone else. Maybe this is one in the same activity? I call up I get over Supposed to be a slap-up Now I wish she'd wrap up Worrying about her bodily odor A dog’s dinner is a far cry from a slap up, a large and elaborate meal. Many poets might make these original lines precious. They might try to keep their meaning in tact to the point that they’d never think to go an entirely different direction with it, let alone have the dexterity to keep the same ethos in tact in the process. These revised lines take treasured moments and twist them inside out beautifully. This kind of artful rebellion reminds me of something I heard about the “Mighty Like a Rose” era, something about how it scared people when Elvis Costello grew his hair and beard out, so he grew them longer. Please refer to the music video of “The Other Side of Summer” for visual confirmation of this comical rebellion. In tracing the beginnings of “Luxembourg” to “Seven O’clock,” we’re given a rare glimpse into fearless acrobatic writing. The original, as mentioned, was met by scorn from Lee Brilleaux. According to the Trust liner notes, Brilleaux took one look at the lyrics, then asked: “what’s this then, Shakespeare?” Brilleaux, the Dr. Feelgood front man died in 1994, at the age of 41, giving him 12 years to see how dense and complicated this modern Shakespeare could really get. You think this is Shakespeare? I’ll show you Shakespeare. --- Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Luxembourg” from 1981’s “Trust.” It’s not the most optimistic or nuanced group of idioms and turns of phrases in Mr. Costello’s canon. It’s a blur of imagery, however, that has a much different feel as it flies by in 2:29 as opposed to a careful line-by-line consideration. This dissonance has become a hallmark of so much of Mr. Costello’s work. It’s delightfully stubborn, spiteful, and mischievous. Thank you so very much for finding this appreciation, this is an exploration of linguists, idioms, and the revision process as 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: “Seven O’clock” demo: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Seven_O%27Clock Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Luxembourg Serve two masters idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/serve+two+masters Dog’s dinner idiom: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dog%27s+dinner It’s a dog’s life idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/it%27s+a+dog%27s+life Butter wouldn’t melt idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/butter+wouldn%27t+melt+(in+(one%27s)+mouth) Luxembourg info: https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg/Demographic-trends Look daggers at idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/look+daggers+at Send to Coventry slang: https://www.historyrevealed.com/eras/stuarts/why-do-we-say-send-someone-to-coventry/ Mark Twain Didn’t Say It: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/mark-twain-didnt-say-thing-about-obituaries/350238/ EC’s long hair in “The Other Side of Summer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww0hN-puTdA 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 |