Broadly speaking, Semantics is subfield of linguistics that concerns itself with the meaning of words and symbols. I mention this in order to introduce the “Semantic Pointer Theory of Emotion” that has been put forth by two Canadian-based researchers. This Semantic Pointer Architecture, the authors explain, creates “higher-level cognitive functions” through “neural representations that carry partial semantic content … into the representational structures necessary to support complex cognition.” This, in part, is how we are able to take pleasure in engaging with what the researchers call “intensive negative emotions,” like those showcased in tragic dramas, poetry, and of course, sad songs. In this realm, the authors tell us, there is no “threat to our own goals,” therefore the perceived physiological changes and the cognitive assessments of a sad song come as a relief, going so far as to provide happiness by knowing we are not currently suffering. In sum, our head and our heart seem to unify in such a way that becomes emotionally and socially pleasing to us when confronted with familiar yet not immediately personalized sadness. This quirk of biology and language is just another reason why today’s slow drag proves to be so satisfying. Today’s slow drag is with “You Tripped at Every Step,” from “Brutal Youth,” released in 1994. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. It’s a lovely ballad that draws you in with its skillful and melancholy use of metaphor, familiarity, and nostalgia. There is hope and there is hopelessness that is intertwined so skillfully. Take your tiny feet out of your mother's shoes Or there is going to be a terrible scene It's not just the lipstick drawn on crooked When they find how wicked we are How wicked we have been How I've been tempted How you tripped at every step You tripped at every step How you tripped at every step From the very first flourish of words, the scene is set, the title is qualified, and we are on a journey through childhood into adulthood, or perhaps it is the reverse. Tiny feet in grown-up shoes provides the first literal meaning, just as the crooked lipstick lays down the path to the figurative. “How you tripped at every step.” There's a merry tune that starts in "I" and ends in "You" Like many famous pop songs do And you would sing along with little tell-tale staggers While balancing on daggers Though they were killing you You looked so deadly As you tripped at every step You tripped at every step As you tripped at every step The style, the elegance of conjuring a love song is unmatched by its finesse and dual meanings. Maybe it’s a little girl’s vision, but singing alone in a bedroom with a hairbrush for a microphone, in a flush of dance, music, and romance, of course the drama is on full display. The lovely rush of risking being found out at the same time feeling bold enough to perform it for all its worth. It’s giddy in its execution. How is it possible for this poet to capture this type of nostalgia so faithfully? Maybe it’s not just little girls who are given to these flights of fancy. “As you tripped at every step.” And I would run to catch you Anytime you call Only you drank that potion And went out of control There's nothing to stop you So how can you fall Let me take your hand Put down that frying pan The first two verses seemed to conjure a child-like imagery and the attempts at being an adult. As we see, the perspective has shifted here in the third, but why? Who is the “I” in this verse? These little dissonant turns of phrases, such as “there’s nothing to stop you, so how can you fall,” stay with us, rolling around in our brains, hoping they’ll make sense, even though we know they never will. Three verses in now, and no mention of rhyme or structure, just the amazing literal and figurative use of “You Tripped at every step” that has been carried along with this iconic imagery. We recognize the rhyming pairs, of course such as staggers/daggers, hand/pan, but it’s the emotion that remains at a steady boil as this heartfelt piece progresses. It’s a story, it’s a reverie, it’s our brain and heart producing a comforting sense of well-being. Darkness would become me Underneath the table As the fury raged around the house Your despairing, treadless, angry, and unstable You never suspected Just as that cartoon mouse Went undetected So you tripped at every step Enveloped in a welcoming darkness, there is something that remains so sweet in these chaotic lines. We don’t have to have ever hidden under a table to conjure the situation for ourselves. Then again, the cartoon mouse helps to add a bit of peripheral chaos of its own. I’m not sure why there was a cartoon mouse that went undetected, but it does seem as if it’s done enough to distract from the gravity of the situation. “So you tripped at every step.” In another world of gin and cigarettes Those cocktail cabinets put mud in your eye Maybe that is why you find it hard to see me And if you don't believe me Before you start to cry "Don't ever leave me" As you start to lose your grip (As you start losing your grip) You will stumble and you slip (And you will stumble and slip) As you tripped at every step You tripped at every step You tripped at every step As you tripped at every step You tripped at every step The first verse of this darling piece ends with “how you tripped at every step.” The second verse ends with “as you tripped at every step.” The third verse is a transition without this ending line. The four verse again ends with “so you tripped at every step.” The fifth verse takes it out of the past, out of the present as it tells the future, “you will stumble and slip.” In this, the last verse, we’ve transitioned, literally as we’re told, to another world, a decidedly grown up world. The idiom, “mud in your eye” is a funny one; said as part of a toast when cheering others, while the exact etymology is unclear, seems to be self-congratulatory if you view it as a winning horse staying clean as it kicks mud up to all who will go on to lose. Then again, I also think of the expression “pie eyed,” when I hear “mud in your eye,” suggesting it means to let’s all get good and drunk. Mud and drunk; two very good ways to find yourself blinded. In addition to this perplexing idiom, the syntactically ambiguous line, “before you start to cry “don’t ever leave me,” haunts the senses. Written out, the line “don’t ever leave me” is in quotes, yet this punctuation does little to confirm who is speaking. Is the person crying to not be left? Or is there another person saying, please don’t cry because I won’t leave you? Or, is there another way to parse these words? It remains a beautifully opaque line stays in the back of my mind, warmly phrasing and rephrasing itself, never able to provide a clear answer. I just love it. — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “You Tripped at Every Step” from 1994’s “Brutal Youth.” It’s a sorrowful and lovely ballad that is beautiful in its sadness. 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 |