Today’s slow drag is with “The Loved Ones,” from “Imperial Bedroom,” released in 1982. The songwriting is credited Elvis Costello. It’s a 2:47 piece that uses a few techniques in quick succession to get its point across. What’s the point? I don’t know. What’s the point of most Elvis Costello pieces? Nimble word play, clever idiom busting, brilliant use of low frequency words, and of course, lovely dark visuals that resonate long after the words are uttered. It’s charming, cutting, and oh so clever. The first verse alone feels like a jumble of words just waiting to meet each other. The ending rhyme of the “ic” sound starts us off nicely. Don't get smart or sarcastic He snaps back just like elastic Spare us the theatrics and the verbal gymnastics We break wise guys just like matchsticks Each clever line in this verse, on its own, is pure genius that teeters on cliché and/or idiom, but is actually, to borrow a phrase, made out of whole cloth. “Don’t get smart or sarcastic” seems to be paralleling the same sentiment as “spare us the theatrics and the verbal gymnastics.” In short, both suggest “don’t get cute.” But there’s no reason for brevity, not when the rhymes flow so nicely. Sarcastic, elastic, gymnastics, matchsticks. As Pete Thomas recently said at the Grammys, they played the songs fast. I’d argue they weren’t too fast, but that there is merit in slowing them down enough to admire the scenery. And that’s what these slow drags aim to accomplish. The remarkable words that Elvis Costello writes are peerless in their lush arrangement and skillful execution. The execution of this following chorus is a prime example of this embedded brilliance, like a blindfolded juggler making it look easy. What would the loved ones say? (Your pride and joy is all blown up) What would the loved ones say? (The bride and boy are barely grown up) Regardless that the question is clearly rhetorical, these staggered background lines embed themselves into the “asked and answered” matrix of “what would the loved ones say?” very well. It’s an admonishment that requires no comeback, and yet we have a distant and garbled: “your pride and joy is all blown up,” as well as the delightful “the bride and boy are barely grown up.” And it just keeps getting better and better and more bitter. You're not my particular poison I've got nothing against you myself You could have been a danger to the boys and girls Now you're a danger to yourself The politeness that runs through these acerbic lines are electric and numbing in equal measure. It’s ok to prefer gin over vodka, say, but does it have to come with a twist of arbitrary reasoning? The ugly little dreams run 'round your bed The ugly little scenes, you get the needle and no thread They stitched you up this time They said you'll do Then bitch about your pretty face turning ugly on you “You get the needle and no thread” appears to be one of these whole cloth inventions that feels age-old and wise, but I’m unable to track down any historical use of this term that then goes on to dovetail into an actual idiom, to “stitch up,” meaning to trick or to frame someone, or simple repair something. This gives us both a literal and a figurative glimpse into this world where ugly little dreams run ‘round your bed. Then, with “they say you’ll do,” we’re back to a shabby doll impression of a torn-off eye getting re-applied. And the last line of this verse, as with each preceding line, calls back, falls back, feels as if it collapses in onto itself. This entire verse ebbs and flows into and out of the literal, all the while maintaining a civil tone but with a sharp tongue. You can go through this verse ten times and come up with something different. That is just part of the beauty of Mr. Costello’s enduring words. The butcher, baker and the bassline maker Saying you can leave her I can take her You spend your whole life like a minute or two later One day it’s going to end sooner than greater Drawing upon the nursery rhyme with a long and varied history, “the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker,” this first line gives the verse its jaunty start, just before it takes a turn toward the sinister. “Rub-a-dub-dub, three fools in a tub, and who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, turn them out, knaves all three.” The juxtaposition of living a life likes it’s a minute or later, living out of sync, only to find out it’ll end sooner than greater busts apart another familiar expression as it goes on to live in a world of its own. It’s such a small detail that disrupts the status quo just enough to make itself memorable. So, why a bassline maker, then? I haven’t a clue, but I do love the allusion of it all. What would the loved ones say? (He'll be remembered young and pretty) What would the loved ones say? (Now he's a hit in every city) Here again we have these clever unannounced additions to the story: “he’ll be remembered young and pretty.” Does this have anything to do with how “they’ll bitch about your pretty face turning ugly on you?” Where exactly do we place: “now he’s a hit in every city”? Either way, this piece ends with a final verse that seems to glimpse what the loved ones just might say: Now there's a name well never forget There's one born every minute or two Don't pin a medal on me yet They might be waiting for you Taken alone and together, I simply adore each of these lines: “one born every minute” is an idiom about fools. “Don’t pin a medal on me yet” seems to caution against calling someone a hero. I get it, and what a clever way to present it. But then it’s followed by “they might be waiting for you.” There are about a billion different iterations of this scene that is able to plays out in my mind. As with the entire piece, it seems to fall back on itself, change its meaning, make no sense, but then make all the sense in the world. Maybe that’s why “The Loved Ones” gets under your skin in such a wonderfully infuriating way. It’s a very good reason why, some 38 or so years later, it continues to please our ears and baffle our senses. The four embedded lines between the chorus of “what would the loved ones say?”, in particular, seem worth giving extra thought to, as it’s what they have said: “Your pride and joy is all blown up.” “The bride and boy are barely grown up.” “He’ll be remembered young and pretty.” “Now he’s a hit in every city.” — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “The Loved Ones” from 1982’s “Imperial Bedroom.” It’s a piece that is littered with slanted word play, idioms that aren’t actually idioms, and subtle shifts in familiar expressions that stand out and make you notice. Please refer to episode 14, “Silly Beggars Can’t Be Choosers,” for a slow drag with “Pidgin English,” another stellar piece from “Imperial Bedroom.” 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 |