Today’s slow drag is with “Invasion Hit Parade,” from “Mighty Like a Rose,” released in 1991. The songwriting is credited Elvis Costello’s birth name. It’s a restrained poetic piece that travels around the world of odd sights and unpredictable ends. This piece reminds me of what a modern dancer friend once told me. He said that when given an entire stage and asked to create something dazzling, it was no surprise when the result was tepid at best. Give the same dancer a table top to create on my friend said, and the end result was routinely much more dynamic, disruptive, and creative. Now that you set everybody free Whatcha gonna do about me? Don't want to be treated like some poor grateful clown I'd rather go back in the sweet underground Where I can tell the time by the color of my skin And I know my neighbor 'cos he's the one, yes he's the one Who always turns me in As this first verse beautifully illustrates, Elvis Costello has proven he can create works of genius in both a teacup and an ocean. For “Invasion Hit Parade,” he does so when constrained by, or maybe liberated by, a strict adherence to an aa/bb/cc structure throughout. Free/me, clown/underground, skin/in: these are all sturdy end rhymes that house a grudge, a bitter insight, a rancorous pitting of opposing wills. A woman works the tunnel in the middle of the night Picking up every lost object in sight Handbags, toupees, lost legs and fingernails The black market eats up all your failures Her transistor offers no salvation or regrets No pool, no pets, no cigarettes Just non-stop Disco Tex and the Sex-o-Lettes Again, the structure. Restrained at the end, adventurous until then. Night/sight, fingernails/failures, regrets/cigarettes/Tex/Sex-o-Lettes. The sweet underground is mentioned in the first verse, accompanied by the mention of the black market in the second. The list of missing and recovered items begins with the ordinary then turns to the bizarre. Lost legs and fingernails. Sounds like someone might have paid a hefty price down in that tunnel. “Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes” were an early 70s American cutting edge “disco” band with recognizable songs, such as “I Wanna Dance Wit’ Choo” and “Get Dancin’” a song that sports part of what has become an inside joke: “boogie-woogie, woogie-boogie.” In 2013, The Pet Shop Boys referenced this band in a song called “Electricity.” “It’s the greatest show with the best effects since Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes. It’s all about wonder, the power to be like thunder expressing electricity.” There’s a little dramatic pause that Mr. Costello places between the words Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes. For the longest time, I thought these were two different references and not one complete band. Just another good reason to take a slow drag with these stunning works. There's no name, no name for the place Or pain we'll cause you again and again If you do not cooperate with the Invasion Hit Parade A “hit parade,” as we know, is a slightly archaic term that typically refers to a listing of bestselling pop songs of any given time. An invasion hit parade, then, can take on any lifeform we so desire. Romantic, political, personal, global, or even wholly nonsensical. The liberation forces make movies of their own Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned Drowning out a broadcast that wasn't authorized Incidentally, the revolution will be televised With one head for business, another for good looks Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher's hooks The underground, the black market, and now the Liberation Forces. Own/stoned, authorized/televised, looks/butcher’s hooks. The structure of this piece continues intact. Perhaps not applicable, but “butcher’s hook,” or simply “butcher’s” is Cockney Rhyming slang for “look.” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a famous expression we’ve all heard. It is a funk/spoken word anti-consumerism piece released in 1971 by Gil Scott-Heron. Twenty years on, it seems, consumerism had not only won out, but had also been taken over by unauthorized pirates. Another verse, another mention of the underground. They're hunting us down here with Liberty's light A handshaking double-talking procession of the mighty Pursued by a T.V. crew and coming after them A limousine of singing stars and their brotherhood anthem The former dictator was impeccably behaved They're mopping up all the stubborn ones who just refuse to be saved This final verse stays true to the structure: order at the end, regardless of the chaos around it. Light/mighty, them/anthem, behave/saved. The entire piece uses this structure as it draws upon low frequency words and a frame work of lawlessness. I quite like the notion of former dictators. Ugly people stripped of power. In all, this is a rather uplifting song of hope. Or it’s about destruction. Probably both. That’s part of what makes his piece timeless and magnetic. There's no name, no name for the place Or pain we'll cause you again and again If you do not cooperate with the Invasion Hit Parade — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Invasion Hit Parade” from 1991’s “Mighty Like a Rose.” It’s a song full of restraint as it espouses the joys of the socially defiant. The imagery this piece relies upon: revolution, the black market, stubborn ones, toupees, and lost legs gives this piece the undercurrent of mayhem that is so very pleasing. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. I highly recommend listening to episode 5 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “Heaven Knows What Fills the Heart.” It’s a slow drag with the disarming and likable, “Georgie and Her Rival,” another gem on “Mighty Like a Rose.” 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 |