Today’s slow drag is with “Turpentine,” from “Momofuku,” released in 2008. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. “Momofuku” is Japanese for “lucky peach,” and is the name of the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando. This entire album is chockablock full of delicious turns of phrases and dissonant soundscapes. “Turpentine” is the perfect embodiment of these fine traits and more. The structure alone, reminiscent of “Imperial Bedroom’s” “The Loved Ones,” with its submerged lines, is at once, orderly and wholly original. I can't tell if this is real or if I am sleeping I'll embroider the truth And that's so I shall reap I took things that didn't belong to me I didn't mean to do you wrong What a clever embedded use of the adage “you reap what you sow.” The signature slant rhymes are in their dress whites for this piece; the pleasing /e/ sound of sleeping/reap/me, not to mention the bond between so/to/do. The mitigation of sins, lying and stealing, are mentioned in a way that doesn’t arouse suspicion as it quickly explains them away, deftly linking wrong/belong in the process. The structure of “Turpentine” is almost as gorgeous to look at on the page as it is to hear. Verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, verse, chorus, bridge, verse. That’s a total of 5 verses and 3 instances of the chorus and the hook. I use the word “hook” loosely, as it may be a bridge, or it may be part of the chorus, I’m not entirely sure. I do know, however, that it relies on a clever motif found in many of Mr. Costello’s creations: changing a word or two that, in turn, changes the meaning ever so slightly. Like in “Brilliant Mistake,” when he shifts “it was a fine idea at the time,” to “he was a fine idea,” to “I was a fine idea.” Looking back on all that stolen time (turpentine) Back when I was drinking (turpentine) Don't blame me / I only took you in It takes time to do the poisoning So, let's close the door on this and lock it And that's all it will ever be Just an accident of chemistry More vices are confessed in this clever chorus; theft, drinking, and the shifting of blame; so, let’s just forget all about it. Spoken like a true addict. I love the ambiguity of “you” in “I only took you in,” leaving open for interpretation whether it was a good deed or a bad deed. And if that weren’t enough, the title, “Turpentine,” heard in the chorus, is elided, talked over, merely glossed and touched upon before moving along. It conjures a muttered and mitigated confession. You did everything to me but stopped short of murder Couldn't move me much closer to keeping my word While the crowds threw stones at the hangman The sky fell down / The bells rang This second verse shifts the focus from the first person to the second person, keeping its accusatory tone. This is certainly another hallmark of equal opportunity blame. No matter what the “you” has done, the truth remains a stranger. The ingenious /er/ sound found in murder/word introduces the hypocrisy of casting the first stone within the mental imagery of this public spectacle. Looking back on all that stolen time (turpentine) Back when I was drinking (turpentine) Don't blame me / I only took you in It takes time to do the poisoning So, let's close the door on this and lock it And that's all that it will ever be Just an accident of chemistry The entire sequence of the chorus and the hook is the definition of catchy; it stays with you long after it’s been uttered. Closing the door on “this” provides a grand opportunity to assign our own situations that we might find ourselves in while drinking (turpentine). It’s another one of Mr. Costello’s upbeat creations that belies the seriousness of its meaning. Airless shaft of an underground railway Effete assassin with a hawk in a sack The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail As it swallowed the river running under the track Under the track yeah This third verse comes right out of nowhere, seemingly unconnected to the first two verses, but trust that there’s a method to the madness. It’s atmospheric, spoken more than sung, it’s uttered from a distance, echoed and ethereal. There’s no accusation, no confession, just narration. Rail/fail, sack/track; these rhymes anchor the rest of the words around it. “The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail” is as profound as it is sinister. The end result of the poisoning, I’d like to think. Instead of the chorus and hook, after this ghostly third verse comes another verse, the fourth verse, one that mirrors the first verse. As I mentioned before, this piece is about as gorgeous on the page as it is to hear, the structure of which is downright architectural in nature. I can't tell if I'm dreaming or if I'll awaken With a song in my heart that is longing to break Let it out and let it fly high Up where the spires scrape the sky Here we have the restatement of “I can’t tell if this is real or if I’m sleeping,” only in reverse and with a much gentler observation maybe; there’s no overt crime to be found in this verse, just an allusion perhaps to a bevy of songbirds, caged birds, escaping their confines. It’s as beautiful as it is baffling. Notice that the opposite “or if I’m sleeping,” isn’t exactly mirrored. Instead it’s “or if I’ll awaken.” These subtle tweets to the syntax are amazing. Looking back on all that stolen time (turpentine) Back when I was drinking (turpentine) Don't blame me / I only took you in It takes time to do the poisoning So, let's close the door on this and lock it And that's all that it will ever be Just an accident of history Yeah Just an accident of chemistry is now an accident of history. These subtle yet powerful changes spark large disruptions in the overall flow of the piece. The use of the literal and figurative fractures into sparkly prisms of dual meanings and rethought assertions. As we have heard, the fourth verse is a rewording of the first verse. Now the fifth verse will use nearly the identical words as the third verse. Only, the fifth verse is belted out with little restraint and a sense of exasperation as opposed to its whispered and hollow sound of the third verse. Airless shaft of an underground railway Cute assassin with a hawk in a sack The earth will offer us in when our hearts fail Swallowed the river running under the track That's right The “effete” assassin in the third verse has become a “cute” assassin in this fifth and final verse. But why? There are few accidents in Mr. Costello’s words, so it must mean something. Or it doesn’t mean anything. Just another example of how his words remain alive. The ending flourish of “That’s right” is irresistible. — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Turpentine” from 2008’s “Momofuku.” My golly this piece is captivating; so many subtle shifts in words and phrases that create harmony and chaos at the same time. It’s a mystery how all of its disparate parts ultimately fit together so well. But they do. Oh, how they do. The result is a pleasing, hard driving piece that stays with you much better than many “pops songs do.” There is a fearlessness and a well-deserved mark of unbridled genius that flows through every strategically placed word in this piece. To all those who say they prefer “early Elvis Costello,” I wonder aloud if they are simply not associated with the 30+ years of sustained brilliance. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. I highly recommend going back and listening to episode 7 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “Let’s See How Brave You Are.” It’s a slow drag with “No Hiding Place,” just another gem from “Momofuku.” 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 |