Today’s slow drag is with “Satellite,” from “Spike,” released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. It’s another sterling example of Mr. Costello’s ability to observe both sides of a given situation. He does so without a hint of judgment, sexism, or condescension. The imagery that he pulls out draws you deep inside the world he creates. She looked like she learned to dance from a series of still pictures She's madly excited now, she throws her hands up like a tulip She looks like an illustration of a cocktail party Where cartoon bubbles burst in the air Champagne rolls off her tongue like a second language And it should have been her biggest night The satellite looks down on her as she begins to cry With an abundance of consonance, notably the /s/ and /l/ sounds, this verse doesn’t rely on end rhymes as much as it creates a twinkling, twilight feel instead. The “she” in question is described perfectly. Stiff and shy, her hands are tulips. The cocktail, the cartoon, and the champagne spill together to further augment the scene. All these images combine to create a vivid mindscape as it dovetails into the other side of a night “should have been” so big for her. The entire world is watching her every gesture. All over the world at the very same time, people sharing the same sorrow As the satellite looks down, her darkest hour is somebody's bright tomorrow As mentioned, this piece was written around 1989, 27 years after Relay 1 Satellite, the first geosynchronous satellite, was launched, 12 years after the first satellite dish for personal used was placed in a back yard on September 14, 1976, and 2 years before the world wide web went live on August 6, 1991. To synchronize the smaller distances, as well as the larger distances between us is sheer brilliance. He pulled on a cigarette, in the crook of his first finger Felt the static electric charge of her perfect hour-glass figure As he undressed her with his eyes, her weakness was his talent How could she know as she stepped through the lights That her dress would become transparent And with his face pressed to the screen, He muttered words he'd never dare to say if she could see him The beautiful /s/ and /l/ sounds in the first verse shift to /c/ and /f/ sounds in this verse, giving time to what happens on the other end of the transmission that should have been her biggest night. Keeping her modesty safe, there is no mention in the first verse of how her dress becomes transparent, rather we are now privy to the reaction it elicits from a comfortable distance away in the next verse. The “muttered words he’d never dare to say if she could see him” have gone on to be quite the familiar occurance these days. All over the world at the very same time, people sharing the same cheap sensation The thrill of watching somebody watching those forbidden things we never mention The satellite looks down right now and forever What it is pulled apart, let no man tether his own body to his dream, His dream is someone else Oh no, oh no. Changed from the first chorus of sharing the same sorrow, it’s now sharing the same cheap sensation. A bright tomorrow is shifted to the forbidden things that are never mentioned. Sorrow/tomorrow, sensation/mention. A few tweaks of language and the simple becomes the sinister. She went back to a pitiful compromise He'd go back to his family But for the matter of a thousand miles that separated them entirely In the hot unloving spotlight, with the secrets it arouses Now they both know what it's like inside a pornographer's trousers And in a funny way it's anonymous The satellite, it blesses us and makes these dreams come true With so many of Mr. Costello’s pieces, such as “Georgie and Her Rival,” and “My Mood Swings,” “Satellite” narrators the story from both sides, bringing them together at the end. Notice that, as their stories mingle, this third verse combines many of the sounds set forth yet separated in the first two verses: /s/ /l/ /t/ and /f/. A “pitiful comprise,” the “thousand miles that separately them entirely.” We’re told that, “wow they both know what it’s like inside a pornographer’s trousers,” as the fame that she hoped for turned into a different sort of viral fame. This invention, as we see, makes all our dreams come true. This is both hopeful and oh so wonderfully sinister. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the unintended, or perhaps skillfully intended, “the secrets it arouses.” All over the world at the very same time All over the world The satellite looks down right now and forever What it has pulled apart, let no man tether his own body to his dream, His dream is someone else Oh no, oh no Oh no, oh no In the May, 1989 issue of Spin Magazine, Mr. Costello had this to say about “Satellite”: I suppose as you get a little bit more experience you start to be able to get like a song like “Satellite,” where it’s a very big story and, like a writer that writes a story would do an outline, you start to become more aware of the technical limitations of songs. And then willfully go ahead and try to put something into a song which really is too big to be in a song. But I think it’s worth the risk because if you put enough information and enough images in to tell the story to your own satisfaction, a listener—one that’s prepared to listen for six minutes, you know, but there aren’t too many—can get the whole story; it’s all there to be put together. Or they can make an even better story out of it because they’ve got their own imagination. — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Satellite” from 1989’s “Spike.” It’s a song that’s ahead of its time in both subject matter and how so many of Elvis Costello songs will go on to not be hemmed in by time or those with small imaginations. It’s a stunning piece full of bitter sweet imagery that continues to resonate all these years later. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Wasn’t it amazing? Elvis Costello is a true genius. I encourage you to re-listen to Episode 10 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “If Killing Anybody is a Terrible Crime,” a slow drag with “Let Him Dangle,” another level-headed gem from “Spike.” 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 |