Today’s slow drag is with “Poor Fractured Atlas,” from “All This Useless Beauty,” released in 1996. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. Where once the outlook and scope of understanding was slanted by a British upbringing and a penchant for clever idiom busting, this piece from Elvis Costello’s 17th major studio album taps into a fanciful landscape using beguiling imagery that honors rock and roll by infusing it with a novel concept told through low frequency words and journeyman rhyme schemes that are punctuated by lilting end rhymes. He's out in the woods with his squirrel gun To try to recapture his anger He's screaming some words at the top of his lungs Until he begins to feel younger Gun, lungs, and younger; this gorgeous rhyme set bursts like little fireworks from the docile beginning of the first verse. A squirrel gun, as the name denotes, is designed for small game and has a range of roughly 400 yards. This weapon is referenced in Marty Robbins’ 1961 “The Ballad of the Alamo.” Both squirrel guns and muzzle loaders were used as they “stood together heel and toe to defend the Alamo.” Both the squirrel gun and feeling younger are strategically placed, as we’ll find out as we go along. But back at his desk in the city we find Our trembling punch-drunken fighter Who can't find the strength now to punish the length Of the ribbon in his little typewriter Fighter and typewriter will sound familiar to even the most casual Elvis Costello fan. Although, I’d argue there is no such thing as a “casual” Elvis Costello “fan.” Rhyming find in the first line with the same word in the third line, is inspired. There are some who contend you cannot rhyme a word with itself. It’s simply repeating itself. Other call this an “identical rhyme,” which I seem to favor. What is more, this is a contention that has been debunked in this and many other Elvis Costello pieces. The rhyming pair of strength/length is an excellent example of making use of every square inch of canvas. In these few lines we have a well-rounded understanding of our protagonist. Muted tones and emotional impotence are now put into sharper focus by having screamed into the wilderness. Poor Fractured Atlas Threw himself across the mattress Waving his withering pencil As if it were a pirate's cutlass I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden He said "That's how the child in me planned it; A woman wouldn't understand it" We’re all familiar with Atlas; he held the world on his shoulders, the name given to maps of the world. Well, that might not be exactly true. Putting the weight on his shoulders was Atlas’s punishment for having led the Titans into battle for control over the heavens against the Olympic gods. Zeus, the victor, condemned Atlas to eternally stand at the western most edge of the world in order to hold “the heavens on his shoulders.” This was in order to prevent [the earth and sky] from resuming their primordial embrace.” Atlas means “very enduring,” so to call him “poor” and “fractured” represents what a great fall it is when he throws himself across the mattress. His withering pencil is another form of something heavy and crushing. The lovely reversal of how he’s “trying to increase his burden,” is a gorgeous failure that seems nearly impossible. You have to really blow it to defy gravity. The verse finishes with a flourish; another word rhymed with itself; this time planned it/understand it. Genius. But what would you expect from a chorus that begins by rhyming Atlas and mattress. I believe there was something that I wanted to say Before I conclude this epistle But you would forgive me for holding my tongue 'Cause man made the blade and the pistol Yes man made the waterfall over the dam To temper his tantrum with magic Now you can't be sure of that tent of azure Since he punched a hole in the fabric It is simply stunning how the structure of length/strength in one line from the first verse is mirrored here with sure/azure. The shift into the first person is surprising, making it sound confessional, so very intimate. It’s as if we’re able to read what he’d finally gathered his strength to tell. Or, it is a different person commenting on what has transpired. “Forgive me for holding my tongue” because man has harnessed the use of tools, to the point where it can divert the flow of water. The tent of azure, the skies, seem to follow Atlas’s burden and how the opposite of increasing his burden was of his own making. It reminds me of one of my favorite book titles, Milan Kudera’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” Poor Fractured Atlas Threw himself across the mattress Waving his withering pencil As if it were a pirate's cutlass I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden He said "That's how the child in me planned it; A woman wouldn't understand it" There are so many clues and contradictions in this beautiful chorus that it was worth another listen. Especially, since it ends with such a haunting punctuation. A woman wouldn't understand it A woman wouldn't understand it — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Poor Fractured Atlas” from 1996’s “All This Useless Beauty.” As mentioned above, the squirrel gun and how he begins to feel younger might have been strategically placed in this lovely piece, as well as the statement that “that’s how the child in me planned it.” While I try my best to avoid hearing what Elvis Costello songs are “about,” sometimes it’s nearly impossible. Just like “Veronica” is about his grandmother, “Poor Fractured Atlas,” or so I once read or heard, was conceived after learning of a teenager with a terminal brain tumor. His dying wish was to kill a Kodiak bear. There is something so perverse about a human faced with mortality, wishing for another creature’s death. It makes the understanding of mortality complicated at the very minimum. Have you heard this story about the boy and the bear? What do you think of the juxtaposition and how this death upon death scenario created this expansive piece of art that will always live on? Research tells me that this is a true story, that the boy’s name was Eric, although the connection between him and this piece is not quantified. I have a vague memory of hearing Mr. Costello mention these origins on “World Café.” Eric’s request to kill a Kodiak Bear in Alaska, the Make-a-Wish foundation said, “reflects a lifelong involvement in family hunting.” Which, “family hunting” can be its own ambiguous song title. “The Fund for Animals,” in opposition to Eric’s request, stepped in to offer a camera, so that Eric could take pictures of the bears instead. Seemingly, the procedure is the same, only with more humane consequences. The Make-a-Wish Foundation declined to say if the trip took place. All of this is to say, THIS is how to write poetry. Subvert, allude, overstate, understate, and twist. What an excellent lesson. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. I encourage you to re-listen to Episode 9 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “Grace and Virtue,” a slow drag with “All This Useless Beauty,” Episode 23, “False and Lovely Modesty,” a slow drag with “Little Atoms,” as well as episode 56, “Pure Illuminated Sweetness,” a slow drag with “Distorted Angel.” All three of these episodes are slow drags with more gems from “All This Useless Beauty.” So, until next time, adieu, my little ballyhoo.
Show Notes:
---------------------- Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA Twitter: https://twitter.com/slowdragremedy Email: [email protected] Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag ---------------------- References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Poor Fractured Atlas”: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Poor_Fractured_Atlas “Poor Fractured Atlas”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afjkN_0RM3Y Squirrel Gun definition: https://www.andrews.edu/~rwright/Oldwww/Alamo/squirrel.html “Atlas” and the interesting facts: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/atlas/ “Boy’s Last Wish Sets off Animal Rights Furor” https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/12/us/boy-s-last-wish-sets-off-animal-rights-furor.html Episode 9 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “Grace and Virtue,” a slow drag with “All This Useless Beauty”: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/slowdragwithremedy/id/11434418 Episode 23 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “False and Lovely Modesty,” a slow drag with “Little Atoms”: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/slowdragwithremedy/id/12489932 Episode 56 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “Pure Illuminated Sweetness,” a slow drag with “Distorted Angel”: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/slowdragwithremedy/id/15986612 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 |