Today’s slow drag is with “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” from “Blood and Chocolate,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. The title itself is a cheerful reminder that this phrase is rarely, if ever, spoken in earnest; it’s always sarcastic and scolding, deployed at the worst time possible, after someone else has done something wrong. In this piece, Mr. Costello bends the saying, adds a couple other familiar saying to it, and then rattles off a few unexpected scavenger hunt items to drive the point home. He's a fine figure of a man and handsome too With his eyes upon the secret places he'd like to undo Still he knows who knows who and where and how And I hope that you're happy now With what could easily pass for a figurative expression, “a fine figure of a man” is nevertheless rooted in the concrete: a person, in this case a man, who appears to be big, strong, and physically attractive. Add in how he’s handsome too, well, we’re led to imagine someone who has won the genetic lottery. Then, if you take the entire line as a play on words, as in: “he’s a fine figure of a man and had some too,” well, this first line keeps it both superficial and delightfully bawdy. The delightful recursion found in “still he knows who knows who” makes it sound like a riddle or dance steps as he professes to also know that that person knows both where and how, or maybe it is he who knows where and how. But what exactly does he mean? It’s a line that can be diagrammed several different ways and still not reveal its true intent. This four line first verse anchors itself with an aa/bb structure, too/undo, how/now, as positions the hook to appear in each subsequent verse. He's got all the things you need and some that you will never But you make him sound like frozen food, his love will last forever Still he knows what you want and what you don't allow And I hope that you're happy now As writers, we’re always told that “thing” is a placeholder word, but in this case I’d say the preeminent poet Mr. Costello has nailed the picture to wall quite well. He has much more than you will ever have the pleasure of experiencing. He’s far too good for you, yet here you are, making him sound like frozen food. The line, “still he knows what you want and you don’t allow” is a scattershot of innuendo, calling back nicely to “still he knows who knows who and where and how.” The lines are 10 and 12 syllables long, and even rhyme with each other, and of course, “And I hope that you’re happy now.” I hope that you're happy now like you're supposed to be And I know that this will hurt you more than it hurts me Further throwing this normally sarcastic phrase of, “I hope you’re happy now,” into slight chaos, is the declaration of how it’s the way “you’re supposed to be.” This creates just enough disruption to linger over a familiar phrase just a bit longer, to muse about whether this is a good feeling or a bad feeling. The next line, another example of idiom busting, asserts that it will hurt you more than it’ll hurt me. As they say, behind every joke there is a grain of truth. So, do you think the desire is that “you’re” supposed to be miserable? What sounds so positive is pretty much a dagger. He's acting innocent and proud still you know what he's after Like a matador with his pork sword, while we all die of laughter In his turquoise pajamas and motorcycle hat I hope you're happy now because you'll soon put paid to that I knew then what I know now I never loved you anyhow And I hope you're happy now Here’s another stellar verse with a rigid end-rhyme structure. This time it expands to aa/bb/cc. After/laughter is particularly pleasing. Unfamiliar with bullfighting as I am, I’d always assumed a pork sword was a type of weapon used in the ring. As it turns out, I wasn’t far off. It’s a “gentleman’s chosen weapon” alright, mostly his penis. There’s only one reason to “die of laughter” regarding this, or so I would think. Oh, so now I understand much better. It’s amazing what you can learn when you do a slow drag with Mr. Costello’s lyrics. The phrase “Put paid to” is a British idiom that means to end or to destroy something completely, irrevocably. He wishes happiness now because it will certainly be short lived. It’s a brutal sentiment buffered by charming words that seem to cushion the blow. I knew then what I know now I never loved you anyhow And I hope you're happy now — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “I Hope You’re Happy Now” from 1986’s “Blood and Chocolate.” From this, his 11th album in this first 9 years of recording, many of the idiom busting lines of his earlier work aren’t as easily found going forward. Yet, in this one comically abusive tale, in addition to the flat affect of “I hope you’re happy now,” we’re delighted to several good turns of familiar phrases. There’s the inverse of the old saying “this will hurt me more than it hurts you,” the metaphor that buries a pork sword deep inside a bullfighting ring, and the British idiom, “put paid to.” “After three different attempts at the song,” Mr. Costello wrote in the liner notes for “Girls Girls Girls,” he concludes that, “in the long run I’m happier to live with it being humorous, rather than murderous. As he wrote in chapter 16 of his book, “Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink,” it was a drink fueled interview with a man who had “deathly pallor” that produced “a mess of highly quotable exaggerations of my true feeling,” that ultimately reduced his motivations to mere “revenge and guilt” songs. With a line such as “I never loved you anyhow,” in a song such as this, it seems plausible that “I Hope You’re Happy Now” is a parody of other people’s idea of what his idea of revenge and guilt really are. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. Other gems from “Blood and Chocolate” that I’ve had the thrill of doing a slow drag with is episode 1, “Just Like the Place Where They Take Your Spine,” a slow drag with “Poor Napoleon,” episode 25, “Tough and Transparent,” a slow drag with “Crimes of Paris,” and episode 51, “Blue Becomes You,” a slow drag with “Blue Chair.” Give them a re-listen to. I think you’ll enjoy them. In addition to writing and producing this podcast, my first book is available. “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” is starting to get some attention. Find it on Amazon; it’s in eBook and paperback versions. Give it a read, rate it, review it, and spread the word. I’m well into my second book now, and would love even more attention for this wonderful little book. 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, “I Hope You’re Happy Now”: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/I_Hope_You%27re_Happy_Now “I Hope You’re Happy Now”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJgBpjo7dpY Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” https://www.amazon.com/Most-Terrible-Time-Life-Thursday-ebook/dp/B07XLXS5PL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y4SGCT62WPEK&dchild=1&keywords=the+most+terrible+time+in+my+life+ends+thursday&qid=1608873405&sprefix=The+Most+Terrible+Time+in+%2Caps%2C195&sr=8-1 “Proper Usage of “That” in English”: https://www.thoughtco.com/uses-of-that-1210017 “Put Paid to” idiom: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/put-paid-to “Fine Figure of a Man” meaning: https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/a-fine-figure-of-a-man-woman 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 |