Today’s slow drag is with “The Name of This Thing is Not Love,” from “The Delivery Man,” released in 2004. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. It’s a piece that melds adult emotions with childish reactions, or maybe it’s the other way around. Told from the first-person, second-person, and omniscient third-person points of view, “The Name of This Thing is Not Love” wants to place blame, but can’t seem to land the punch, so to speak. There's a part of this feeling that I just cannot kill But the name of this thing is not love And I can't take a potion, and I won't take a pill So, it tortures me still But the name of this thing is not love Told from the first-person point of view, this first verse rhymes kill/pill/still together, which adds a nice lilt to a difficult discussion. Rhyming love with itself isn’t enough, the entire line has been repeated for melody and for impact. The “thing” going forward in this piece, as we’re keyed into in the first line, is “feeling.” At least there’s a part of this feeling that isn’t love. Feeling therefore becomes the antecedent to the little word “thing.” Thing then serves as the pronoun that replaces the noun. This is only in theory based on the grammar itself, so let’s see if this assertion holds true throughout. Then you start entertaining such a terrible thought Life is so very short And the name of this thing is not love This sounds as if it could be an unexpected direct appeal to the second person, or an inward beratement using the cockeyed first person. Placing thought/short near to each other to imply a rhyme is genius. What is more, Mr. Costello makes excellent use of the big words as well as the small words. The subtractive conjunction, “but,” becomes additive, “and the name of this thing is not love. What does it mean when it’s paired with how long life is? The line “Life is so very short,” sounds as if it’s a phrase that will be revisited before too long. There's a bruise on her arm and some blood on the floor But the name of this thing is not love And they're taunting some girl that they claim to adore She can't take anymore But the name of this thing is not love Now told in the third person, and back to contradictive, “but,” this verse has turned dark and theatrical, to be sure. It relies on the familiar established refrain as it surrounds itself with the plucky sounding floor/adore/anymore. Acts of tumult and disruption do seem to bear at least a passing resemblance to love. Who in the world do you think that you are? That you pushed me this far The name of this thing is not love This verse drops any pretense of “but” and “and” as it makes a statement of fact, rebuffing the audacity of another person having gone too far. Or, it could be a self-rebuke as suggested above. It’s quite remarkable how it seems possible to approach many of Mr. Costello’s creations from so many different directions, and still be right each time. This piece speaks to matters of the heart, of course, so certainly there will likely be a change of attitude to come. There is so much that has been laid down already that seems to promise a payoff in the end. Will it? He thinks of her still, although you'd never guess He's trying hard to forget her The occasional moments that he'll always bless Watching her dress for worse or for better This verse is stunning in its ability to both rhyme and seemingly bust an idiom. Guess/bless/dress wrap around a moment of weakness, of how there are some things we just cannot scrub from our memories. All this, while juxtaposing a sensual and intimate moment of dressing with the implication of the bad luck associated with seeing the bride in her dress before vows have been exchanged, vows that have now been rearranged in order to reflect the mood of the piece. He watched her pick over her broken playthings What played on his mind is not love The cast-aside tokens and discarded rings Over one of his flings But the name of this thing is not love The emphatic fourth line of this sixth verse follows the pattern found in both the first and third verses, squeezing out a sentiment in a rapid rush of six syllables: “so, it tortures me still,” “she can’t take anymore, “over one of his flings.” The use of the past tense with the present tense in “what played on his mind is not love” seems grammatically incorrect, yet justified in the moment, a testament to how omnipresent this struggle is that cannot be placed in time. Flings and rings call back to the dress and vows of the last verse. What do you suppose her broken playthings are? Then he threw something down in the wild rushing river And won't ever recover The name of this thing is not love Doing something irrevocable in the name of love seems quite natural. Doing something rash when it’s not love, well, that’s another sort of madness, isn’t it? Perhaps this is what happens when you protest too much. Then you start out pretending that you're so very tough Life is not short enough But the name of this thing is not love “Life is so very short,” has turned into “not short enough,” when you think you can get through it unscathed, when you think you’re “so very tough.” Up to the very end, this piece tries to convince itself it is not human, that all of these words and actions are not motivated by love. But love is thug. Even if you reduce it by half, the feeling of it still breaks through. All the buildup and no pay off of breaking away from this feeling. — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “The Name of This Thing Is Not Love” from 2004’s “The Delivery Man.” Structurally sound, emotionally stunted, and as human as it gets, this piece argues with itself in a wonderfully juvenile fashion. What do you think? Do you think the thing that is said to not be love, as mentioned above, is “feeling”? If not, what else do you think it is referring to? That’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. Other gems from “The Delivery Man” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episodes 16 and 17, “I Might Recite a Small Prayer,” and “The Quickening Art,” they are slow drags with “Bedlam,” and the concept of music unlocking the mind, episode 27, “Or Maybe I Really Love You,” a slow drag with “Needle Time,” and episode 52, “The Worthless Bum,” a slow drag with “Monkey to Man.” 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, “The Name of This Thing Is Not Love”: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/The_Name_Of_This_Thing_Is_Not_Love “The Name of This Thing Is Not Love”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-OQZvFoh_Q 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 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 |