Today’s slow drag is with “Deportees Club,” from “Goodbye Cruel World,” released in 1984. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. Considered “simply the wrong music for the right words,” per Mr. Costello, “Deportees Club” words would go on to be given its own “slow drag” treatment, a slower version with slightly different lyrics that found the light of day on the “Goodbye Cruel World” 1995 Ryko Extended Play, as well as the “King of America” bonus disc released in 2005. I love the words. I love the music. I’ll take it whichever way I can get it. In the Arrivederci Roma nightclub, Bar and Grill Standing in the fiberglass ruins watching time stand still All your troubles you confess to another faceless backless dress Schnapps, chianti, Porto and ouzo Pernod, vodka, sambuca, I love you so Deportee Arrivederci is of course Italian for “goodbye, until we meet again,” which gives a slightly less dire and more affable perspective to this place of exile. It even has a fully stocked bar and grill. The seven reeled off types of liquor create their own travelogue. The French (per-no) Pernod, the Greek Ouzo, and the Italian Sambuca are all anise-flavored aperitifs and liquors. Schnapps is a German word for a dram of liquor; dram is a Scottish word that means a single serving. The “snaps” part of the word is Dutch for “mouthful.” Vodka is Russian for water. Porto is a sweet Portuguese dessert wine, a small glass of which would sit on a stool next to Mr. Costello’s mic stand, right next to the bell he’d ding at the end of “Miss Macbeth,” during the North American leg of the “Spike” tour. And then, of course, there’s the Italian chianti. The bottle that sits in a wicker basket is called a “fiasco,” which seems to serve as the fitting allegory for this punch-drunken departure lounge of unknown address, headed towards what feels like parts unknown. Tatty beauty talking in riddles Rome burns down everybody's on the fiddle Two thousand dollars for a wife and some class A thousand years drowned in a chaser glass How I wish that she was mine I could have been a king in six/eight time Schnapps chianti Porto and ouzo Pernod vodka sambuca, I love you so Deportee With its reliable aa/bb/cc structure, this verse draws upon many of the quirks of the English language to make its point with great precision. To begin, the English language has a clever onomatopoeic feature about it. Our words often sound like what they are. It’s a connection between the sensory and motor areas of the brain that is sometimes referred to as the Kiki/Bouba Effect. Whereby Kiki is sharp, Bouba is round. This entire piece is littered with such innuendo. The word “Tatty,” later updated to “tattered” in the slow version, for instance, exposes its definition of something shabby and possibly of poor quality without having to give any more detail. Context is king in this nightclub. The well-known expression, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned,” becomes a bit of a busted idiom when the subject and object are swapped, Nero is replaced with “everybody,” and the fiddle, thanks to Nero, is turned into a liability, thus “on the fiddle” means to engage in cheating or swindling. Everybody’s cheating in the face calamity. In addition to the kiki/bouba effect and the busted idiom, there’s clearly some meta allusion trapsing around this clever piece as well. For example, “on the fiddle” could very well be heard as part of the band introduction. As well, “I could have been a king in 6/8 time” is an overtly musical reference that I simply do not have the dexterity to parse any further. A thousand dollars, a thousand years. Either way, time is money. It can get you whatever it is you think you want, and everything you don’t. In the slower version, this line has been amended to “but a thousand dollars won’t buy you a Yankee wife, alas.” It's a brittle charm but she's had enough Still she wrote her number on his paper cuff You don't know where to start or where to stop All this pillow talk is nothing more than talking shop It’s going to have to be a guess, so if you know more, please let me know, but I surmise a paper cuff is a performer’s friend, changeable after each sweaty performance. It’s bound to be a bit more meta when you can’t seem to separate the performers from the performers; from the performers. When I came here tonight my pockets were overflowing They took my return ticket without me even knowing I pray to the saints and all the martyrs For the secret life of Frank Sinatra But none of these things have come to pass In America the law is a piece of ass I'm a deportee Schnapps chianti Porto and ouzo Pernod vodka sambuca, I love you so Here’s another verse with the same aa/bb/cc structure. Overflowing/knowing, saints/Sinatra, pass/ass, and then of course the deftly reeled off bar order. While his moniker might have come from “The King,” in my limited view, Mr. Costello’s talents and temperament seem to more closely align with “The Chairman of the Board.” Therefore, there is something intrinsically identifiable about the unanswered, or answered prayers for the secret life of Frank Sinatra. From “Crawling to the USA,” before and after, the United States seem to hold a certain fascination in the poetry of Elvis Costello. Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine what’s so interesting; it only takes a few of these mystical turns of phrases to see it from a traveler’s point of view. And while double entendres run rampant throughout nearly every Mr. Costello piece, there are few instances of unmistakable salty blue language. There’s this simile of what American law is like, as well as a line from “King of America’s” “Suit of Lights” that has a barbed line that begins “And it’s the force of habit…” There has to be a few more, certainly, but none spring to mind at the moment. With the word “overflowing,” in this verse, coupled with the mention of fiddle in the first verse, as an interesting aside, “fiddle” was said to also be the name of a raised-corner plate used at sea. It was considered to be a “square meal” if the sailor took just enough to not slop over the four upturned corners. If too much food was taken, and it sloshed over the sides of the plate, then that overflow was considered to be “on the fiddle.” This may or may not be true, but it’s fun to wander down rabbit holes. Also, violins didn’t exist in Nero’s time. Revisionist history, and all that. — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Deportees Club” from 1984’s “Goodbye Cruel World.” It’s a clever meta piece, filled with sensory and motor connections, idiom busting, and just enough blue language to find itself “edgy.” Then again, it might just be a simple love letter to licorice-flavored spirits. Anything is possible, I suppose. Which version is your favorite? Let me know. That’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. Other gems from “Goodbye Cruel World” you’ll enjoy a slow drag with are episode 6, “Don’t Let Them See You Crying that Way,” a slow drag with the lovely “Joe Porterhouse,” episode 30, “The Bells Take Their Tolls,” a slow drag with “Peace in Our Time,” and episode 57, “Your Affectionate Fingerprint,” a slow drag with “Worthless Thing.” 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 Deportees Club”: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/The_Deportees_Club “The Deportees Club”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf2RKMXjrMI “Deportee” (slow version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIzTXbixEaQ “Did Nero Really Fiddle While Rome Burned?”: https://www.history.com/news/did-nero-really-fiddle-while-rome-burned “The bouba/kiki effect: how do we link shapes to sounds?”: https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2016/oct/17/the-boubakiki-effect-how-do-we-link-shapes-to-sounds “On the Fiddle” expression: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/on-the-fiddle.html 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 |