Today’s slow drag is with “Episode of Blonde” from “When I Was Cruel,” released in April, 2002. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. A spookier, scaled down, chorus-free version of the same piece, “Peroxide Side” (Blunt Cut), can be found on “Cruel Smile,” released in October of that same year. “Cruel Smile” is a collection of B-sides and orphans from the “When I Was Cruel” recording sessions, and God knows how we all love a reissue. Now, “Episode of Blonde” is a fiddly, impatient piece filled with stunning imagery that is firmly rooted in the Surrealistic style of art, of which “unusual and impossible things are shown happening.” Visually speaking, it conjures Buñuel and Dali’s 1929, “An Andalusian Dog.” Linguistically speaking, it’s another example of how “colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” That is to say, grammatically correct, semantically silly. I spy for the "Spirit of Curiosity" All the scandals of each vain monstrosity I gossip and I pry and I insinuate If the failure is great Then it tends to fascinate Curiosity/monstrosity, insinuate/fascinate; just because they rhyme at the end doesn’t mean they can’t have fun getting there. One might assume the “Spirit of Curiosity” is some sort of tabloid rag, one that the “confidential” “Hattie O’Hara” might even work for. It’s a bit like “The Case of The Three Pins,” perhaps. Something that exists in some form in some world. “I gossip, and I pry, and I insinuate.” In a piece with nearly 600 words in five minutes, this demonstrates the economy of words I keep going on about. Also, notice how this will be the first of a few lists put down in a parallel structure that we’ll find scattered throughout this piece. The verses might not seem to follow a particular narrative, as we will see, but they certainly do follow the same grammatical markers. As I’ve alluded to before, Mr. Costello seems almost Prescriptivist in his writing, yet with a Descriptionist’s heart, I’d like to think. A tornado dropped a funnel cloud with twenty tons of rain Though she had the attention span of warm cellophane Her lovers fell like Skittles in a 10-pin bowling lane But nothing could compare with that explosion of fame So, let the metaphor and simile games begin. Apropos of not much from the preceding verse, this verse combines disparate images that send the mind reeling. Warm cellophane is downright tactile in its mention, isn’t it? You can feel it clumping, shrinking in your hand. Makes the mind tumbles. Then there’s skittles. I like this reference the most. Skittles are also referred to as “ninepins,” that were once played outdoors on a lawn. So, her lovers were in the wrong place and there weren’t enough of them, as they fell in the 10-pin bowling lane. These two lines help construct the semiotic waterfall where the lyrics in this piece cascade from. So, you jumped back with alarm Every Elvis has his army Every rattlesnake its charm Can you still hear me? Am I coming through just fine? Your memory was buried in a simple box of pine Alarm/army/charm are good rhymes, so very good, but what they surround is, to use a word I don’t usually use, delicious. The nonchalant yet loaded mention of the name Elvis and the inevitable distractions that come along with that moniker. This is not an unprecedented mention, as you probably well know. Before this piece, they were “drinking vintage Elvis Presley wine” in “Goodbye Cruel World’s” “You Worthless Thing.” After this piece there will be: “in a certain light, he looked like Elvis,” from “The Delivery Man.” The syntactic nimbleness that Mr. Costello possesses is on display with “simple box of pine,” which reminds me again of “Hattie O’Hara Confidential” when she says, “In a coat of trench.” There’s a pretention to it that I simple adore and hope I pull off half as well in my own writing. Did her green eyes seduce you and make you get so weak? Was there fire engine red that she left upon your cheek? It's such a shame you had to break the heart you could have counted on But the last thing you need is another episode of blonde It took three dissimilar verses to get us to this colorful chorus. Can you detect a theme so far? As soon as you think there might be one, it changes course. The pronouns and points of view have shifted from I to you to she so far. What a bonkers piece this is. I love it. There’s a certain impatience to the way Mr. Costello sings this chorus, interrupting, talking over the word “blonde” at the end for want of getting to the next verse. Compare this with “Peroxide Side,” where the chorus has been stripped out entirely, with only “it’s an episode of blonde” repeated at the end. Interestingly, the absence of the chorus doesn’t seem to affect the flow of that piece much at all. What a remarkable feat to fit in well in one piece and not be noticed when it’s gone in another. In isolation, the line, “It’s such a shame you had to break the heart you could have counted on,” sounds insightful, conciliatory; heartfelt yet slightly accusatory words of wisdom from someone who’s been there before. Combined with the contrasting conjunction, “but,” at the start of the next line, we see, the above line becomes even more world weary and flat. Oh, well, that’s the last thing you needed anyway. The rug gets pulled out from under the sentimental fool with a quick stroke of the pen. Such brilliance. Anyone else might have been content to simply run you through with a sword, instead of merely pricking you with a sharp stiletto. Revolving like a jeweler’s figure on a music box The spangled curtain parted and night-club scene unlocks Pinned and fixed and fastened in a fallow spot Arms thrown out to everyone, she's giving all she's got This verse, 11 lines in total, with a structure that I can’t quite discern, rushes out with the force of the 20 tons of rains as mentioned above. These first four lines are the only ones set down in a familiar aa/bb structure: box/unlocks, spot/got. This is where the surrealist nature of showing unusual things happening truly shines in this piece. It’s a technicolor snapshot at a woman at play. To the last gasp of a wounded bandoneon A tiny man imploring to the ceiling fan this stolen feeling Amplified up through a busted speaker Blaring, blasting, advertising, distorted beyond reason Stunning visuals combined with a torrent of adjectives: imploring, amplified, revolving, pinned, fixed, fastened, blaring, blasting, advertising. Mr. Costello’s depiction of the leaking sound a broken bandoneon makes gives it a human feeling. A tiny man with a stolen feeling. What? Distorted beyond reason. What? Sometimes a slow drag is more appreciation and less exploration. I certainly can’t reconcile the reality of these otherworldly passages. Into the street where petty crime-coats shadow panic drunkards Half out of the taxi-cab the barker seized my elbow He thought I was another lonely, likely pilgrim looking for St. Telmo This 11-line verse, that started with the revolving figure, concludes with a noir circus type scene of cloak and dagger type imagery. St. Telmo is a district in Bueno Aires, Argentina, giving this a slight tango feel, perhaps. All these lines, together and separate, impenetrable though they might me, delight us as they provide a cinematic excursion into the nearly possible. I tried to keep a straight face but you know it never pays He would stare into those eyes and then vacation in her gaze She was a cute little ruin that he pulled out of the rubble Now they're both living in a soft soap bubble Set down in a traditional manner, nevertheless this fourth verse oozes individuality, as it refers to the I, he, she, and they of the action. The soft soap bubble, one could argue, is the most enduring image of this piece, standing out from the very first listening. It’s not a real place, but much like the concept of “home,” we all have that snug place we go to when we hear the words. The film producer's contemplating, entertaining suicide The picture crumpled in his fist, his runaway child bride The timepiece stretched across his wrist She couldn't care less cast aside The scent that so repelled him that he swore: "insecticide" And there's farewell note to mother That will conclude "Your loving Son" "Oh, tell your other children not to do as I have done" Suicide/bride/aside/insecticide give this verse a cohesiveness that we’re not really looking for anymore, but we’ll take it. Lines, such as “she couldn’t care less cast aside” stay just this side of grammatical, and just that side of sense. Second to “soft soap bubble,” or maybe equal to it, is the exclamation of “insecticide.” Not that this verse, alongside the chorus has been omitted from the “Peroxide” version of the piece. So an artist drags a toothbrush across the first thing that he sees And names the painting "Christ's Last Exit into Purgatory" Receiving secret messages from an alien intelligence And paying off his stalker it's a legitimate expense So paste up pictures of those shrill and hollow girls with puckered lips She's a trophy on your arm, a magnet for your money clip The moral of this story is a sorry tale to say They're pieced with links of chains so they can never run away Intelligence/expense. The amount of low frequency words, that rhyme no less, strewed all over this piece is astounding. Another catchy title, “Christ’s Last Exit into Purgatory” seems to only exist in some parallel world. “Paying off the stalker, it’s a legitimate expense” provides more words of wisdom. The alliterative /L/ sound, last/alien/intelligence/legitimate/shrill/hollow/lips/clips, coils around poetic assertions such as, “she’s a trophy on your arm,” “puckered lips,” and how they’re “pieced with links of chains.” So, after all that, 7 verses, 3 repeats of the chorus, and oh so many words, rhyming and illustrative, Mr. Costello tells us that the “moral of this story is a sorry tale to say.” That might be true, I suppose if we take it in one grammatical, one semantically charged sentence at a time. Taken as a whole, however, it’s complete giddy surrealistic madness. —Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Episode of Blonde” from 2002’s “When I was Cruel.” To be sure, there are so many more fine grain avenues, allusions, and linguistic bugaboos lurking in this piece that I’ve not directly touched upon here in our limited time together. This has, however, been an appreciation of an otherworldly piece, filled with dizzying rhymes, allusions, and statements. It’s one of a handful of pieces that include the mention of “Elvis.” It’s also one of the rare Elvis Costello pieces that fade out at the end. Here’s a fun trivia question: can you any other of his pieces that fade out? The answer is wonderfully obvious. And that’s it for today’s slow drag, my friend. Thank you for listening. Other gems from “When I was Cruel” you’ll enjoy a Slow Drag with are episode 2, “And You Only Wanted to Be Famous,” a slow drag with “Alibi,” episode 42, “A Creature of Habit,” a slow drag with “Tart,” episode 49, “Every Twisted Grudge,” a slow drag with “Soul for Hire,” episode 63, “I’m Counting on You,” a slow drag with the delightful “My Blue Window,” and episode 81 “Gentle Airs,” a slow drag with “Radio Silence.” As always, thank you for helping to get the word out about this little passion project. Truly, it means the world. 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, “Episode of Blonde”: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Episode_Of_Blonde “Episode of Blonde”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoGCWtp4UIY Main Wiki Resource, “Peroxide Side” Blunt Cut: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruel_Smile “Peroxide Side” (Blunt Cut): http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Episode_Of_Blonde “Un Chien Andalou,” (The Andalusian Dog) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7gd_t6WMQ “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously “Governing English: Prescriptivism, Descriptivism, and Change” https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/show/english-language/governing-english “Skittles – History and Useful Information” https://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Skittles.htm 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 |