When I Was Cruel
by Elvis Costello
Costello has released what he describes as his “first LOUD album since 199?”. Critics everywhere are hailing it as the return of ‘the nervous tic of a generation’ and a glorious revisit of his punk rock glory.
There are a few great songs worth special mention. The first is “45″, a song he wrote for his 45th birthday. It begins with Armstice day in 1945, the beginning of his generation and goes through the 45rpm records he bought as a child, to splitting up those same records in a divorce and finally his own 45th birthday. He addresses rock and roll of course, as part of the definition of his generation (and manages to poke fun both his youthful and current self) with:
bq. Bass and treble heal every hurt
there’s a rebel in a nylon shirt
but the words are a mystery, I’ve heard
until you turn it down to 33 and 1/3
This song of all of them best displays classic Costello infatuation with metaphor and laissez-faire attitude toward meter. I first heard “45″ live when Costello was dowtown with Steve Nieve. He played it on an acoustic guitar, unamplified, in a very small venue — and it was brilliant. Even the unsatisfying drums and background vocals can’t diminish it by much in the studio version.
“Spooky Girlfriend” is my favorite and one of the most classic pieces. Costello tackles the madonna/whore complex _one_ more time with lyrics like:
bq. I want a girl to make a mess
to do no wrong she must confess
and then perhaps hitch up her dress . . .
[. . . ]
bq. I want a girl who has no past
she’s made up now, but that won’t last
Now *there* is a double meaning worthy of Costello.
bq. I want to paint you with glitter and with dirt
Picture you with innocence and hurt
The shutter closes
Exposes the shot
she says “Are you looking up my skirt?”
When you say “No”
She says
“why not?”
You can hear 45 at
http://www.tty1.org/~joshua/music/45.mp3
and “Spooky Girlfriend” at http://www.tty1.org/~joshua/music/SpookyGirlfriend.mp3″
