Today’s slow drag is with “The Only Flame in Town,” from “Goodbye Cruel World,” released in 1984. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA,MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Only Flame in Town” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Only_Flame_In_Town

“The Only Flame in Town” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugcURF7B_gw

“The Only Flame in Town” Alternate version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geApcpKSk-4

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"The Only Flam in Town" Lyrics 

I know a girl got my mind in a mess

I never heard her say goodnight and God bless

She's not the only flame in town

 

And when we're alone, we never quarrel

I'm miles away, now here's the moral

She's not the only flame in town

 

She's not the only flame in town

She's got to stop thinking that I'm carrying this torch around

 

He struck a match and it lit up her face

We should have struck a match, girl

To burn down the whole place

Now you're not the only flame in town

 

But you blew hot and cold

Turned my heart to a cinder

And with each passing day

You're less tender and more tinder

Now you're not the only flame in town

 

She's not the only flame in town

She's got to stop thinking that I'm carrying this torch around

You're not the only flame

You're not the only flame

 

Thought I saw your face in the fire

But it's so hard to remember

Even an inferno can cool down to an ember

Now you're not the only flame

You're not the only flame

You're not the only flame in town

Today’s slow drag is with “Poisoned Rose,” from “King of America,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA,MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Poisoned Rose” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Poisoned_Rose

“Poisoned Rose” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ycLSDu7jc

“La Vie Bohéme” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYYE_1Br-kE

“A Drunken Man’s Praise of Sobriety” Elvis Costello Wiki https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=A_Drunken_Man%27s_Praise_Of_Sobriety

“A Drunken Man’s Praise of Sobriety” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFf-iHQjLNI

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Poisoned Rose" Lyrics

The poisoned rose

That you gave to me

It left me half alive

And half in ecstasy

But if half of your love

Is all I can win

Give me just a fraction

But no more medicine

 

The poisoned rose

On a Valentine card

That you take straight to the heart

That you call my junkyard

 

But if all I can do

Is save pieces of you

The piece of your mind

The piece of your heart

Didn't tear me apart

Like the poisoned rose

I received from you

 

I don't know

How we came to grow

Into this very sad affair

Every time we do the decent thing

Somebody spikes the drink

And a single becomes a pair

 

The poisoned rose

That you wear at your best

That I keep pressed between the white sheets

Where you lie half undressed

 

I threw away my shirt and shoes

You looked and I dived in

It's just you and me now

'Cause I threw away the gin

I threw away your alibis

And all your worn-out clothes

I threw myself upon the floor

But I couldn't throw away

This poisoned rose

This poisoned rose

This poisoned rose

Today’s slow drag is with “Lipstick Vogue,” from “This Year’s Model,” released in 1978. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Lipstick Vogue” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Lipstick_Vogue

 

“Lipstick Vogue” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3sqZUMgcX4 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

"Lipstick Vogue" Lyrics

Don't say you love me when it's just a rumor

Don't say a word if there is any doubt

Sometimes I think that love is just a tumor

You've got to cut it out

 

You say you're sorry for the things that you've done

You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it

I wouldn't worry, I had so much fun

Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being

 

It's you

Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue

It's you

Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue

Oh yeah

 

Get to the slot machine almost dead on arrival

Just hit me one more time with that live wire

Maybe they told you you were only a girl in a million

You say I've got no feelings

This is a good way to kill them

 

Select the control and then insert the token

You wanna throw me away but I'm not broken

You've got a lot to say, well I'm not jokin

There are some words they don't allow to be spoken

Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being

 

It's you

Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue

It's you

Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue

 

Not just another mouth lost in the lipstick vogue (repeats)

Today’s slow drag is with “Our Little Angel,” from “King of America,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Our Little Angel: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Our_Little_Angel

 

“Our Little Angel”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdBXReI9TeI

 

Which hand does the world wear their engagement rings:  https://www.mytriorings.com/cultural-differences-wearing-bridal-rings-on-the-left-or-the-right-hand

“Vena Amoris,” or the vein of love:  https://www.brides.com/story/why-are-wedding-rings-worn-on-left-hand

 

"Our Little Angel" Lyrics:

This is the place where I made my best mistakes
This is the place even angels don't understand
I've seen the disappointment in her face
And the collection of engagement rings on her right hand
She sits alone apart from the crowd
In a white dress she wears like a question mark
Friends speak of her fondly
Enemies just think out loud
You think you're man enough to please her
And you're fool enough to start
But you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

Now the cabaret is frozen and the laughter comes in cans
And the lonely hearts club clientele don't know what to do with their hands
You think that you'll be sweet to her but everybody knows
That you're the marshmallow valentine that got stuck on her clothes
But you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

So you mix your drinks and words
You make bad jokes you make bad time
The floors are there to walk over
The walls are there to climb
You swear that you'll never go back again once you're inside
But you're never the bridegroom she's always the bride
And you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

You'll come in a sweetheart and you'll go out a stranger
Well you try to love her but she's so contrary
Like a chainsaw running through a dictionary
So get your mind off the sweet behind of our little angel
You're not going to do a thing
You're not going to do a thing
You're not going to do a thing to our little angel

Today’s slow drag is with “I Almost Had a Weakness,” from “The Juliet Letters,” released in 1993. The songwriting is credited Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, I Almost Had a Weakness: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/I_Almost_Had_A_Weakness

 

“I Almost Had a Weakness”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITvtRUO2qPg

“Watch Your Step” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvgIbU-I7-M  

Sour Grapes: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/sour+grapes

Aesop’s “The Fox and The Sour Grapes” Parable: https://fablesofaesop.com/the-fox-and-the-grapes.html  

"I Almost Had a Weakness" Lyrics:

Thank you for the flowers
I threw them on the fire
And I burned the photographs that you had enclosed
God, they were ugly children
So you're that little bastard of that brother of mine
Trying to trick a poor old woman
'Til I almost had a weakness

Last week Cousin Florence bit your Uncle Joe
Hit him on the forehead with a knife and a fork
Said that he looked like the devil
Then she said... "pass the vinegar", I'm beginning to think
That I'm the only one who hasn't taken to the drinking of it
Though I almost had a weakness

It pains me to mention
These delicate concerns
But while I have to tolerate you family jewels
I really mustn't grumble
'Cause when I die, the cats and dogs will jump up and down
And you little swines will get nothing
Though I almost had a weakness

 

Today’s slow drag is with “The Loved Ones,” from “Imperial Bedroom,” released in 1982. The songwriting is credited Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, The Loved Ones: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/The_Loved_Ones

 

“The Loved Ones”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G5RWMzuuY0

30 Best Basslines: https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-30-best-basslines-of-all-time

“Stitched up” Idiom: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/stitch-up

@ElvisCostello tweets his own lyrics: https://twitter.com/ElvisCostello/status/898197736922783745

The meaning and origin of “the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker”: https://wordhistories.net/2018/11/17/butcher-baker-candlestickmaker/

Episode 14 of Slow Drag with Remedy: “Silly Beggars Can’t Be Choosers,” a slow drag with “Pidgin English,” also on “Imperial Bedroom”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/14-silly-beggars-cant-be-choosers/id1478037117?i=1000455095065

 

"The Loved Ones" Lyrics

Don't get smart or sarcastic
He snaps back just like elastic
Spare us the theatrics and the verbal gymnastics
We break wise guys just like matchsticks

What would the loved ones say

(Your pride and joy is all blown up)

What would the loved ones say

(The bride and boy are barely grown up)

You're not my particular poison
I've got nothing against you myself
You could have been a danger to the boys and girls
Now you're a danger to yourself

Chorus:
Oh what would the loved ones say
What would the loved ones say
Oh what would the loved ones say
What would the loved ones say

The ugly little dreams run 'round your bed
The ugly little scenes, you get the needle and no thread
They stitched you up this time
They said you'll do
Then bitch about your pretty face turning ugly on you

The butcher, baker and the bassline maker
Saying you can leave her I can take her
You spend your whole life like a minute or two later
One day its going to end sooner than greater

What would the loved ones say

(He'll be remembered young and pretty)

What would the loved ones say?

(Now he's a hit in every city)

Now there's a name well never forget
There's one born every minute or two
Don't pin a medal on me yet
They might be waiting for you

(Chorus)

PPS I LOVE YOU

Today’s slow drag is with “Peace in Our Time,” from “Goodbye Cruel World,” released in 1984. The songwriting is credited to a 30-year-old Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Peace in Our Time: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Peace_In_Our_Time

 

“Peace in Our Time”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xwgm_O1jh0

“Peace in Our Time” Solo live Performance w/ slightly different lyrics: https://youtu.be/AY_Lw53udq8 (extended version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dJH5IqUxrw )

Heston Aerodrome arrival of Neville Chamberlain: https://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675035713_Neville-Chamberlain_reads-the-paper_plane-lands-and-taxis_greeted-by-friends

Britain’s Gesture of Peace (1938) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGG9YT4YXuE

Britain’s Appeasement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/ztydcwx/revision/1

Munich Agreement: https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement

"Peace in Our Time" Lyrics:

Out of the airplane stepped Chamberlain with a condemned man's stare
But we all cheered wildly, a photograph was taken,
As he waved a piece of paper in the air
Now the Disco Machine lives in Munich and we are all friends
And I slip on my Italian dancing shoes as the evening descends

And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime
And we can thank God that we've finally got peace in our time

There's a man going round taking names no matter who you claim to be
As innocent as babies, a mad dog with rabies, you're still a part of some conspiracy
Meanwhile there's a light over the ocean burning brighter than the sun
And a man sits alone in a bar and says "Oh God, what have we done?"

And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime
And we can thank God that we've finally got peace in our time

They're lighting a bonfire upon every hilltop in the land (In England)
Just another tiny island invaded when he's got the whole world in his hands
And the Heavyweight Champion fights in the International Propaganda Star Wars
There's already one spaceman in the White House what do you want (the same one again) another one for?

And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime
And we can thank God that we've finally got peace in our time

A heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Elvis Costello and the Imposters for winning the 2020 Grammy award for the “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album” of the year for their smoldering “Look Now.” What a tremendous talent, so deserving of all his many accolades.

Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Today’s slow drag is with “Men Called Uncle,” from “Get Happy!!,” released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Men Called Uncle: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Men_Called_Uncle  

 

“Men Called Uncle”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28I74ME2--4

 

“Girls, Girls, Girls” Liner notes: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Girls_Girls_Girls_(1989)_liner_notes

 

Podchaser review page: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/slow-drag-with-remedy-910893

 

"Man Called Uncle" Lyrics:

Now there's newsprint all over your face
Well maybe that's why I can read you like a book
Just when I thought I was getting my tasty bite
I go and lose my appetite

Look at the men that you'd call uncle
They'd like to sink their teeth into you
For the pride and the pleasure
And the privilege of having you

If I say you're the one, do you think that I'm serious?
You get that kind of talk from older men
If I say I love you then I must be delirious
So why are you trying to put my temperature up again?

Look at the men that you'd call uncle
Having a heart attack round your ankles

When you wake up with X-rated eyes
When you wake up still shaking
How can I apologize
As you check your effects and check your reflection
I'm so affected in the face of your affection

Look at the men that you'd call uncle
Having a heart attack round your ankles

I could swear, I could promise that I'll always be true to you
But we may not live to be so old
I could even say I'm going to do something new to you
Now the girls I see just leave me cold

Look at the men that you call uncle...

Today’s slow drag is with “Needle Time,” from “The Delivery Man,” released in 2004. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Needle_Time

 

“Needle Time” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldJnWS2gUBM

 

References:

Elvis Costello Awarded O.B.E. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/elvis-costello-obe-queens-honors-services-to-music-845936/

Elvis Costello response to OBE https://www.elviscostello.com/#!/news/298460

Understanding the British Honors System & Knighthood: https://blog.eftours.com/tours/british-honours-system-knighthood

The Musicians’ Union: A History (1893 – 2013): https://www.muhistory.com/hang-the-dj-the-musicians-union-and-the-early-days-of-radio-1/

 

“Some Songs That Must Have Been Overlooked”:

Part one: “Oliver’s Army”

Part two: “Tramp the Dirt Down”

Part three: “Stick out your Tongue”

Part four: “Tokyo Storm Warning”

Part five: “New Lace Sleeves”

Part six: “Shipbuilding”

Ending with “and now a word from our sponsors” “Less Than Zero.”

 

“Cheap Reward” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FK4h3dazfw

“Cheap Reward” Lyric page http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Cheap_Reward

“Better out than in” idiom: https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/45/messages/329.html

"Needle Time" Lyrics:

I wish that I didn't hate you
Least not as much as I do
And squander all my contempt for
A little nothing like you
Liars like you are ten-a-penny
Women would slap you, if you knew any
Sometimes I feel just like committing a crime

I've got this suitcase of phony wisdom to dispense
These twenty-seven or so years
How you'd think I would have made them some cents
Now they want me fingerprinted like I was smuggling drugs
While the government does deals with the most convenient thugs
Sometimes I feel just like committing a crime
It's Needle Time

It’s needle time

I'm trying not to despise you with a passion that's hard to extinguish
Or maybe I really love you although it's hard to distinguish
I wish I could be more like a saint is
Forgiving those who trespass against us
Sometimes I feel just like committing a crime

I started talking nonsense, just like I did to begin with
Around the time I tired of those sour English
Sometimes I feel just like committing a crime
It's Needle Time

Today’s slow drag is with “You Tripped at Every Step,” from “Brutal Youth,” released in 1994. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/You_Tripped_At_Every_Step

 

“You Tripped at Every Step” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEJEJ66Wyto

 

“Why Do People Like Sad Songs?”:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201507/why-do-people-sad-songs

 

Semantic Pointer Architecture: http://compneuro.uwaterloo.ca/research/spa/semantic-pointer-architecture.html

What is the Minor Third? Music Theory #20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO1pBNC8ggw

The descending Minor Third: Meagan Curtis explains the science of sad songs: http://archive.ttbook.org/book/meagen-curtis-science-sad-songs Music and speech (musical interval) Tufts Music Cognition Lab.

Journal Article: The Minor Third Communicates Sadness in Speech, Mirroring It’s Use in Music: http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/music-cognition/pdfs/Curtis&Bharucha2010Emotion.pdf

Mud in your eye idiom: https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/23/messages/344.html

 

"You Tripped at Every Step" Lyrics 

Take your tiny feet out of your mother's shoes
Or there is going to be a terrible scene
It's not just the lipstick drawn on crooked
When they find how wicked we are
How wicked we have been
How I've been tempted
How you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
How you tripped at every step

There's a merry tune that starts in "I" and ends in "You"
Like many famous pop songs do
And you would sing along with little tell-tale staggers
While balancing on daggers
Though they were killing you
You looked so deadly
As you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
As you tripped at every step

And I would run to catch you
Anytime you call
Only you drank that potion
And went out of control
There's nothing to stop you
So how can you fall
Let me take your hand
Put down that frying pan

Darkness would become me
Underneath the table
As the fury raged around the house
Your despairing, treadless, angry, and unstable
You never suspected
Just as that cartoon mouse
Went undetected
So you tripped at every step

In another world of gin and cigarettes
Those cocktail cabinets put mud in your eye
Maybe that is why you find it hard to see me
And if you don't believe me
Before you start to cry
"Don't ever leave me"
As you start to lose your grip
(As you start losing your grip)
You will stumble and you slip
(And you will stumble and slip)
As you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
As you tripped at every step

You tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
As you tripped at every
As you tripped at every
You tripped at every step
You tripped at every step
As you tripped at every
As you tripped at every step

Today’s slow drag is with “Crimes of Paris,” from “Blood and Chocolate,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Crimes_Of_Paris

“Crimes of Paris” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97L6Ukrmrk4

Kurt Vonnegut quote regarding love:  https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/91604-if-somebody-says-i-love-you-to-me-i-feel

Hunter S. Thompson, the bats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC4nP9LA3T4

Duplicate lyrics, “Suffering Face” Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Suffering_Face

“Suffering Face”: https://www.megalyrics.net/elvis-costello/suffering-face

“Freytag’s Pyramid”: https://blog.reedsy.com/narrative-arc/

“Leave My Kitten Alone” liner notes: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Leave_My_Kitten_Alone

“Leave My Kitten Alone” EC cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVf0HMWmDvE

“Q” Magazine interview, “Kojak Variety” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/File:1995-06-00_Q_page_28.jpg

"Crimes in Paris" Lyrics:

I thought it was you with your optimist's view of the clock
And how it's always another day
Just after twelve o'clock's struck
Said "Now I only want you so I don't have to promise"
But tiny children in grown-up clothes whispered all the Crimes of Paris

Chorus: 
You're not the girl next door or a girl from France
Or the cigarette-girl in the sizzle hot-pants
All the words of love seem cruel and crass
When you're tough and transparent as armored glass
You're an everywhere girl in an everyday mess
Who'll pay for the Crimes of Paris

I heard that you fell for the "Hell or to Hammersmith Blues"
In the tiny torn up pieces of his mind, he's irresistible too
It's hard to say now if he's only stupid or is smart
As he crawled through the door
And poured out more of his (weeping) creeping-Jesus heart

(Chorus)

And it's all here and now
She hits him with that paper-weight Eiffel Tower
And I tried to hold on to you, but I don't know how
And I find it hard to swallow good advice
Like going down three times to only come up twice
Come up twice

She's so convenient, he's always stiff as hair-lacquer
It's hard to discover now he's in love with her
It was her way of getting her own back

He never did anything she couldn't do on her own
You're as good as your word and that's no good to her
You'd better leave that kitten alone

(Chorus)

Today’s slow drag is with “Two Little Hitlers,” from “Armed Forces,” released in 1979. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Little_Atoms

 

“Two Little Hitlers” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Two_Little_Hitlers

“Two Little Hitlers” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkyMYl_u2H0

 

https://singledatingdiva.com/2015/09/02/finding-the-ideal-partner-requires-selective-dating/

Grammy nomination surprise: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/8546756/elvis-costello-grammy-rule-change-nomination

Todd Rundgren cover of “Two Little Hitlers” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc6cI_BNlBg

“Taste of Honey” “Boogie Oogie Oogie”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYWkG_DI5OE

"Two Little Hitlers" Lyrics

Why are we racing to be so old?
I'm up late pacing the floor
I won't be told
You have your reservations
I'm bought and sold

I'll face the music
I'll face the facts
Even when we walk in polka dots and chequer slacks

Bowing and squawking
Running after titbits
Bobbing and squinting
Just like a nitwit

Two little Hitlers will fight it out until
One little Hitler does the other one's will
I will return
I will not burn

Down in the basement

I need my head examined
I need my eyes excited
I'd like to join the party
But I was not invited
You make a member of me
I'll be delighted

I wouldn't cry for lost souls, you might drown
Dirty words for dirty minds
Written in a toilet town

Dial me a Valentine
She's a smooth operator
It's all so calculated
She's got a calculator
She's my soft touch typewriter
And I'm the great dictator

Two little Hitlers will fight it out until
One little Hitler does the other one's will
I will return
I will not burn

A simple game of self-respect
You flick a switch and the world goes off
Nobody jumps as you expect
I would have thought you would have had enough by now

You call selective dating
For some effective mating
I thought I'd let you down, dear
But you were just deflating

I knew right from the start
We'd end up hating
Pictures of the merchandise
Plastered on the wall
We can look so long as we don't have to talk at all

You say you'll never know him
He's an unnatural man
He doesn't want your pleasure
He wants as no one can
He wants to know the names of
All those he's better than

Two little Hitlers will fight it out until
One little Hitler does the other one's will
I will return
I will not burn

I will return
I will not burn
(repeats)

Today’s slow drag is with “The Spell That You Cast,” from “National Ransom,” released in 2010. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Spell That You Cast” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Spell_That_You_Cast

“The Spell That You Cast” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEYZTE8BDuE

The Difference between You Got and You Have: https://preply.com/en/question/you-got-youve-got-43032#:~:text=“You%20have%20got”%20fully%20correct,missed%20too%20many%20days%20already.”&text=“You%27ve”%20(short,”%20(have%20is%20missing).

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"The Spell That You Cast" Lyrics

The spell that you cast

Well, it seems to be wearing off fast

(The spell that you cast)

Come back baby, cos I don't think that I can last

(The spell that you cast)

 

And I wonder whether

You got some other kind of lover < grammar

That you like to please

Better than me

Don't think I can take it

How am I gonna break it?

The spell that you cast

The spell that you cast

 

The spell that you've woven

Well, it seems to be coming undone

(The spell that you cast)

Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going

(The spell that you cast)

 

And you know quite well

That I'm not the jealous kinda fella

But they look in your eyes

And they're all hypnotized

I'm gonna miss you madly

'Cos I love you sadly

The spell that you cast

The spell that you cast

 

Jimmy, come quickly ‘cos I feel quite sickly

(Oh, the spell that you cast)

You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley

(Oh, the spell that you cast)

(Oh, the spell that you cast)

Here we go…

 

Don't think I can take it

How am I gonna break it?

The spell that you cast

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Today’s slow drag is with “Little Atoms,” from “All This Useless Beauty,” released in 1996. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello's birth name.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Little_Atoms 

“Little Atoms” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7OSkO1vG7I

Rolling Stone review of “All This Useless Beauty”  https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/all-this-useless-beauty-204765/

“All This Useless Beauty” review: https://www.allmusic.com/album/all-this-useless-beauty-mw0000173695

A “conceit”: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceit

Elvis Costello, “Little Atoms,” “Larry Sanders”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unpbrKHtSSE

1 Corinthians 13: http://web.mit.edu/jywang/www/cef/Bible/NIV/NIV_Bible/1COR+13.html

 

"Little Atoms" Lyrics

I arose and Marigold lay down with Curious Iris
Cherry gave to Victor her prudence and her virus
For the sake of purity I can recall the time and place
Between Wisdom and Murder she gave up her immaculate face

(Chorus:)
My poor belated chastity fell foul of grown up games,
With false and lovely modesty
I can recall the names I'll miss
In the particle of me that cares for this
I betrayed those little atoms with a kiss

Patience has her virtue still
but every grace must have its price
I through some felicity may spin a tale of constant vice
I took my better nature out, drowned it in the babbling stream
Took the blossom of my youth and blew it all to smithereens

(Repeat Chorus)

And if you still don't like my song / then you can just go to hell
I don't care if I'm right or wrong  / or if my typewriter can spell
But I cannot promise you I've said "Goodbye" to childish things
There's still some pretty insults left and such sport in threatening

(Repeat Chorus)

And for the sake of clarity
They are "Faith", "Hope", and "Charity"
In the particle of me that cares for this
I betrayed those little atoms with a kiss

Today’s slow drag is with “Waiting for the End of The World,” from “My Aim is True,” released on July 22, 1977, exactly 26 days before the death of Elvis Presley on August 16, 1977. These events are unrelated yet forever cosmically tied to one another. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello, a man who, on July 22, 1977 was a mere 35 or so days away from his 23rd birthday.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Waiting_For_The_End_Of_The_World

“Waiting for the End of the World”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgIR3GU_5sw

To have “agency” https://www.basicknowledge101.com/pdf/Agency%20(philosophy).pdf “The capacity of an entity…to act in any given environment.”

“A Bunch of Stiff Records” contractual band name: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/A_Bunch_Of_Stiff_Records

 

"Waiting for the End of the World" lyrics

The man from the television crawled into the train
I wonder who he's gonna stick it in this time
Everyone was looking for a little entertainment
So they'll probably pull his hands off when they find out his name
And then they shut down the power all along the line
And we got stuck in the tunnel where no lights shine
They got to touching all the girls who were too scared to call out
Nobody was saying anything at all

We were waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming
'cause you've really started something

Things got back to normal as the train began to roll again
We got to the station about twenty minutes later
The legendary hitchhiker says that he knows where it's at
Now he'd like to go to Spain or somewhere like that
With his two-tone Bible and his funny cigarettes,
His suntan lotion and his castanets

He was waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming
'cause you've really started something

And then the bride, the groom, the congregation and the priest
All got onto the train when we were three stations east, yeah
Hiding from a scandal in the national press
They had been trying to get married since they stole the wedding dress
You may see them drowning as you stroll along the beach
But don't throw out the lifeline till they're clean out of reach

Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world

Today’s slow drag is with “My Mood Swings,” found on 2012’s “In Motion Pictures,” but was first heard briefly at the 1:04:00 mark of “The Big Lebowski,” released in 1998.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/My_Mood_Swings

“My Mood Swings”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzJo3rS9sOE

“I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” Austin Powers 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbNQoGwXGg

Elvis Costello Grammy nominations and wins: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/elvis-costello

“God Give Me Strength” live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrcNnIV6FV8

“God Give Me Strength” Kristen Vigard version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJvKN7MS_9w

Burt Bacharach in rehearsal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON0moJR_JnE

Cultural Icon Definition, a radical view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VUZUGIWV5Q

Marshmallow pronunciation: American and English: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/marshmallow

“Imperial Bedroom” lyrics: http://www.elviscostello.info/disc/official/ib/ib_mini_inner_2.jpg

“Barney Bubbles” https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-culture/people/barney-bubbles/

https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/03/barney-bubbles-feature

“In Search of Barney Bubbles” (available on BBC Sounds) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b018wh7h

http://www.eyemagazine.com/review/article/what-a-genius

“The Big Lebowski” Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/album/7Hz6IKNVi0Rlqpa2PLdAG2

 

Letterkenny, “To be fair” compliation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv7jcciKB_s

How Are Ya Now? Podcast https://howareyanowpod.com

 

"My Mood Swings" Lyrics

She was smitten from the first
By a curious fellow
She said I love the way you talk
And with a flounce she announced it
I love the way that you pronounced it
Marshmallow

Well she liked to sing along
To her favourite song
From the year that she was born
See how mysterious her fate is
She had to get born in the eighties

So speak to me, just like you should
Then we can do those wicked things
And if you want, we'll make it good
Before my mood swings

Well he looked like one of those
Who would take off his clothes
Like you would peel a tangerine
No one's been known to decline this
Once he has found out what your sign is

So speak to me, just like you should
Then we can do those wicked things
And it you want, we'll make it good
Before my mood swings

So speak to me, just like you should
Then we can do those wicked things
And it you want, we'll make it good
Before my mood swings

So speak to me, just like you should
Then we can do those wicked things
And it you want, we'll make it good
Before my mood swings

Today’s slow drag is with “Living in Paradise,” from “This Year’s Model” released in 1978. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Living_In_Paradise

 

“Living in Paradise”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6cA9jniTO8

“Living in Paradise” early version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2uoByQlnK0

 

Concert Review, “Creative Loafing: Tampa Bay” by Eric Snider  https://www.cltampa.com/music/reviews/article/21096905/elvis-costello-gives-hardcore-fans-the-goods-at-st-petes-mahaffey-theater

"Living in Paradise" Lyrics

I don't like those other guys looking at your curves
I don't like you walking 'round with physical jerks
Everything they say and do is getting on my nerves
Soon they will be lucky to be picking up the perks
'Cause when they pull the shutters down and throw up in the dark
They'll find that all the dogs outside bite much worse than they bark

Here we are living in paradise, living in luxury
Oh, the thrill is here but it won't last long
You better have your fun before it moves along
And you're already looking for another fool like me

I call you Betty Felon 'cause you are a pretty villain
And I think that I should tell them that you'd make a pretty killing
'Cause meanwhile up in heaven they are waiting at the gate
Saying "We always knew you'd make it, didn't think you'd come this late"
And now it's much too dangerous to stop what you've begun
When everyone in paradise carries a gun

Here we are living in paradise, living in luxury
Oh, the thrill is here but it won't last long
You better have your fun before it moves along
And you're already looking for another fool like me

Later in the evening when arrangements are made
I'll be at the keyhole outside your bedroom door
'Cause I'm the first to know whenever the plans are laid
That never go further than floor to floor
You think that I don't know the boy that you're touching
But I'll be at the video and I will be watching

Here we are living in paradise
Here we are living in paradise
Here we are living in paradise
Here we are living in paradise, living in luxury
Oh, the thrill is here but it won't last long
You better have your fun before it moves along
And you're already looking for another fool like me

Today’s slow drag is with “Chemistry Class,” from “Armed Forces” released in 1979. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Chemistry_Class

“Chemistry Class”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6QABOVXkFk

“I’d Rather Be Thin than Famous”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKhqBejt0NA

"Chemistry Class" Lyrics

She throws back her hair and she shows you her mouth
The breath that I waste trying to ruin your life
Beauty's on a budget but you take it on the chin
'Cause you have to do your duty taking orders from the kingpin

Chorus:
You've got a chemistry class, I want a piece of your mind
You don't know what you started when you mixed it up with mine
Are you ready for the final solution? Oh Oh

They chopped you up in butcher's school
Threw you out of the academy of garbage
You'll be a joker all your life
A student at the comedy college
People pleasing people pleasing people like you
You've been around so long but you still don't know what to do

(Chorus)

Sparks are flying from electrical pylons
Snakes and ladders running up and down her nylons
Ready to experiment, you're ready to be burned
If it wasn't for some accidents then some would never ever learn

Today’s slow drag is with “Luxembourg,” from “Trust” released in 1981. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“Luxembourg” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA7XqnHMIwQ

“Seven O’clock” demo: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Seven_O%27Clock

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Luxembourg

YouTube version w/ lyrics: https://youtu.be/heeY3UzX9GU 

Serve two masters idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/serve+two+masters

Dog’s dinner idiom: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dog%27s+dinner

It’s a dog’s life idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/it%27s+a+dog%27s+life

Butter wouldn’t melt idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/butter+wouldn%27t+melt+(in+(one%27s)+mouth)

Luxembourg info: https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg/Demographic-trends 

Look daggers at idiom: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/look+daggers+at

Send to Coventry slang: https://www.historyrevealed.com/eras/stuarts/why-do-we-say-send-someone-to-coventry/

Mark Twain Didn’t Say It: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/mark-twain-didnt-say-thing-about-obituaries/350238/

EC’s long hair in “The Other Side of Summer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww0hN-puTdA

 

"Luxembourg" Lyrics

Dressed up like a dog's dinner
Butter wouldn't melt on your paws
If this is a dog's life
Then you're the cat's clothes
They hire out your sons
And hire out your daughters
The man from abroad says he's already bought her
And now you look like a lover but you're only a tourist

Chorus:
You're either talking or yawning
You didn't listen to a thing you heard
Don't start your morning moaning or you might wake up in Luxembourg

You get up, you get over
You're worried about her body
She's worryin' about her bodily odour
You pull off
The pull over
You say that you love her when you really loathe her
Serves you right, now she wants you to feed her and clothe her

(Chorus)

They're smiling sweetly while they're looking daggers
Kick you where it really matters
Send all your friends to Coventry
And look for your name in last night's obituaries

If you've got the Deutschmarks
If you've got the Yen, then
You get the shirt off her back and the clock off Big Ben
Somebody's soft touch
Struck all these bargains
In the drinking clubs with the council men
Making plans to put lead back in their pencils again

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

References:

“Bedlam” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DipIDbymOj8

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Bedlam

Companion Blog: https://slowdragwithremedy.home.blog/2019/11/16/episode-17-the-quickening-art/

“Bedlam” etymology:  https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1050-1485/from-bethlehem-to-bedlam/

How Bedlam became “a palace for lunatics” http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20161213-how-bedlam-became-a-palace-for-lunatics

1601 Relief of the Poor Act: http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html

1989 “Veronica” with intro and outro from E.C. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zifeVbK8b-g

Mr. Costello’s Personal Reasons for Alzheimer’s PSA:   

Music and Memory https://musicandmemory.org

“Alive Inside” Trailer: http://www.aliveinside.us/#land

“Alive Inside” full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7GF7_xyeH8

The quickening art VPR piece: https://www.vpr.org/post/timeline-music-and-memory-quickening-art#stream/0

Oliver Sacks’ description of Kant’s “quickening art”: https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/53/1/175/618359

Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History” Season 1, episode 7, “Hallelujah”: http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah

“The Deportees Club” (original) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf2RKMXjrMI

“The Deportees Club (re-release) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIzTXbixEaQ

 

Today’s slow drag is with “Bedlam,” from “The Delivery Man” released in 2004. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“Bedlam” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DipIDbymOj8

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Bedlam

YouTube Visual Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDJm-6rDJ2k 

“Bedlam” etymology:  https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1050-1485/from-bethlehem-to-bedlam/

How Bedlam became “a palace for lunatics” http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20161213-how-bedlam-became-a-palace-for-lunatics

St. Francis of Assisi: https://www.earthday.org/2016/10/06/patron-saint-animals-ecology/

1977 “Life Goes On” The Kinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7eg30GvV9E

Elvis Costello 1991 version of The Kink’s 1969 “Days” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmivtDdL-Fo

Britain’s favorite song, “Jerusalem” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5980126/jerusalem-lyrics-national-anthem-england-hymn-meaning/

“Jerusalem” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoJqhoBUT14

“Jerusalem” version w/ William Blake’s lyrics subtitled https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKRHWT6xdEU

Thirty pieces of silver: http://www.theology-centre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Thirty_pieces_of_silver.pdf

Jake in Notts twitter: @jake_in_notts

"Bedlam" Lyrics

I've got this phosphorescent portrait of gentle Jesus meek and mild
I've got this harlot that I'm stuck with carrying another man's child
The solitary star announcing vacancy burned out as we arrived
They'd throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived
And they were surprised to see us
So they greeted us with palms
They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms

And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in bedlam
I wish that I could take something for drowning out the noise
Wailing echoes down the corridors

I've got this imaginary radio, and I'm punching up the dial
I've got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won't blow up in my eye
And everything I thought fanciful and mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
And I'm practicing my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
And if I hold my hand outstretched
A little bird comes to me

And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in bedlam
Escaping from the fingers that were stretching through the bars
Wailing echoes down the corridors

The player piano picks out "Life Goes On"
The ring tone rang out "Jerusalem"
Into the pit of sadness
Where the wretched plunge
We've buried all the innocents
Now we must bury revenge

They've got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a Mustang
They drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle
They dangled flags and other rags along a coloured thread of twine
They dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine

Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces
Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces
Then my thoughts returned to vengeance, but I put up no resistance
Though I seemed a long way from my home
It really was no distance

And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in bedlam
Bowing like an actor acknowledging applause
Playing the Crusader who was conquering the Moors
When he knew the consequences, but he won't admit the cause
Wailing echoes down the corridors

Today’s slow drag is with “Riot Act,” from “Get Happy!” released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“Riot Act” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO3-ci_1ERI

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Riot_Act

YouTube version w/ lyrics: https://youtu.be/1AvTjrEUt5w 

Riot Act: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/8142/8142-h/8142-h.htm

Revenge and guilt: https://www.treblezine.com/35781-revenge-and-guilt-elvis-costellos-my-aim-is-true-at-40/

Rod Stewart Axes Old Songs: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10122753/sir-rod-stewart-me-too-movement/

"Riot Act" Lyrics

Today’s slow drag is with “Riot Act,” from “Get Happy!” released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

Today’s slow drag is with “Pidgin English,” from “Imperial Bedroom,” released in 1982. The songwriting and is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Pidgin_English 

YouTube Version w/ Lyrics: https://youtu.be/I-MphF3ARTU 

“Pidgin English”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTnnDqcsdXw

The Great Vowel Shift: https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_early_modern.html

Norman Conquest of 1066: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9606163/In-everything-we-say-there-is-an-echo-of-1066.html

Great vowel shift: https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_early_modern.html

Examples of Grimm’s Law in English: https://www.jpetrie.net/examples-of-grimms-law-in-english/

44 English Phonemes: https://www.dyslexia-reading-well.com/44-phonemes-in-english.html

Graphemes: http://www.speechlanguage-resources.com/support-files/soundstographemesguide2.pdf

Lingua Franca to Pidgin to Creole: http://www.differencebetween.net/language/the-difference-between-pidgin-and-lingua-franca/

Grice’s maxims: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/topic12/14cp1.htm

Pidgin word etymology: https://www.etymonline.com/word/pidgin

Rolling Stone Review of “Imperial Bedroom”: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/imperial-bedroom-117931/

Slanging Match meaning: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/slanging-match

“Many Hands Make Light Work,” John Heyward’s idiom: John Heywood Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_heywood_158880

“A change is as good as a rest” definition: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/a-change-is-as-good-as-a-rest

“Love Letters” “throwaway kiss” mention: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hn0oAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT293&lpg=PT293&dq=%22throwaway+kiss%22&source=bl&ots=72fti9sMam&sig=ACfU3U1IRbQB0dVq0bXNqfBWHJ5C1NnAEQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZmuLB_brlAhWEQxUIHRK8BFwQ6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22throwaway%20kiss%22&f=false

Hunting down who coined “writing about music is like dancing about architecture”: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/

Squeeze, “”Hourglass”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM3PWVDzlfQ

“Post Truth” Society OED word of the year, 2016: https://www.hau.gr/?i=culture.en.past_event.5196

Virginia Woolf quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/426030-it-is-a-thousand-pities-never-to-say-what-one

Rod Stewart Axes Old Songs: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10122753/sir-rod-stewart-me-too-movement/

 

"Pidgin English" Lyrics

There's a young girl with her old man who's too sick to mention
She'll be turning twenty seven as she draws her widow's pension
But he couldn't catch a common cold he couldn't get arrested
Too terrified to answer back
Too tired to have resisted

Many hands make light work
Shorthand makes life easy
When he's out on night work
Make sure no one sees me
It all ends up in a slanging match with body talk and bruises
A change is better than a rest
Silly beggars can't be choosers

Chorus:
One of a thousand pities you can't categorize
There are ten commandments of love
When will you realise
There are ten commandments of love
I believe, I trust, I promise, I wish love's just a throwaway kiss
In this Pidgin English

If you're so wise, use your lips and your eyes
Take it to the bridge she sighs

You go cheep cheep cheep between bulleyes and bluster
Stiff as your poker face
Keener than mustard
From your own back yard to the land of exotica
From the truth society to neurotic erotica

Silence is golden
Money talks diamonds and ermine
There's a word in Spanish, Italian and German
In sign language, morse code, semaphore and gibberish
Have you forgotten how to say it
In your Pidgin English?

(chorus)

PS I love you

Today’s slow drag is with “Blame It on Cain,” from “My Aim is True,” released in 1977. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Blame It on Cain” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Blame_It_On_Cain

“Blame It on Cain” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHaI7rVp9g

 “The Ticker’s Rise and Fall” https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2008/02/01/the-tickers-rise-and-fall/

“Shallow Grave” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN5qkhNHEKg

“Good Luck Grin” https://stirredblog.com/2017/03/13/baldwin-bar/

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Blame It on Cain" Lyrics

Once upon a time, I had a little money

Government burglars took it long

before I could mail it to you

Still, you are the only one

Now I can't let it slip away

So, if the man with the ticker tape,

tries to take it, this is what I'm gonna say

 

Blame it on Cain

Don't blame it on me

Oh, oh, it's nobody's fault

but we need somebody to burn

 

Well, if I was a saint with a silver cup

and the money got low

we could always heat it up or trade it in

then the radio to heaven will be wired to your purse

And then you can run down the waveband,

coast to coast, hand in hand

Bad to worse, curse for curse,

don't be dissatisfied

So, you're not satisfied

 

(Chorus)

 

I think I lived a little too long

on the outskirts of town

I think I'm going insane

from talking to myself for so long

Oh, but I never been acute

But when they step upon your face,

they wear that good look grin

I gotta break out one weekend if I do somebody in

But every single time I feel a little stronger

they tell me it's a crime

Well, how much longer?

 

(Chorus)

 

Blame it on Cain

Please don't blame it on me

It's nobody's fault,

but it just seems to be his turn

Today’s slow drag is with “Stripping Paper,” from “Look Now,” released in 2018. The songwriting and is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Stripping Paper” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Stripping_Paper

 

“Stripping Paper” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJWckSvZC94

“Shatterproof” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt0bXvzwa-M

Rococo style: https://allthatsinteresting.com/rococo-art-movement

More about the Slow Drag dance origins: https://bluesjazzbookclub.com/2018/09/01/a-landscape-of-slow-drag/

Sloe gin: https://sipsmith.com/exploring-the-history-of-sloe-gin/

 

"Stripping Paper" Lyrics

I got time on my hands
I'm just stripping paper
It's amazing what you will find stripping paper
When you get down to the past Back then we didn't have means for fine decorations
So we painted while mixing wine
With flirtation
There in the mess of it all
He took me right there in the thrill
Not quite against my will
With my back to rococo-wall
We slipped right down to the floor I can't close the door
He complimented my taste
I anointed his serious face
With wallpaper paste
I wish we could laugh like that now
But what seemed to follow
It ended up hollow us out there Tear a strip or two
See what what came not much later
Here's a pony and a toy balloon
Behind the vine that withered all too soon
Here's the pencil of a measuring mark
And the monsters you spied in the dark
Now I got no place in her heart
Let me go back to the start I got time on my hands
I'm just stripping paper
I got time on my hands
I'm just stripping paper
I've got time on my hands
I'm just stripping paper

 

Today's slow drag is with "Damnation's Cellar," from "The Juliet Letters," released in 1993. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello's birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

"Damnation's Cellar": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mMIP8WCf_w 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Damnation’s Cellar” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Damnation%27s_Cellar

“Damnation’s Cellar” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mMIP8WCf_w

People write to Juliet Caplet: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/The_Juliet_Letters_(1993)_liner_notes

Rhyme Scheme: https://www.creative-writing-now.com/rhyme-schemes.html

https://literarydevices.net/rhyme-scheme/

Thank you to Comeron Mazafair @world_on_a_wire for his help with linguistic terminology.

Punter slang definition: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/punter

Mona Lisa’s Last Name (sometimes questioned) https://www.wga.hu/html_m/l/leonardo/04/1monali.html

English Triple Crown: https://www.britannica.com/sports/Triple-Crown-British-horse-racing

Nijinsky, the crowd favorite triple crown winner: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/racing/greatest-derby-winners/nijinsky-epsom-1970-profile/ 

"Damnation's Cellar" Lyrics:

Did anybody notice, over marmalade and eggs
In between the Princess' legs
What with wars and floods and beggars
Not to mention stocks and shares
Well, if you have a moment to spare
Can you write and reassure me that I have seen
That they're constructing a time machine
There will be no need for the obituary pages
We can have any hero from the bygone ages
'Til the truth emerges, an argument rages

The major and the minor turn from tallow into tar
Should we leave them in their place down in damnation's cellar?

When any form of deity that you might enjoy
Can be conjured with a test-tube and a flame
If it's out there then science can explain it
Or at least remove the blame
And if there is anyone you'd like to see again
Then speak up quickly
Send us back Da Vinci then we don't have to ponder
The maddening smile of "La Giaconda"
The critics say Nijinsky, the dancer, of course
While the punters would probably prefer the horse
You'll find it's quicker than history, cheaper than divorce

The major and the minor turn from tallow into tar
Should we leave them in their place down in damnation's cellar?

Bring back Liberace or Ollie and Stan
Shakespeare will have to wait his turn
Elvis Presley and Puccini shall return
I suppose we live and learn
Though it's hard to believe as we cheerfully burn
It's curious
Some will call for justice, there are murders to solve
What about Hitler? Or at least Lee Harvey Oswald
Give us this day and everything we squander
Anyone beautiful, somebody blonder
They'll never please mankind, so lie back and enjoy it
Stop press: They've just decided to destroy it

The major and the minor turn from tallow into tar
Should we leave them in their place down in damnation's cellar?

Today's slow drag is with "King of Thieves," from " Goodbye Cruel World," released in 1983. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

“King of Thieves”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwDHBDT07iU

“The Bridge I Burned”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGhlUBtY8_I

A bit more about Marsilio Ficino: https://www.iep.utm.edu/ficino/

“The Most Terrible Time in my Life…Ends Thursday”:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XLXS5PL/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=remedy+robinson&qid=1568499321&sr=8-3

"King of Thieves" Lyrics:

I had forgotten all about "The Case Of The Three Pins"
They said I must be cracked
Until the brown paper parcel landed on my welcome mat
Even the pretty secretaries who wouldn't even let me hang my hat
All recognize my handwriting
And return to sender as a matter of fact

If I were you I'd change my name again
They don't care what they do to you, believe me
This is the coronation of the King of Thieves
His occupation is the King of Thieves
He can steal more than you can save
You can take him on, but you're not that brave

I'll tell your fortune in a minute or two
I might even tell you what comes next
The moguls want a human sacrifice
And look at that girl - young, hungry and perplexed
They took away the best years of her life
Ah, but it's all in good fun
And if you kept your nose clean
You can laugh now at the caring things they've done

If I were you I'd change my name again
They don't care what they do to you, believe me
This is the coronation of the King of Thieves
His occupation is the King of Thieves
He can steal more than you can save
You can take him on, but you're not that brave

I'll write this story down, but you'll never guess the final twist
Blow the whistle on the whole design
As they find my name on that fatal mailing list

I hear the clatter of a typewriter
Another rookie eating up the reams
I think it's time to put my feet under the desk
And place my mark on another man's dreams

If I were you I'd change my name again
They don't care what they do to you, believe me
This is the coronation of the King of Thieves
His occupation is the King of Thieves
He can steal more than you can save
You can take him on, but you're not that brave

This is the coronation of the King of Thieves
And look at that girl, look at that girl
Look at that girl, look at that girl
Look at that girl

Today's slow drag is with "Let Him Dangle," from "Spike," released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Let Him Dangle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-vtA-k2QUU

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource: "Let Him Dangle": http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Let_Him_Dangle 

A learning journal that cites Ben Franklin:  https://wiki.auckland.ac.nz/display/MGMT300/A+man+convinced+against+his+will%2C+is+of+the+same+opinion+still

Benjamin Franklin misquotes from the Franklin institute blog:  https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/7-things-benjamin-franklin-never-said

Why it’s a waste of time trying to determine who said “a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”:  https://quotationcelebration.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/a-man-convinced-against-his-will-is-of-the-same-opinion-still-unknown/

Hunting down who coined “writing about music is like dancing about architecture”: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/

Derek Bentley, “A Victim of British Justice?” http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/bentley.html

UK Bentley case breakthrough: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/24208.stm

Craig’s Relief at Bentley’s Posthumous Pardon: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/142351.stm

Newsnight – Derek Bentley #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiy6Dx8DvBw

Linguistic ambiguity: http://michealaxelsen.com/blog/?p=347

Syntactic Ambiguity: https://www.thoughtco.com/syntactic-ambiguity-grammar-1692179

Britain’s last executions:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/13/britain-last-executions-hanging-criminals-low-key

Derek Bentley’s Headstone: http://veryverybritish.blogspot.com/2014/06/derek-bentley.html

“Let Him Have It” Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7kjmN2SFGo

"Let Him Dangle" Lyrics:

Bentley said to Craig, "Let him have it, Chris"
They still don't know today just what he meant by this
Craig fired the pistol, but was too young to swing
So the police took Bentley and the very next thing
Let him dangle, let him dangle
Let him dangle, let him dangle

Bentley had surrendered, he was under arrest
When he gave Chris Craig that fatal request
Craig shot Sidney Miles, he took Bentley's word
The prosecution claimed as they charged them with murder
Let him dangle, let him dangle
Let him dangle, let him dangle

They say Derek Bentley was easily led
Well what's that to the woman that Sidney Miles wed?
Though guilty was the verdict, and Craig had shot him dead
The gallows were for Bentley and still she never said
Let him dangle, let him dangle
Let him dangle, let him dangle

Well, it's hard to imagine it's the times that have changed
When there's a murder in the kitchen that is brutal and strange
If killing anybody is a terrible crime
Why does this bloodthirsty chorus come 'round from time to time?
Let him dangle

Not many people thought that Bentley would hang
But the word never came, the phone never rang
Outside Wandsworth Prison there was horror and hate
As the hangman shook Bentley's hand to calculate his weight
Let him dangle, let him dangle
Let him dangle, let him dangle

Well, it's hard to imagine it's the times that have changed
When there's a murder in the kitchen that is brutal and strange
If killing anybody is a terrible crime
Why does this bloodthirsty chorus come 'round from time to time?
Let him dangle

From a welfare state to society murder
"Bring back the noose" is always heard
Whenever those swine are under attack
But it won't make you even, it won't bring him back
Let him dangle, let him dangle
Let him dangle, let him dangle

Let him dangle, let him dangle
Let him dangle, let him dangle
String him up...

Today's slow drag is with the title track from "All This Useless Beauty," released in 1996. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“All this Useless Beauty”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrDC4EYmgYs

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference: "All This Useless Beauty": http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/All_This_Useless_Beauty_(song) 

“All This Useless Beauty” June Tabor version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX1cnBPXT38

Bechdel Test Movie List: https://bechdeltest.com

Bechdel Test Original comic strip:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1gAF_bCo_4Y/TexG3UuxAMI/AAAAAAAAAsk/1RnUFtjHXOw/s1600/The+Bechdel+Test.jpg  

Bechdel Test for music: https://urge.org/the-bechdel-test-for-music/

Shall vs. Will: https://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/shall_will.htm

The Mystery of Mary Magdalene: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016qd9z

Quote about being a club member, Groucho Marx: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/groucho_marx_122546

The Hellenistic Period: https://www.ancient.eu/Hellenistic_Period/

Elvis Costello Rock and Roll Hall of Fame speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFObHCqccVk

Madonna and Whore Dichotomy: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-04940-001 

 

"All This Useless Beauty" Lyrics:

It's at times such as this she'd be tempted to spit
If she wasn't so ladylike
She imagines how she might have lived back when legends and history collide
So she looks to her prince finding since he's so charmingly slumped at her side
Those days are recalled on the gallery wall
And she's waiting for passion or humour to strike

(Chorus:)
What shall we do, what shall we do with all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty

Good Friday arrived, the sky darkened on time
'Til he almost began to negotiate
She held his head like a baby and said "It's okay if you cry"
Now he wants her to dress as if you couldn't guess
He desires to impress his associates
But he's part ugly beast and Hellenic deceased
So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny

(Repeat Chorus)

She won't practice the looks from the great tragic books
That were later disgraced to face celluloid
It won't even make sense but you can bet
If she isn't a sweetheart or plaything or pet
The film turns her into an unveiled threat

Nonsense prevails, modesty fails
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity
While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise
And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts
They still think they're the gods of antiquity
If something you missed didn't even exist
It was just an ideal -- is it such a surprise?

(Repeat Chorus Twice)

Today's slow drag is with 20% Amnesia. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello's birth name.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“20% Amnesia”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ljVEbHw2mg

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource Page: "20% Amnesia": http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/20%25_Amnesia 

Strip Jack Naked: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/22/rules-card-games-beggar-neighbour 

“Beggar My Neighbour” Marc. M. Paulhus. Source:
The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 106, No. 2 (Feb., 1999), pp. 162-165
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Mathematical Association of America https://www.jstor.org/stable/2589054

Boot Boy definition and examples from the Cambridge dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/boot-boy 

A Hundred Years of Windsors but Still the Queen is partly German: https://www.ft.com/content/b80a9dde-f1f0-11e6-95ee-f14e55513608 

Tramp the Dirt Down: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Tramp_The_Dirt_Down

How to Be Dumb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q7sFEe_H-o

Rich Hall QI quote: https://www.quotes.net/mquote/833502

The difference between destiny and destination: https://wikidiff.com/destination/destiny

Elvis Costello continues to sing “Tramp the Dirt Down” https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/tramp-the-dirt-down-elvis-costello-defends-decision-to-continue-singing-anti-thatcher-songs-8706270.html

Glastonbury Festival 2013 “Tramp the Dirt Down” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaZ8PormR1w

Gorbachev and Cinderella and Major: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-07-17-1991198031-story.html 

Pick up the phone! (90s adult sex chat line ad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKdlb5yv5xo

So, until next time, Adieu, my little ballyhoo

"20% Amnesia" Lyrics

"What is your destiny?" the policewoman said
20% amnesia
The word that she wanted was "destination," I'm afraid
20% amnesia
This is your future boy, this is your fate
20% amnesia
And you're obsolete and they can't afford to educate you
20% amnesia

In his bed-time boot-boy jersey
Ringing up some fantasy tart
Give me strength or give me mercy
Life intimidates art

Give me strength or give me mercy
Don't let me lose heart
From rage to anaesthesia
20% amnesia

Were you passed out on the sofa?
20% amnesia
While justice was bartered by a drunken oaf?
20% amnesia
This is all your glorious country thinks of your life
20% amnesia
Strip-jack-naked with a Stanley knife
20% amnesia

So the German Queen went home again
But she couldn't find forgiveness
They made a fist of the hand of friendship
But it's only business

Give me strength or give me mercy
Don't let me lose heart
From rage to anaesthesia
20% amnesia

The wine you drink has never seen a grape
And now your sci-fi suit has lost its shape
But its a dangerous game that comedy plays
Sometimes it tells you the truth
Sometimes it delays it

Think back, think back if you still can
When the trumpet sounded and the world began
Somebody said "We must have won"
So they started burying the bogeyman

Mister Gorbachev came cap in hand
20% amnesia
From a bankrupt land to a bankrupt land
20% amnesia
Mister Gorbachev and some other fella
20% amnesia
Were taken to a show called "Cinderella"
20% amnesia
It wasn't an accident, it wasn't a mystery
20% amnesia
It was calculated and the rest is history
20% amnesia

You don't have to listen to me
That's the triumph of free will
When there are promises to break
And dreams to kill

Give me strength or give me mercy
Don't let me lose heart
From rage to anaesthesia
20% amnesia

Today’s slow drag is with “No Hiding Place,” from “Momofuku,” released in 2008. The songwriting is credited to Mr. Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“No Hiding Place”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW8LSU7NcOc

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference Page: "No Hiding Place" http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/No_Hiding_Place

“Big Sister’s Clothes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3wPnwq5Ww8

Momofuku name and restaurant history: https://momofuku.com/our-company/team/

Burning hair off video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdVuSvZOqXM

Thank you, Dylan Taylor, for the stellar voice work:

Please visit EndeavourFM website: http://www.endeavourfm.co.uk/#

Dylan’s Twitter: @mrdpa Please say hello.

"No Hiding Place" Lyrics

In the not very distant future
When everything will be free
There won't be any cute secrets
Let alone any novelty

You can say anything you want to
In your fetching cloak of anonymity
Are you feeling out of breath now?
In your desperate pursuit of infamy

Two lovers rocking up and down
In an elevator
15 minutes later
They'll make a killing in the market
They know how to work it
On that close circuit
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place

How proud you are
You got the knack
Of howling in a vacuum
Whatever I said about you
I didn't say it behind your back

I paid for my immortal sins
I know the enemy within you
As it seems these days
There is no hiding place

Next time someone wants to hurt you
Or set alight your effigy
Don't call on me to help you out
Don't come crying to me for sympathy
You stay there with your daubs and scratches
While I summon up the red machine
I'll be handing somebody matches
And carrying a can of kerosene

Walk up to me
And say what you said
Let's see how brave you are
When I'm about this far

You sit in judgment and bitch
Well, baby that's rich
You're nothing but a snitch

My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
My, my, it's a terrible disgrace
You'll find these days that there's
No Hiding Place

Today's Slow Drag is with "Joe Porterhouse," from "Goodbye Cruel World," released in 1984.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“Joe Porterhouse”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xTQXzVUyxA

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference page, "Joe Porterhouse": http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Joe_Porterhouse 

“Under Lime”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMKkQtH75R8

Catch a tiger by the tail meaning: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/catch+a+tiger+by+the+tail

Universal Grammar: https://www.quora.com/What-does-Noam-Chomsky-mean-by-recursion

“Valley of Tears” Buddy Holly Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdBoFm2SihI

Music Boxes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Od_5VIiRVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uHSIkHW860

"Joe Porterhouse" Lyrics

The children sit upon the stairs
High above a valley of tears
Don't let them see you crying that way, oh no

Oh no, Joe Porterhouse is not gone forever
He'll be back another day
Don't let them see you crying that way

Chorus:
Please don't wake him let him sleep
It's a moment she can keep
Like an old bus ticket or a photograph
Resting on the mantlepiece
While for the wicked, there is no peace
She says it's not his time to go
Why we were nearly lovers years ago
Now what is left for me
Among the broken branches of the family tree

Heart like an anchor, arms like cable
He stood all alone on an iron turntable
Don't let them see you crying that way, oh no

The sun beats down, it's cracking the flags
Boys who should know better are stamping out fags
Don't let them see you laughing that way

(Chorus)

Oh no, Joe Porterhouse is not gone forever
He'll be back another day
Don't let them see you crying that way

Today's slow drag with "Georgie and Her Rival," from "Mighty Like a Rose," released in 1991. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello's birth name.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“Georgie and Her Rival”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNg2KGRKu8I 

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Georgie_And_Her_Rival 

“Mighty Lak’ a Rose”: https://songofamerica.net/song/mighty-lak-a-rose/

Muppet Fan site illustration: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Mighty_Lak%27_a_Rose

A Petula Clark interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA6tZeX5PKo

Podcast suggestion: Down in the Hole, a Tom Waits Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/down-in-the-hole/id1040064262 

"Georgie and Her Rival" Lyrics

Georgie grew to hate her name, it sounded like a tiny man
And the one she had said "I can't see you, but I'll call you whenever I can"
Sometimes the phone would ring, when she was half-asleep
A voice would drag her down with its suggestions
Though she often felt cheated, she never felt cheap

(chorus):
Well heaven knows what fills the heart
And makes you feel so alive
It's impossible to tear apart
Georgie and her rival

It was half-past February, and he hadn't called since New Year's Day
Maybe he'd found another woman to say those words no chapel girl should say
Her mother would phone and always keep her talking
She'd try to be polite, making faces
But somewhere in the back of her mind, her rival was stalking

(chorus)

Her rival would always wait till the eighth or ninth bell
He'd be desperate anyway and drunk as well
She always liked to hurt him to prove he was prepared
To love her anyway that she wanted
So she could tell which she preferred

He sat up with his address book trying to think what mood he's in
His finger traced past Georgie's name to someone who needed less persuading
She didn't hear through her disguise, he didn't leave her in a rush
Just like the promise that he left on her machine that almost made her blush
The radio plays a lover's symphony
"The number you have dialed has been re-directed"
Now she puts him on the speaker-phone whenever she has company

(chorus)

Today's Slow Drag is with "The Big Light," from "The King of America," released in 1986. The song is credited to Elvis Costello's birth name.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“The Big Light”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tU_Nhu0Hf8 

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/The_Big_Light 

Huffington Post article about passion projects:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-you-should-start-a-passion-project_b_9276604 

Google Ngram Viewer: https://books.google.com/ngrams

Johnny Cash version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWB0lF8Gptk

“Alison”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9GlC9GyF4Y 

The definition of a “ditty” https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ditty

“Ironic Repetition” explained: http://www.robertleonardassociates.com/PDF/ForensicLinguistics_Applying-Scientific-Principles.pdf 

The extensive, accurate, up to date, useful Elvis Costello Wiki page: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

EC’s version of “Tonight…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyxVahBPYts

Merle Haggard’s version of “Tonight…”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVq27glkY_A

“The Delivery Man” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fnaa-Rf3RY

“Are the Good Time Really Over” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS7GGpMkRTo

"The Big Light" Lyrics:

Well I had a little feeling to have a big night
And I woke up feeling small and not so brave and not quite right
I had to face the who am I and where is she and what did I do
But worst of all I had to face the big light

Chorus:
The big light came through my window and it opened up my eyelids
And it snapped them up like roller blinds and told me things that I did
I can't face another day and night of good ideas and complications
And I'm thankful that I didn't open another bottle of inspiration

When the hangover this morning had a personality
And I cast my shattered mind over selected memories
I didn't even touch the light switch so I knew I'd never see
The Haggard face that would be staring back at me

(Chorus)

Well I had a little feeling to have a big time
And I woke up to alarm bells like a big church chime
I had to face the who am I and who is she and what did I do
But worst of all I had to face the big light

(Chorus)

Oh when it’s time to go out and have a big night
Sooner or later you’ve got to face the big light

Today’s slow drag is with “American Gangster Time,” from “Momofuku,” released in 2008. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “American Gangster Time” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=American_Gangster_Time

“American Gangster Time” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnRIKlVsk1w

Flag Etiquette: https://www.vfw.org/community/flag-etiquette

Flatter to Deceive idiom meaning: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/flatter-to-deceive#:~:text=to%20give%20the%20appearance%20of,just%20a%20lull%20in%20hostilities.

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"American Gangster Time" Lyrics: 

One, two, three, four

 

Somewhere downtown a pretty girl kneels

Offers her soft lips and a handful of pills

Peels off her dress and then the rest of her skills

It buys what she wants and the rest she just steals

 

He speaks between deep swallows of rum

While her head is beating like a big bass drum

And she wishes he were mute and not just dumb

When the trick asked her quick, "Did you come?"

 

It's a drag

Saluting that starry rag

I'd rather go blind

For speaking my mind

Or use it just like a gag

So, raise it in anger

Just let it hang

American Gangster Time

 

He sits back and starts to invent

All about some Saigon correspondent

"'Til the carbine fell silent and spent

I never knew it could be so eloquent"

 

Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin

For each harlot and each Puritan

Pull off their wings stick them on a pin

And just watch the money roll in

 

It's a drag

Saluting that starry rag

I’d rather go blind

For speaking my mind

Or use it just like a gag

So, raise it in anger

Just let it hang

American Gangster Time

 

What you got hidden up your sleeve?

The tracks of the train that were bidding you to leave

When they say that you should flatter to deceive

Don't count on any reprieve

 

The hands of the helpless are raised

Your dead little secrets are praised

The people stand dumbstruck and dazed

By the inches that you have erased

 

It’s a drag

Saluting that starry rag

I'd rather go blind

For speaking my mind

Or use it just like a gag

So, raise it in anger

Just let it hang

American gangster time

Committing the perfect crime

In American Gangster Time

 

Here we go

Bye bye

American Gangster Time

Today’s slow drag is with “Church Underground” from “National Ransom,” released in 2010. Songwriting credit goes to Mr. Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy
Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com
Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com
Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Church Underground: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFDk4OaSRJg

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference page: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Church_Underground 

“The Tribute to Leonard Cohen Concert, November 2017:  https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/11/sting-lana-del-rey-elvis-costello-and-many-more-perform-in-tribute-to-leonard-cohen-in-montreal-11-6/

The first moving picture and the history of its inventor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqfCmQtrTcE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmuo45NR6qE

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eadweard-Muybridge

https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-the-motion-picture/Post-World-War-I-European-cinema

Atlas Obscura “Taxi Dancers” article: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-men-in-the-1920s-paid-women-for-spins-around-the-dance-hall

The history of Prohibition: https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/prohibition

The concept of Purgatory: https://www.britannica.com/topic/purgatory-Roman-Catholicism 

The video of Dorothy and her pals getting ready to see the Wizard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur7GnxTkS-M

The blog post with the “New International Version” of Hebrews 11:36-38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur7GnxTkS-M

The “English Standard Version” passage of Hebrews 11:36-38 https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Heb%2011.36–38

 

"Church Underground" Lyrics:

She stood spotlit in a plain print dress
Came howling out of the wilderness
There beat a cunning and murderous heart
Beneath that calm exterior

"You know my name
You don't know my mind
Don't doubt my eyes
They betray the past
And I've already forgotten
Much more than you will ever know"

And every word that I have spoken is true
Except for those that were broken in two

I'm trying to make peace after a long night of pretend
I need a pawnbroker or moneylender

Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
Turn up the volume, just to turn it down
The trivial secrets buried with profound
It's enough to put a Church Underground

Deflowered young and then ever since
She's tried to wash off his fingerprints
So every charlatan and prince
Was made to feel inferior

She worked for tips in a 10-cent dance
Said moving pictures might pay perchance
10,000 one-way tickets to the sparkling coast
From the blank interior

Everybody's either talking in code
Or getting ready to explode

Then she was singing with five-piece band
But seems that no-one wants this sound

Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
Turn up the volume, just to turn it down
The trivial secrets buried with profound
It's enough to put a Church Underground

The shaft of fanlight streaked with rain
Poured through the glass, punched through the pain
A holy picture hidden in the midden of that poisoned stitch
Her lonely voice was just a ruin in these riches

Must have been dreaming this all along
Could she be redeeming herself in song?
“I'm no-one's martyred, plaster saint
Below the grease, beneath the paint”

I'm rolling like barrel
Swinging like a gallows
I'm rising up fast like all hell and all hallows

Why do you do me down, Mister?
Sing "Hallelujah," Sister
I'll be damned or purgatory bound
Before those jokers ever understand
It's enough to put a Church Underground

Today's Slow Drag is with "Alibi," released in 2002. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

“Alibi”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1kqc7V6Vn8&list=RDg1kqc7V6Vn8&start_radio=1 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, "Alibi": http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Alibi 

The Gwendolyn Letters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQieshbrzpI

"Alibi" Lyrics:

You did it 'cos you wanted
Alibi, alibi
And you took it
'Cos you need it
Alibi, alibi

But if I've done something wrong there's no "ifs and buts"
'Cos I love you just as much as I hate your guts
Alibi, alibi, alibi…

And you don't need anybody
Alibi, alibi
But you are the only one who knows this
Alibi, alibi
You deserve it 'cos you're special
Alibi, alibi
Maybe Jesus wants you for a sunbeam
Alibi, alibi

But if I've left something out
I apologise
But if you look in my eyes
Then I'm sure you'll see…
Alibis, alibis, alibis…

Sometimes I'm so forgiving
Everything seems bad to me
But I can't go on living
With this alibi, alibi, alibi…

"Insane," what a mundane
Alibi, alibi
And you only wanted to be famous
Alibi, alibi
Sorry, but your mummy doesn't love you
Alibi, alibi
Stop me if you've heard this…
Alibi, alibi

But if I've done something right then don't be surprised
There are soldiers who will kill but refuse to die
But if I've done something wrong there's no "ifs and buts"
'Cos I love you just as much as I hate your guts
Alibi, alibi, alibi, alibi…

You were weak…
You couldn't help it
Alibi, alibi
But you never had a pony
Alibi, alibi

(chorus)

And you're such a people person
Alibi, alibi
And I will be true to you forever
Alibi, alibi
But you're stupid and you're lazy
Alibi, alibi
Maybe we can make the future better
Alibi, alibi

(chorus)

Sometimes I'm so forgiving
Everything seems bad to me
But I can't go on living
With this alibi, alibi, alibi…

You were happy when you were poor
And more honest and that's your…
Alibi, alibi
Sister is a whore, brother isn't sure
Alibi, alibi
You don't fit the body that you're trapped in
Alibi, alibi
Papa's got a brand new
Alibi, alibi

But if I've done something wrong there's no "ifs and buts"
'Cos I love you just as much as I hate your guts
But if I've left something out
I apologise
But if you look in my eyes
Then I'm sure you'll see…
Alibis, alibis, alibis…

Today's Slow Drag is with "Poor Napoleon," released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Twitter: @slowdragremedy

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Reference: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Poor_Napoleon 

Poor Napoleon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIh_O7rksgw

Reduction to absurdity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikjkCi_DhC8 

Magic Fingers: https://www.retrothing.com/2007/06/magic_fingers_v.html  

Corpse Factory: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/the-corpse-factory.html 

The "hardest cut": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd3-HakNEGM&vl=en 

Eggcorns: https://grammarist.com/mondegreens/ 

Title dispute: https://www.stereogum.com/693/napoleon_dynamite_vs_elvis_costello/news/ 

Pomeranian reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjN5q9Ixen4

"Poor Napoleon" Lyrics:

I can't lie on this bed anymore, it burns my skin
You can take the truthful things you've said to me
And fit them on the head of a pin

Poor Napoleon

You always look so disappointed when I take my stockings off
Don't you know the facts of life, boy
Don't you know what these things cost
She was selling stolen kisses to traveling salesmen and minstrel singers
You put a penny in the slot
She called you her Magic Fingers

Poor Napoleon

I bet she isn't all that's advertised
I bet that isn't all she fakes
Just like that place where they take your spine
And turn it into soapflakes

Bare wires from the socket to the bed where you embrace that girl
Did you ever think there's far too many people in the world?
One day they'll probably make a movie out of all of this
There won't even have to be a murder just a slow dissolving kiss

Poor Napoleon

So good night, little school boy, you'd better learn some self control
Did you mess up your hairstyle, pour scorn in your begging bowl

Poor Napoleon

Today’s slow drag is with “Lip Service,” from “This Year’s Model,” released in 1978. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Lip Service” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Lip_Service

“Lip Service” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE6oRbX4CLc

“Grice’s Maxims” https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/grice.html

“Sharp Practice” meaning: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/sharp-practice

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Lip Service" Lyrics

You left the motor running

But I know you're so attractive

Getting in some sharp practice

You better not do anything reckless

 

But if everybody is going through the motions

Everybody is going through the motions

Are you really only going through the motions?

 

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

 

Don't make any sudden movements

These are dangerous amusements

When did you become so choosy

Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes

 

But if everybody is going through the motions

Everybody is going through the motions

Are you really only going through the motions?

 

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

Today’s slow drag is with “The Man You Love to Hate,” from “The Boy Named If,” released in 2022. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Man You Love to Hate” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Man_You_Love_To_Hate

“The Man You Love to Hate” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZU9b4NOQBQ

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"The Man You Love to Hate" Lyrics 

I went to a theatre on Silhouette Street

It had a taste of decay, and a scent of defeat

All of the patrons in the pews were people that I'd killed or used

The actors on the stage were equally skilled

The players took turns in lighting the fuse

One of them said "Now you must choose"

 

A man of infamy or ill-repute

And that's the one that we will execute

 

None of that mob had turned up late

They said, "You'd better concentrate”

So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for

The Man You Love to Hate

 

All of the patrons sitting on pews

Were the shades of the ghosts of the once accused

There was music that dragged in line and word

Not a penny was spent, or a conscience was spared

The hero's motives were never in doubt

We laughed at the speeches that he would spout

Suddenly there arose a shout

 

Confessions simply tumbled out

And marriage vows, that someone mumbled about

 

None of that mob had turned up late

They said, "You'd better concentrate”

So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for

The Man You Love to Hate

 

The closing act

The first one billed

Into the limelight thrilled

 

The tale of a ship lured onto the rocks under

The cover of darkness, the hold was plundered

My mouth was parched my eyes red-rimmed

My false light shone 

And my ghost light dimmed

 

I went to a house on Silhouette Street

Where I lived once and died once more

Awoke a woman I once adored

Her husband came to the door

In a masquerade of dignity

He said, "I'm pleased to meet you but you don't know me"

She took my money and handed me the key

 

The number on the fob was "999" 

She whispered that's your room and this is mine

But that's a chamber that you can't afford

It's one door down, next to the Emergency Ward

 

None of that mob had turned up late

They said, "You'd better concentrate”

So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for

The Man You Love to Hate

The Man You Love to Hate

 

I'm a one party state

The Man You Love to Hate 

The girl you used to care for

Without a why or wherefore

The country that I loved

Is just a problem to solve

Until we all disintegrate before

The Man You Love to Hate

Today’s slow drag is with “Green Shirt,” from “Armed Forces,” released in 1979. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Green Shirt” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Green_Shirt

 

“Green Shirt” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilN9SpD6Y_Q

 

The Somerton Man Mystery: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/have-scholars-finally-identified-the-mysterious-somerton-man-180980540/

 

Quisling Clinic Photo https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM51270

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Green Shirt" Lyrics 

There's a smart young woman on a light blue screen

Who comes into my house every night

And she takes all the red, yellow, orange and green

And she turns them into black and white

 

But you tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

Better cut off all identifying labels

Before they put you on the torture table

 

'Cause somewhere in the "Quisling Clinic"

There's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes

She's listening in to the Venus line

She's picking out names

I hope none of them are mine

 

But you tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

Never said I was a stool pigeon

I never said I was a diplomat

Everybody is under suspicion

But you don't wanna hear about that

 

'Cause you tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

Better send a begging letter to the big investigation

Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?

 

You tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

Today’s slow drag is with “The First to Leave,” from “The Juliet Letters,” released in 1993. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The First to Leave” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_First_To_Leave

 

“The First to Leave” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS0dPEacnTY

“The Dark Ensemble: Voice and String Quartet https://interlude.hk/the-dark-ensemble-voice-and-string-quartet-20th-century/

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"The First to Leave" Lyrics

I should open with a kiss

For if you're reading this

You must have opened up your case

And found this letter where I placed it

In between the silk and lace

There were other clues, like your walking shoes

But I still refused to believe

That you were meant to be the first to leave

 

Everybody here sends you their love

How could I forget you still walk above

Or below

Perhaps you'll never know this Purgatory

We never could agree

There's a thought, there's a pause

No time to repent

Eternally yours in a permanent Lent

 

But if I should give you up

If you're right and life just stops

And I never see your face again

Then from unearthly pleasures, proud and plain

I shall abstain

'Til you realize, my loss is your surprise

Unless you know otherwise, then don't grieve

You see I had to be the first to leave

Today’s slow drag is with “God’s Comic,” from “Spike,” released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com  

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “God’s Comic” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=God%27s_Comic

“God’s Comic” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajjBxMCMQQs

“God’s Comic” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0N6TfU54o8

“Requiem” by Andrew Lloyd Webber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CG8pUpVjg

“God is dead”: What Nietzsche really meant”: https://bigthink.com/thinking/what-nietzsche-really-meant-by-god-is-dead/ 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"God's Comic" Lyrics 

I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was a funny fella

The crowd would hoot and holler for more 

I wore a drunk's red nose for applause 

Oh yes, I was a comical priest 

"With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece" 

Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint 

Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar 

 

(Chorus:)

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead 

And I'm going on to meet my reward 

I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared 

He might’ve never heard God's comic 

 

So, there he was on a waterbed, drinking a cola of a mystery brand 

Reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem" 

He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer the one about my son" 

"I've been wading through all of this unbelievable junk 

And wondering if I should have given the world to the monkeys" 

 

(Repeat Chorus) 

 

I'm gonna take a little trip down Paradise's endless shores 

They say that travel broadens the mind, till you can't get your head out of doors 

 

I'm sitting here on the top of the world, I hang around in the longest night 

Until each beast has gone to bed and then I say "God bless" and put out the light 

 

While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe 

And you beg and you promise and you bargain and you plead 

Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus 

It's the big white beard, I suppose 

I'm going up to the Pole, where you folks die of cold 

I might be gone for a while if you need me 

 

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead

And you're all going on to meet your reward 

Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? 

You might have never heard, but God's comic

Today’s slow drag is with “The World and His Wife,” from “Punch the Clock,” released in 1983. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The World and His Wife”  https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_World_And_His_Wife

 

“The World and His Wife” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4wgrLmdVaI

 

“The World and His Wife” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJTTmA_vvs

“The World and His Wife” idiom: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/world-and-his-wife#:~:text=a%20great%20many%20people%2C%20especially,his%20wife%20will%20be%20there.

 

“It’s a Living” idiom https://www.englishforums.com/English/ItsALiving/mkphd/post.htm

 

“This is the life” idiom https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/this-is-the-life

“Score Draw” https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/score-draw#:~:text=Word%20forms%3A%20plural%20score%20draws,the%20same%20number%20of%20goals.

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

"The World and His Wife" Lyrics

The family circle gathers 'round from very far and near

To pass around the same remarks they passed away last year

The little girl you dangled on your knee without mishap

Stirs something in your memory and something in your lap

 

Chorus:

But it's a living

This is the life

For the world and his wife

The world and his wife

 

The kissing cousins slip outside to cuddle and confess

She says sweet nothing at all, it's much more of a mess

The conversation melts like chocolate down their open jaws

As the juniper berry slips down just like last night's drawers

 

(Chorus)

 

To tell the truth our Mum ran off with someone else's father

Went for two weeks' holiday in Taramasalata

Daddy went out with the rubbish and he kept on walking

Between Mum and the walls

God only knows who does the talking

 

(Chorus)

 

But late time in the evening through the tears and fol-de-rol

Come the sentimental feelings for the lure of vitriol

Longing thoughts go hankering for the old home overseas

With a blindfold and a national anthem sung in different keys

Today’s slow drag is with “Tear off Your Own Head,” from “When I Was Cruel,” released in 2002. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA,MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Tear off Your Own Head” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Tear_Off_Your_Own_Head_(It%27s_A_Doll_Revolution)

“Tear off Your Own Head” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY6iBsjZQhQ

“Tear off Your Own Head” The Bangles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwVvf_8oWFk

“Shabby Doll” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgKhxZTYtq4

“Puppet Girl” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSmTP4sqGRA

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Tear off Your Own Head" Lyrics

Who dries your eyes when you cry real tears?

Who know or cares what an imitation is?

Only you do

You can paint his nails

Make him wear high heels

Why waste time altering the hemline?

Or do you?

 

Tear off your own head

Tear off your own head

It's a doll revolution

 

You can bat your lashes

You can cut your strings

You can pull his hair with your moveable fingers

It looks so real

If one won't do it, so collect the set

Dress him in pink ribbons

Put him in a kitchenette

How does this feel?

 

Tear off your own head

Tear off your own head

It's a doll revolution

 

What’s that sound?

It will turn you around

It's a doll revolution

They're taking over

And they're tearing it down

It's a doll revolution

 

You can pull and pinch him

'Til he cries and squeals

You can twist his body 'til it faces backwards

Plastic features

You could make somebody a pretty little wife

But don't let anybody tell you how to live your life

Broken pieces

 

Tear off your own head

Tear off your own head

It's a doll revolution

 

Tear off your own head

Tear off your own head

Revolution

Today’s slow drag is with “Black and White World” from “Get Happy!”, released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com/

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Black and White World” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Black_And_White_World

“Black and White World” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDl6YvXhiw

“Black and White World” Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMLZi9v-RFM

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Black and White World" Lyrics:

I was looking at the black and white world

It seemed so exciting

If you'd only put me back-to-back with that girl

When the night's inviting

With just a little lighting

There'll never be days like that again

When I was just a boy and men were men

 

You never go from moment to moment

You're the living double of a single fiction

You're very colorful with your compliments

As you feel the finger's friction

It's a freeze-frame till it’s real life

You don't want to look

'Cause you've seen the film and you've read the book

 

I was looking at the black and white world

Trying to name some pin-up

Those days she was just a beautiful girl

Now she's framed and hung up

I thought she was young

Up until I saw her last night in close detail

Though they all fade away when you're so pale

 

It's more than just a physical attraction

It starts with a face and ends up a fixation

But you're never gonna feel a fraction

Of the way it used to work on your imagination

When you were looking at the black and white world

Today’s slow drag is with “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” from “Blood and Chocolate,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Honey,_Are_You_Straight_Or_Are_You_Blind%3F

 

“Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeSNPJ1bIY

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?"

Who do you see when you turn your eyes down?

Who do you see when I'm not seeing you?

The news is out all over town

And all these girls are taking turns at being you

 

Chorus:

Well, well, well

You'd better make up your mind

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

 

She's coming in between us, you know that she is

I'm not holding on to her but one of us is

My hands are in my pockets, my face is in a book

She could walk 'round naked and I wouldn't sneak a look

 

(Chorus)

 

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

 

She walked in and your eyes flew out the door

You squeezed my hand until the circulation ceases

She's just a doll like so many more

She's the kind of doll that you'd like to pull to pieces

 

(Chorus)

 

Well!

 

Well, well, well

You'd better make up your mind

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Today’s slow drag is with “White Knuckles” from “Trust,” released in 1981. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “White Knuckles” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=White_Knuckles

“White Knuckles” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbZ6TkpflKc

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Wave a White Flag”  https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Wave_A_White_Flag

“Wave a White Flag” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJwALX5riiU

“I need him like the axe needs the turkey” saying from “The Lady Eve.” https://melanienovak.com/2020/09/02/the-lady-eve-i-need-him-like-the-axe-needs-the-turkey/

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"White Knuckles" Lyrics:

White knuckles came down to put the frighteners on

I believe she's the one that he's got his heart set on

It doesn't matter if your face doesn't fit

There's no charge for changing it

 

Oooh ooh

What are you doing

You see right through him

You don't have to take it when he gets cruel

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

You don't have to take it so you just give in

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

Losing face with the boys while she's whispering in his ear

They never found out why they called it laughing gear

Maybe they weren't loved when they were young

Maybe they should be hung by their tongues

 

Oooh ooh

Under the blankets with the body jerk

He needs her like the axe needs the turkey

Thinking of après of this fancy footwork

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

Didn't mean to hit her but she kept laughing

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

There's always someone new to toy with when the penny drops in the slot

Now it's a petty crime on the news at nine

But it's all she's got

Love on the never never dreams don't come cheap

I don't close my eyes when I go to sleep

 

Oooh ooh

It gets right under your skin

It makes you as miserable as sin

You don't have to take it so you just give in

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

Didn't mean to hit her but she kept laughing

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

You don't have to take it so you just give in

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

Why you don't come round anymore

Mother said

He's using you

Sister said

I told you so too

When he goes to your head

You took it to be true

Today’s slow drag is with “They’re Not Laughing at Me Now” from “Hey Clockface,” released in 2020. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: slow_drag_remedy 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “They’re Not Laughing at Me Now” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/They%27re_Not_Laughing_At_Me_Now

“They’re Not Laughing at Me Now” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_uR6jvQKAI

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"They're Not Laughing at Me Now" Lyrics:

Tell me, how does it feel?

In the hour of deception and the moment of pretend

To be scorned by those rank and those unkind strangers

You were fool enough to call your friends

Will you say as the curtain descends?

"They're not laughing at me now"

 

When the last of the garlands and laurel crowns and fine bouquets have all been swept away

You were lost in the smokescreens and cavalcades and accolades instead of traitor's pay

Where will you find the courage to say?

"They're not laughing at me now"

 

You could shake my hand

If I could unfold my fist

If I were a gentleman

If I were a Christian

But I wouldn't risk it

Why would you?

You know my name now

And it's "Mister" to you.

 

Now we're back at the start, no forgiveness in your heart, you turned your coat and asked me to turn my cheek

And it's all in a language that I can understand but never bring myself to speak

I'll leave it to you, if you dare

It's a peal too appalling to bear

I wonder if you're here or you're there

They're not laughing at me now