Elvis Costello Lyrics

Birth Name: Declan Patrick MacManus
Also Known As: D.P. Costello
The Imposter
Little Hands of Concrete
Napoleon Dynamite
Howard Coward
Born: August 25th, 1954 (age 69)
From: Paddington, London, England
Spouse(s): Diana Krall (m. 2003)
Cait O'Riordan (m. 1986-2002)
Mary Burgoyne (m. 1974-1984)


Genre(s): Pub rock, new wave, punk rock, power pop
Instrument(s): Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums
Occupation(s): Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer
Active From: 1970-present
Associated Acts: The Attractions The Imposters Diana Krall Burt Bacharach Brodsky Quartet Nick Lowe Madness The Strokes The Specials Squeeze Paul McCartney The Roots
Did You Know:
• He's been a vegetarian since the early 1980s.

• He's a big football (soccer) fan, supporting Liverpool F.C., and has appeared on Channel 4's Football Italia as a pundit.

• Costello sits on the Advisory Board of the Board of Directors of the Jazz Foundation of America.

Awards:
2003
Costello and The Attractions inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Quotes:
And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it. 

And obviously, when I started out, I had a little bit more curiosity than some, and went seeking out the original artists, or in some cases searching up country music. 

And over the last ten years, after my work with the Brodsky Quartet, I had the opportunity to write arrangements for chamber group, chamber orchestra, jazz orchestra, symphony orchestra even. 

I believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies. 

I followed The Byrds a lot, and then when they did a country styled record it made me curious to know who these people were that they liked. 

I know that when I make a record like The Delivery Man as a contrast to even Il Sogno, this is going to reach a wider audience, because it communicates in that very direct way. 

I'd been to Memphis before, but we stayed out of Memphis early on in the late 70s for obvious reasons. People were very sensitive about Elvis Presley, and my stage name obviously would be provocative to some people in that area at that time. 

Maybe I just never learned my harmony part, because what everybody says sounds odd to them sounds perfectly natural to me. 

Obviously I got known for some other songs early on, and some of those were rock'n'roll songs. Some of them were melodic pop songs. And I've done lots of different things, as you know, but every so often I get drawn back. 

Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music. 

Really the only thing holding a lot of records together is the personality of the singer, and the will to write all of these different things. 

Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing. 

These are the sort of things that push you on in music - the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. 

Very similar experience happened last year when we released this album, North. It was on Deutsche Grammophon, it was very, very honest. It was the most honest record I've ever written. 

Well, I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you. 

Women hear rhythm differently than men. 

You have to face the fact that I have no reputation as a composer; I have my reputation as a songwriter and a performer-and that opportunity came this summer, when I was invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre festival in New York... three nights. 

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