Elvis Costello Lyrics

Elvis Costello Info:

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 )

From:
Paddington, London, England

Genres:
Pub rock, new wave, punk rock, power pop

Occupations:
Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer

Instruments:
Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums

Years active:
1970-present

Spouse:
Diana Krall (m. 2003)
Cait O'Riordan (m. 1986-2002)
Mary Burgoyne (m. 1974-1984)


Associated acts:
The Attractions
The Imposters
Diana Krall
Burt Bacharach
Brodsky Quartet
Nick Lowe
Madness
The Strokes
The Specials
Squeeze
Paul McCartney
The Roots

Notable Instruments:
Fender Jazzmaster
Fender Telecaster

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.

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

Elvis Costello 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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