One of my favorite songs of his is Shipbuilding. A slow bluesy song with trumpet. Definitely should be listened to! He did an album with the famous songwriter Burt Bacharach. Worth a listen. His wife is a great jazz singer Diana Krall.
@lindalloa4786 I submitted an Elvis marathon a while back and Shipbuilding was included. One of my favorites too! I also included a song with Elvis and Burt. You should check it out🙂
Imperial Bedroom was definitely Elvis' (Declan Patrick Alloysus McManus) most ambitious album, musically, sonically and lyrically, to that point. His themes can be anything and this one, I look at as an impressionistic painting with the lyrics conjuring up mysterious images and using very cutting descriptions of people with lots of word play. I think the title is a triple play on words. It's about a man whose time is running out (a man, literally, out of time). It's also a man from another time period, placed into one he is not suited for. And lastly, the song rhythms, and phrasing, as Nick noted, are out of time - confusing and sometimes ambiguous. Most EC albums are growers. Either the music is hard to grasp until multiple listening. The ones that are immediately catchy, and pop sounding, turn out to have much more complex lyrics and meaning than first meets the ear. This is why I have been listening to his albums for 40+ years and they still sound fresh as I find more depth in them than I have heard before.
So much to unpack here but I'll try to be brief! Elvis Costello's real name is Declan McManus. His father was also a fairly well known musician. When Declan hit the music scene, he was considered more "punk/pop/rock" (like the Clash and the Ramones type of punk, not hardcore). He wanted to change his name and thought using Elvis would help him gain some popularity. Of course there was pushback, but he always went against the grain in the beginning. Hence Elvis Costello was born. This is to the best of my recollection from interviews and biographies. There were actually 2 versions of Man out of Time, the first one was very fast. The same thing happened with the beautiful song called "Town Crier" which is also on this album. Imperial Bedroom was a real turning point for him, and by changing the tempos of both of these tunes and playing them more melodically and with so much beauty (such as with the piano accents and perfect reverb, and in the case of Town Crier with substantially more emotion), he was able to present a different side of his creativity which moved forward with him throughout the rest of his career. While I like both of the fast versions, the two which appear on the album are much better in my opinion. I believe the weird intro and outro of the album version of Man out of Time was a throwback to the original fast version. I have gotten used to it now because I've heard it probably 200 times, but it was weird for me at first too! And yes, this album review just needs to happen! Enough is enough! Haha.
Great song from a great, great album. Keyboardist Steve Nieve shines here as usual. The lyrics are dense and full of plays on words. The first side of the album especially is very much like a concept album - the reason for the wild intro and outro. I’m probably the only person alive whose favorite EC album is Get Happy! 20 short songs squeezed onto a single album, produced by Nick Lowe, with a definite Motown influence. Anyone else who feels that way?
I love this song and I loved your reaction. For this album, Elvis invited Geoff Emerick, one of the most influential engineers of the Beatles, to be his producer. The recordings sound great, and I think it really challenged Elvis to create some incredible songs. I would love to hear you guys react to the whole album. Just like the Fab Four, every single song on the album sounds different.
I go fishing for the day and look what happens my favorite Elvis Costello album gets som love from Paul as a great DAN request. This is my favorite Elvis (Declan Macmanus) Costello album because I think it is his most artistic effort and meant the most to me at the time it came out and the marker it has left in my personal history. It’s a silly enterprise IMO to try and pick a greatest album from Elvis because there is so much quality throughout his catalogue. Some of the greatest Lyrics ever on this album for me. Nick you recently did Brilliant Mistake off of King Of America and you have also done the album opener off of Imperial Bedroom called Beyond Belief. I don’t know if both Lee and I are nominating this for Patreon at the same time,, but I know I nominated it the last two months. It is certainly deserving of a win but it looks like a hard climb. Here is hoping. It looks like Lee and I have similar taste in EC.
Probably my favorite EC & the Attractions album. It's been a long time since I played it, but there was a time in my life when I could recite the complete album lyrics from memory, in order, from the first song to the last. So I had been listening to this album A LOT!
Elvis Costello's real name is Declan Patrick Alicious Macmanus. An English musician who collaborated with Paul McCartney, George Jones and Burt Bacharach.
LOVE this song.. it's almost like that was a song out of time (a ballad from the 50s) slipped in the middle of a more modern punkish song. NOTE: The song "BEYOND BELIEF" from this same album, in my opinion, is Elvis Costello's all-time BEST song. It's lyrically, musically, and vocally perfect. I could listen to it a million times and not get bored of it.
The album is certainly one to listen to as a whole, not a concept album but each song follows on beautifully to the next. It stands by itself with little reference to prevailing music trends in 1982, one of the best of the 20th century.
You're right about Imperial Bedroom as an album collecting various styles. This song, "Man Out Of Time" definitely derives its style from "Like A Rolling Stone" -- I'm surprised no one here mentioned the Dylan resemblance.
Love this whole album. I saw him do the full album at the Capital Theater. My favoritr is Town Crier, the final track with The Attractions. He was ready to move on and grow. It was obvious. Top tier tunes!
Also, FYI, Elvis has an album called “Spanish Model,” which is a collection of Spanish language covers of songs from his first album by Latin American singers/groups.
The intro and outro are from the original version of the song, which Elvis felt didn’t work with the lyrics and needed a more sophisticated sound, but Geoff Emerick and Elvis liked the energy and squealing so much they kept it in.
I also always recommend having the lyrics in front of you when listening to Costello or Tom Waits because so much is easily missed. I mean, I've had to Google MANY things in his songs - didn't know tarmacadam was the full name of tarmac, nor that "a bamboo needle on a shellac of Chopin" meant just putting an album on!! This one alone: There`s a tuppeny hapenny millionaire Looking for a fourpenny one With a tight grip on the short hairs Of the public imagination He`s got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege The biggest wheels of industry Retire sharp and short And the after dinner overtures Are nothing but an after thought Somebody`s creeping in the kitchen There`s a reputation to be made Whose nerves are always on a knife`s edge Who`s up late polishing the blade Love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning You drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning
To answer your question.. Elvis isn't as common now but growing up in the south, I knew several older men named Elvis as their given name that had nothing to do with EP. Most were blue collar and or had rural upbringings. One of those names that fell out of favor in later generations. His use of the name was marketing. Elvis Costello is one of the greats coming out of the new wave/post punk time period in the late 70's. Big catalog. I can't think of a just bad or terrible song.
The wacky intro and outro of ‘Man out of Time’ gives me the impression of a man suddenly going berserk with a split personality. According to Elvis costello: "I cast the lyrics to "Man Out of Time" in the clothes of political intrigue and what was going on in the world at that time. There was a famous political scandal in England going on then. It all sort of got wrapped up in the song. Sometimes a song will have a personal meaning and a public meaning. "Man Out of Time" is one of those".
One you guys might really like is a song he did called "Tramp the Dirt Down." It is literally and absolutely an attack on Margaret Thatcher and her ridiculously cruel policies of the 1980s. Just an example of how there's NO confusion on what the song is about.... I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain She spills with compassion, as that young child's Face in her hands she grips Can you imagine all that greed and avarice Coming down on that child's lips Well I hope I don't die too soon I pray the lord my soul to save Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live Long enough to savor That's when they finally put you in the ground I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down When England was the whore of the world Margaret was her madam And the future looked as bright and as clear as The black tarmacadam Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't Haunted by every tiny detail 'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands All she thought of was betrayal
You're not wrong about Elvis doing different styles quite often, but he's nowhere near another comparable artist, Tom Waits. He has changed his musical style almost every album, and even his dang voice from one song to another lol.
One of my favourite Elvis songs. His name is Declan McManus.The Elvis name emerged when he was signed to his first label, Stiff Records, which was run by two guys who loved a bit of joke. In the UK, Germans have a reputation for not having a sense of humour. It's not true, but it's a lefover from when Britain was the last country to stand up to the Nazis before the Americans came and saved us.
He knows to do everything with his huge talent and his holy band... The veeeeeryyy best composer since the Beatlles.... His words, his music, his band, my favorites... Saw him 12 times in Paris- France.... Huuuuuge !!! And germans have no sense of hymour, that's all... Engineering by Geoff Emerick.. The beginning and the end came from an earlyer take of the song, mixed with the rest...
Love all those songs and albums too! Armed Forces and Trust are just as good if not better than Imperial Bedroom. But I’m partial to Get Happy! Now that’s a minority!
@@nickhamlyn2458 no prob. It's a great album, I know it start to finish. On any other album Man Out of Time would be THE stand out track, but on IB, it's one of many!
One of my favorite songs of his is Shipbuilding. A slow bluesy song with trumpet. Definitely should be listened to! He did an album with the famous songwriter Burt Bacharach. Worth a listen. His wife is a great jazz singer Diana Krall.
@lindalloa4786 I submitted an Elvis marathon a while back and Shipbuilding was included. One of my favorites too! I also included a song with Elvis and Burt. You should check it out🙂
There’s a vast supply of great EC songs. _Blood and Chocolate_ is a gold mine of great cuts.
Imperial Bedroom was definitely Elvis' (Declan Patrick Alloysus McManus) most ambitious album, musically, sonically and lyrically, to that point.
His themes can be anything and this one, I look at as an impressionistic painting with the lyrics conjuring up mysterious images and using very cutting descriptions of people with lots of word play.
I think the title is a triple play on words. It's about a man whose time is running out (a man, literally, out of time). It's also a man from another time period, placed into one he is not suited for. And lastly, the song rhythms, and phrasing, as Nick noted, are out of time - confusing and sometimes ambiguous.
Most EC albums are growers. Either the music is hard to grasp until multiple listening. The ones that are immediately catchy, and pop sounding, turn out to have much more complex lyrics and meaning than first meets the ear.
This is why I have been listening to his albums for 40+ years and they still sound fresh as I find more depth in them than I have heard before.
I love anything Elvis Costello. Saw him numerous times in concert.
"He's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge" what writing! I remember getting Imperial Bedroom and playing it continuously.
So much to unpack here but I'll try to be brief!
Elvis Costello's real name is Declan McManus. His father was also a fairly well known musician. When Declan hit the music scene, he was considered more "punk/pop/rock" (like the Clash and the Ramones type of punk, not hardcore). He wanted to change his name and thought using Elvis would help him gain some popularity. Of course there was pushback, but he always went against the grain in the beginning. Hence Elvis Costello was born. This is to the best of my recollection from interviews and biographies.
There were actually 2 versions of Man out of Time, the first one was very fast. The same thing happened with the beautiful song called "Town Crier" which is also on this album. Imperial Bedroom was a real turning point for him, and by changing the tempos of both of these tunes and playing them more melodically and with so much beauty (such as with the piano accents and perfect reverb, and in the case of Town Crier with substantially more emotion), he was able to present a different side of his creativity which moved forward with him throughout the rest of his career. While I like both of the fast versions, the two which appear on the album are much better in my opinion. I believe the weird intro and outro of the album version of Man out of Time was a throwback to the original fast version. I have gotten used to it now because I've heard it probably 200 times, but it was weird for me at first too!
And yes, this album review just needs to happen! Enough is enough! Haha.
We can keep trying to make it happen. It needs to happen 😁
@@scottanderson8420I totally agree! I'll try some subliminal messaging..... 😅
The grind/scream at the beginning is so brilliant as it flows directly from the previous song to this one.
Great song from a great, great album. Keyboardist Steve Nieve shines here as usual. The lyrics are dense and full of plays on words. The first side of the album especially is very much like a concept album - the reason for the wild intro and outro. I’m probably the only person alive whose favorite EC album is Get Happy! 20 short songs squeezed onto a single album, produced by Nick Lowe, with a definite Motown influence. Anyone else who feels that way?
20 songs 20 big hits, my favorite too
Glad I’m not alone!
Ditto. Motel Matches!
I love that album but it's not my favorite (sorry!).
@@shiftingperception no need to apologize! They’re all so good. Even Goodbye Cruel World, the one EC claims to hate.
I love this song and I loved your reaction. For this album, Elvis invited Geoff Emerick, one of the most influential engineers of the Beatles, to be his producer. The recordings sound great, and I think it really challenged Elvis to create some incredible songs. I would love to hear you guys react to the whole album. Just like the Fab Four, every single song on the album sounds different.
Great LP. Elvis at his top. Fantastic lyrics.
I go fishing for the day and look what happens my favorite Elvis Costello album gets som love from Paul as a great DAN request. This is my favorite Elvis (Declan Macmanus) Costello album because I think it is his most artistic effort and meant the most to me at the time it came out and the marker it has left in my personal history. It’s a silly enterprise IMO to try and pick a greatest album from Elvis because there is so much quality throughout his catalogue. Some of the greatest Lyrics ever on this album for me. Nick you recently did Brilliant Mistake off of King Of America and you have also done the album opener off of Imperial Bedroom called Beyond Belief. I don’t know if both Lee and I are nominating this for Patreon at the same time,, but I know I nominated it the last two months.
It is certainly deserving of a win but it looks like a hard climb. Here is hoping. It looks like Lee and I have similar taste in EC.
Probably my favorite EC & the Attractions album. It's been a long time since I played it, but there was a time in my life when I could recite the complete album lyrics from memory, in order, from the first song to the last. So I had been listening to this album A LOT!
Elvis Costello's real name is Declan Patrick Alicious Macmanus. An English musician who collaborated with Paul McCartney, George Jones and Burt Bacharach.
The collaboration with Paul yielded two of their best: My Brave Face, Veronica. Worth checking out if you have not already.
You mean "Aloysisus" ? Then you're right....😂😂😂
LOVE this song.. it's almost like that was a song out of time (a ballad from the 50s) slipped in the middle of a more modern punkish song. NOTE: The song "BEYOND BELIEF" from this same album, in my opinion, is Elvis Costello's all-time BEST song. It's lyrically, musically, and vocally perfect. I could listen to it a million times and not get bored of it.
The album is certainly one to listen to as a whole, not a concept album but each song follows on beautifully to the next. It stands by itself with little reference to prevailing music trends in 1982, one of the best of the 20th century.
Pete-Drums, Bruce=Bass, Steve-Keys, and Elvi- Guitar, are a power quartet! all top notch...He is also a master words smith and pun maker.
German sense of humor…
One guy I know, instead of saying someone is right, would say “you aren’t completely wrong.”
Exactly!
🤣😂🤣😂
Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello
You're right about Imperial Bedroom as an album collecting various styles. This song, "Man Out Of Time" definitely derives its style from "Like A Rolling Stone" -- I'm surprised no one here mentioned the Dylan resemblance.
IMHO one of his best songs and there’s an even better live version .
Steve Nieve
Love this whole album. I saw him do the full album at the Capital Theater. My favoritr is Town Crier, the final track with The Attractions. He was ready to move on and grow. It was obvious. Top tier tunes!
Also, FYI, Elvis has an album called “Spanish Model,” which is a collection of Spanish language covers of songs from his first album by Latin American singers/groups.
The intro and outro are from the original version of the song, which Elvis felt didn’t work with the lyrics and needed a more sophisticated sound, but Geoff Emerick and Elvis liked the energy and squealing so much they kept it in.
I also always recommend having the lyrics in front of you when listening to Costello or Tom Waits because so much is easily missed.
I mean, I've had to Google MANY things in his songs - didn't know tarmacadam was the full name of tarmac, nor that "a bamboo needle on a shellac of Chopin" meant just putting an album on!!
This one alone:
There`s a tuppeny hapenny millionaire
Looking for a fourpenny one
With a tight grip on the short hairs
Of the public imagination
He`s got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge
He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege
The biggest wheels of industry
Retire sharp and short
And the after dinner overtures
Are nothing but an after thought
Somebody`s creeping in the kitchen
There`s a reputation to be made
Whose nerves are always on a knife`s edge
Who`s up late polishing the blade
Love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning
You drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning
Thanks for the Elvis.... possibly about a man out of time, terminal or the end of the relationship
The quintessential and arguably best Elvis album is My Aim Is True.
Imperial Bedroom is pretty good, but his most cohesive album to me was Blood and Chocolate. All amazing and glad you're checking more of him out!!
To answer your question.. Elvis isn't as common now but growing up in the south, I knew several older men named Elvis as their given name that had nothing to do with EP. Most were blue collar and or had rural upbringings. One of those names that fell out of favor in later generations. His use of the name was marketing.
Elvis Costello is one of the greats coming out of the new wave/post punk time period in the late 70's. Big catalog. I can't think of a just bad or terrible song.
Great song.....fabulous dress and earrings! 🔥
LOVE ELVIS C AND YOU TWO AS WELL...PACKAGES ON THE WAY...KENT
Love ELVIS and the song.
There’s a great video of them performing this on Letterman!!!!
Elvis opening for John Hall in a few weeks in my neighborhood
The wacky intro and outro of ‘Man out of Time’ gives me the impression of a man suddenly going berserk with a split personality.
According to Elvis costello: "I cast the lyrics to "Man Out of Time" in the clothes of political intrigue and what was going on in the world at that time. There was a famous political scandal in England going on then. It all sort of got wrapped up in the song. Sometimes a song will have a personal meaning and a public meaning. "Man Out of Time" is one of those".
This is a good song by Elvis Costello. He music is always a nice surprise.
71st!!!!
Another Elvis would be Grbac, an NFL quarterback who played for 3 teams over 9 seasons, with some success as a starter.
One you guys might really like is a song he did called "Tramp the Dirt Down." It is literally and absolutely an attack on Margaret Thatcher and her ridiculously cruel policies of the 1980s.
Just an example of how there's NO confusion on what the song is about....
I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign
A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain
She spills with compassion, as that young child's
Face in her hands she grips
Can you imagine all that greed and avarice
Coming down on that child's lips
Well I hope I don't die too soon
I pray the lord my soul to save
Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave
Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live
Long enough to savor
That's when they finally put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down
When England was the whore of the world
Margaret was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as
The black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't
Haunted by every tiny detail
'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
All she thought of was betrayal
You're not wrong about Elvis doing different styles quite often, but he's nowhere near another comparable artist, Tom Waits. He has changed his musical style almost every album, and even his dang voice from one song to another lol.
One of my favourite Elvis songs. His name is Declan McManus.The Elvis name emerged when he was signed to his first label, Stiff Records, which was run by two guys who loved a bit of joke. In the UK, Germans have a reputation for not having a sense of humour. It's not true, but it's a lefover from when Britain was the last country to stand up to the Nazis before the Americans came and saved us.
This particular song reminds me of Dylan.
Maybe his best song
I prefer SPIKE or King of America, ...
He knows to do everything with his huge talent and his holy band... The veeeeeryyy best composer since the Beatlles.... His words, his music, his band, my favorites... Saw him 12 times in Paris- France.... Huuuuuge !!! And germans have no sense of hymour, that's all... Engineering by Geoff Emerick.. The beginning and the end came from an earlyer take of the song, mixed with the rest...
"You Better Watch Your Step" "Big Sister's Clothes" Green Shirt.......are so cool. But I must be the minority.
I love Green Shirt! In fact, the entire Special Forces album is perfect from start to finish. A close second to Imperial Bedroom.....
Love all those songs and albums too! Armed Forces and Trust are just as good if not better than Imperial Bedroom. But I’m partial to Get Happy! Now that’s a minority!
to me Elvis is the British version of Bob Dylan - writes a lot of good songs- not a great singer- Linda Ronstadt sang his songs a couple of times too
This is one of his greatest songs, but it's not on Imperial Bedroom.
Huh? It's 100 percent on imperial bedroom
@@QuakerPop Sorry, my bad. You're absolutely right of course
@@nickhamlyn2458 no prob. It's a great album, I know it start to finish. On any other album Man Out of Time would be THE stand out track, but on IB, it's one of many!