Avg rating:
Your rating:
Total ratings: 2971
Length: 3:46
Plays (last 30 days): 3
Vigilante's coming out to follow me.
Heard somebody say they're out to collar me.
Anybody wanna swallow me?
It takes two to tumble. It takes two to tango.
Speak up; don't mumble if you're in the combo.
On the beat, on the beat.
Till a man comes along and he says,
'Have you been a good boy, never played with your toy?
Though you never enjoy, such pleasure to employ.'
See your friends in the state their in.
See your friends getting under their skin.
See your friends getting taken in.
Well, if you only knew the things you do to me.
I'd do anything to confuse the enemy.
There's only one thing wrong with you befriending me.
Take it easy. I think you're bending me.
I've been a bad boy with the standard leader.
My neighbor's revving up his Vauxhall Viva.
On the beat, on the upbeat.
Till a man comes along and he says,
'Have you been a good boy, never played with your toy?
Though you never enjoy, such pleasure to employ.'
See your friends walking down the street.
See your friends never quite complete.
See your friends getting under their feet.
Oh, I don't want to disease you,
but I'm no good with machinery.
Oh, I don't wanna freeze you.
Stop looking at the scen'ry.
I keep thinking about your mother.
Oh, I don't wanna lick them.
I don't wanna be a lover.
I just wanna be your victim.
I don't go out much at night.
I don't go out much at all.
Did you think you were the only one
who was waiting for a call
On the beat, on the upbeat.
Till a man comes along and he says,
'Have you been a good boy, never played with your toy?
Though you never enjoy, such pleasure to employ.'
See your friends treat me like a stranger.
See your friends despite all the arrangements.
See your friends Nothing here has changed.
Just the beat.
Took the stage and rocked it in a kilt.
for just under 3 hours.
I hate Castello. His voice and music hurts my ears down to my toes! Please stop playing him. Everything else, everything else is fantastic.
You do know this incessant whining only brings more Costello into airplay, right? Easiest is the PSD button.
yep, I don't get it either. And I especially don't get all the lacktards who complain about his voice. Fuggit, if I could sing even half as good as he I'd die happy.
Sorry to be lacktard but his voice is basically a version of fingernails on a blackboard. Great songwriter who basically unlistenable. Kind of new wave’s version of Bob Dylan. Glad to have the ability to skip this when it comes around.
Uh oh, grammar police working...
pedant: that's spelling, not grammar....
.
See your friends in the state their* in.
*they're
Uh oh, grammar police working...
See your friends in the state their* in.
*they're
I didn't realise until now that Elvis Costello has an annoying voice.
Right!?!
yep, I don't get it either. And I especially don't get all the lacktards who complain about his voice. Fuggit, if I could sing even half as good as he I'd die happy.
EC is great, but this isn't one of his best songs. Still a very solid 8.
I'm pretty sure one of them was just insulted. But Mr. Costello, OBE, isn't as young as Mr. Warner, so hey.
c.
Give yourself some credit. You're far ahead.
I was a teen in 1977 when this guy hit the scene and my only thought was, "Who the fuck is this dork calling himself 'Elvis' and making shit for music."
With very few exceptions since then, nothing he's done strikes me as anything but goofy.
I listen as long as I can when he's played here on RP, before moving on, or as in this case, matching him, shit for shit.
goodness man. sounds like you hold a grudge just cuz of his name. catch the groove in his tunes and relax.
Elvis was fresh, clever, original and angry when he needed to be. REO Chuckwagon was crap from stem to stern. No personality or sincerity. Styx was often too artsy and polished. Journey had its moments but it was trapped in the AOR niche.
None of those bands were anywhere near as good as top Elvis. No contest.
I was a teen in 1977 when this guy hit the scene and my only thought was, "Who the fuck is this dork calling himself 'Elvis' and making shit for music."
With very few exceptions since then, nothing he's done strikes me as anything but goofy.
I listen as long as I can when he's played here on RP, before moving on, or as in this case, matching him, shit for shit.
The two commercial stations went AOR top 40 with lame playlists. By 1978 they sucked. New Wave was coming in and the new kid in town was playing it for the next four years. A glorious time. Then they went country, then talk radio.
All this was before Clear Channel screwed up everything but it was already well on its way.
Exactly. It's easy to forget, but those of us who were listening to the radio back then were drowning in crap. Then came those artists that were "New Wave" and couldn't get played on top 40 radio!
Those damned troublemakers were folks like Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, Tom Petty, Devo, B-52s...
They were so far afield of where commercial radio was going that they were only played on college, non-commercial stations. So you listen to them now and think "how mainstream" - but that's a testament to how they changed everything.
Check out the documentary, "New Wave: Dare to Be Different"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5...
Exactly. It's easy to forget, but those of us who were listening to the radio back then were drowning in crap. Then came those artists that were "New Wave" and couldn't get played on top 40 radio!
Those damned troublemakers were folks like Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, Tom Petty, Devo, B-52s...
They were so far afield of where commercial radio was going that they were only played on college, non-commercial stations. So you listen to them now and think "how mainstream" - but that's a testament to how they changed everything.
Except in the UK they were played on Radio 1 and appeared on Top of the Pops, even got into the top Ten!
Posted 4 weeks ago by njswede: One
day, medical science will find a way to extract the object that's stuck
in his throat making his voice sounds so awful. What a happy day that
will be!
I usually say Get Happy for the perfect slices of pop heaven he created, but I've since learned that Imperial Bedroom saw him unleashed to use all the instruments and effects he wanted to.
yep, I don't get it either. And I especially don't get all the lacktards who complain about his voice. Fuggit, if I could sing even half as good as he I'd die happy.
+ 1 lacktard.
I'm sure he's innovative but i seriously can't stand his voice.
Exactly. It's easy to forget, but those of us who were listening to the radio back then were drowning in crap. Then came those artists that were "New Wave" and couldn't get played on top 40 radio!
Those damned troublemakers were folks like Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, Tom Petty, Devo, B-52s...
They were so far afield of where commercial radio was going that they were only played on college, non-commercial stations. So you listen to them now and think "how mainstream" - but that's a testament to how they changed everything.
I just wanna be your victim.
Man, do I miss this guy. He wore his heart on his sleeve and all his remarks were off the cuff.
I guess someone should have told him that forty years ago when he recorded this.
Completely agree!
Totally agree. Who is the bass guitar player ?
Bruce Thomas
https://www.brucethomas.co.uk/
Writes books too.
Totally agree. Who is the bass guitar player ?
I read the book and was surprised, expecting it to be nastier. There are a few references to "the singer" but nothing I'd call really nasty. I guess Declan is a little sensitive. The book is more of a story about the endless touring and trying to stay sane doing it. Book is called "The big wheel", btw.
I'm reading Elvis' memoir now, and so far he hasn't named Bruce but he's talked a lot about the band and how well they worked together. He's mentioned Steve a few times here and there, so maybe not mentioning Bruce is his way of staying above the fray there. He hasn't pulled any punches anywhere else (was totally rude to Wreckless Eric), so maybe there's something he's saving up.
Apparently, I nailed it. I am not a good singer.
yep, I don't get it either. And I especially don't get all the lacktards who complain about his voice. Fuggit, if I could sing even half as good as he I'd die happy.
I hear you. It's certainly one of his best. At least, one of the two or three I find myself playing most often. I also like a lot of the cuts on the Rhino double disc reissue.
I'll go along with that. This Year's Model gets a slight edge over his 1st and 3rd for me.
Brings me back to those good old days when I was a student. Girls, pot and beer. Those were the days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNiAuRgmApE
Does Elvis still have pull in England, or is he just a nostalgia act?
There was a string of albums in the Eighties that definitely earned him "genius" label, but then he branched out into Burt Bacharach-type stuff and lost his edgy appeal. That was his choice and he had the right to make it, but a lot of people like me got turned off. "Spike" was a return to the poppier Elvis, but I think most listeners had pigeonholed him as someone from the past at that point.
But yes, this album was and is brilliant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNiAuRgmApE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNiAuRgmApE
Bruce Thomas is a fantastic bass player, check the middle section of Goon Squad from Armed Forces.
Then he wrote a nasty book about EC and was excommunicated. But he did get inducted into the R&R HOF.
I read the book and was surprised, expecting it to be nastier. There are a few references to "the singer" but nothing I'd call really nasty. I guess Declan is a little sensitive. The book is more of a story about the endless touring and trying to stay sane doing it. Book is called "The big wheel", btw.
One of the best, for sure.
You could plug Joe Jackson into this tune and it would be just as in character for the artist. Very similar sounds...
true ! even in the lyrics ..
Am I the only one who hears "Driver's Seat" by Sniff'n The Tears?
There are some similarities in the minor chords in the chorus but this song has quite a few more chords.
Exactly. It's easy to forget, but those of us who were listening to the radio back then were drowning in crap. Then came those artists that were "New Wave" and couldn't get played on top 40 radio!
Those damned troublemakers were folks like
- Elvis Costello
- The Pretenders
- Tom Petty
- Devo
- B-52s
Great post - right on
My first (of dozens subsequently) favorite Elvis song.
Remember hearing Alison and Watching the Detectives on the Max's Kansas City juke box. But didn't have the album.
Bought This Year's Model and was blown away by this and the rest of the songs - leading to a lifelong fandom - dozens of shows, bought all the albums of varied musical explorations - even this morning on IPod heard Elvis & Deborah Harry (two original "punks") singing a duet with the jazz passengers.
elvis!!!
You could plug Joe Jackson into this tune and it would be just as in character for the artist. Very similar sounds...
Please, please, please, keep all your baseball bats away from me!
Thank you KROQ-FM for playing this way back in the day!
Am I the only one who hears "Driver's Seat" by Sniff'n The Tears?
I hear "Chesapeake, Chesapeake"
Am I the only one who hears "Driver's Seat" by Sniff'n The Tears?
Such a great album And the bass on this song is wonderfully wicked
Bruce Thomas is a fantastic bass player, check the middle section of Goon Squad from Armed Forces.
Then he wrote a nasty book about EC and was excommunicated. But he did get inducted into the R&R HOF.
Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make it Marilyn Monroe.
You're right...it makes it Marilyn Manson.
Congratulations! You have managed to make a comment that has nothing to do with what anyone here said, and makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! Please let us know where we can sent your Rice-a-Roni consolations prize, and again, thanks for playing!
Being unable to understand a comment doesn' t mean it has no meaning...
Very true, very true.
Dig that Farfisa beat. . .
Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make it Marilyn Monroe.
Congratulations! You have managed to make a comment that has nothing to do with what anyone here said, and makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! Please let us know where we can sent your Rice-a-Roni consolations prize, and again, thanks for playing!
ok, SAT time ...
elvis costello is to tom petty as mozart is to ... right! mandy patinkin!
Used to hate his sound. Then one day, BOOM, it sounded groovy... Mental illness is a sad thing but hey, now boppin' along!
4
Well, no, he doesn't, actually. You don't care for his music, which is quite a different matter. But thanks for playing!
Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make it Marilyn Monroe.
Well, no, he doesn't, actually. You don't care for his music, which is quite a different matter. But thanks for playing!
ok, SAT time ...
elvis costello is to tom petty as mozart is to ... right! mandy patinkin!
Fucking whingers - I absolutely hate reading comments sometimes. This is an all time great song from a master songwriter/performer. This is what brilliant sounds like…
Makes no sense that this song doesn't rate at least a 7 on average.