elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
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Jack of All Parades
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Have to agree with AlexV regarding the near futility of this exercise and am, at the same time, trying to get the image of Steve Allen reciting "My Generation" deadpan from my head, as I remember the original bit-to tear an individual line from a song is dangerous-it loses its context and becomes basically berift of any significant meaning-it is hard to think of an EC line, or for that matter any song writer's line, which would hold up when this is done to it-a better exercise might be the quote of an entire lyric or stanza as some have offered- at best I can appreciate a particular image or sound a particular line may impress upon my inner mind but am hard pressed to elaborate upon one when it is torn from a given song's core. A board member in another thread was getting at these concerns in another way when he expressed the thought that a song is best appreciated within the context of it's album, milieu, production, engineering, frame of mind of the songwriter, etc. Just some thoughts.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Ahawk man, I have to disagree - the line...
'Sometimes I think that love is just a tumour - you've got to cut it out'
...is a classic! It fits the nihilism of the punk era it was recorded in, it is a shockingly anti-romantic, visceral image, and there's a good joke in the double meaning of 'you've got to cut it out'. It's a great line.
I agree with you about My Science Fiction Twin - the whole lyric is hilarious and clever, and swirling with amazing images. The line you quoted ...
'My science fiction twin, escorted by his lovely neices, filled up his purse dictating verse, whilst painting masterpieces'
...is followed by another corker:
'the words flew from his mouth and they were gently gathered by reporters; they asked how in the world he does all these things, and he answered superbly'.
What an image! The words physically being gathered by adoring pressmen, and the double meaning in the last line 'superbly'. (Either his answer was phrased suberbly by the titular, multi-talented twin, or he was simply bragging that he does all these things 'superbly' - an ambiguity which is funny, and which only works when sung and not written down.)
Lots of his later albums have incredible, dense lyrics bursting with startling imagery - that one someone quoted from Dissolve - 'Ice is melting at the distant Pole; the gin and tonic glasses overflow' - truly the work of a poet. In that same song, the great joke 'I can't hear you cos we're breaking up' . Even very simple lines 'You still close your eyes when I kiss you - and I close mine too' - if you think about it long enough, you realise all is not as it seems in that relationship!
His powers haven't waned - there is some jawdropping stuff from the last ten years - he really is streets above anyone else when it comes to lyrics. When it comes to a discussion of his words, really, 'I just don't know where to begin...'
'Sometimes I think that love is just a tumour - you've got to cut it out'
...is a classic! It fits the nihilism of the punk era it was recorded in, it is a shockingly anti-romantic, visceral image, and there's a good joke in the double meaning of 'you've got to cut it out'. It's a great line.
I agree with you about My Science Fiction Twin - the whole lyric is hilarious and clever, and swirling with amazing images. The line you quoted ...
'My science fiction twin, escorted by his lovely neices, filled up his purse dictating verse, whilst painting masterpieces'
...is followed by another corker:
'the words flew from his mouth and they were gently gathered by reporters; they asked how in the world he does all these things, and he answered superbly'.
What an image! The words physically being gathered by adoring pressmen, and the double meaning in the last line 'superbly'. (Either his answer was phrased suberbly by the titular, multi-talented twin, or he was simply bragging that he does all these things 'superbly' - an ambiguity which is funny, and which only works when sung and not written down.)
Lots of his later albums have incredible, dense lyrics bursting with startling imagery - that one someone quoted from Dissolve - 'Ice is melting at the distant Pole; the gin and tonic glasses overflow' - truly the work of a poet. In that same song, the great joke 'I can't hear you cos we're breaking up' . Even very simple lines 'You still close your eyes when I kiss you - and I close mine too' - if you think about it long enough, you realise all is not as it seems in that relationship!
His powers haven't waned - there is some jawdropping stuff from the last ten years - he really is streets above anyone else when it comes to lyrics. When it comes to a discussion of his words, really, 'I just don't know where to begin...'
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
I've always hated this one:
"Like a picture of Prince William in the arms of John the Pope".
"John the Pope"?? Are you kidding me? AARRRRGGGHHH!
"Like a picture of Prince William in the arms of John the Pope".
"John the Pope"?? Are you kidding me? AARRRRGGGHHH!
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Ypsilanti
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Thanks, Neil, for a fantastic post! Couldn't agree more. As someone who actually prefers Contemporary Elvis to Long-ago Elvis, I was pleased to see a defense of his more recent work (which has been getting bashed all to shit on this board lately). I absolutely agree that his powers haven't waned, and those "powers"--the ability to create one amazing song after another, year after year--the ability to write at will, any time, anywhere, as easy as breathing (I wrote this one in the cab on the way over here. I wrote these 10 songs all in one day. I wrote this song while I was shaving last week. I needed a song to sing on Thursday, so I wrote one on Wednesday) truly approach the supernatural. When it comes to songwriting, I don't think he can be matched by anybody--ever.His powers haven't waned - there is some jawdropping stuff from the last ten years - he really is streets above anyone else when it comes to lyrics. When it comes to a discussion of his words, really, 'I just don't know where to begin...'
Here's another little perfect jewel of a lyric which I heard in the car today. I was blown away--like I was hearing it for the first time...
I took my better nature out and drowned it in a babbling stream.
I took the blossom of my youth and blew it all to smithereens.
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Good points Neil and Ypsilanti, I am with you 100% on his lyrical brilliance throughout the years. I do favor his earlier material, but probably more for the music than for the lyrics. What can I say, I love the weird, wonderful SOUND of the albums up through Trust. I'm sure those albums coinciding with my formative musical years had something to do with it also.
I hear you about the "tumor, cut it out" line Neil. Maybe as I get older I don't find tumors to be so funny, ha. Then again, I still like Bodies by the Pistols, so maybe I should get over myself.
The line from My Scieince Fiction Twin that you mention is indeed great, I should have included it but didn't come up with it (gasp!). I love how he mocks himself (and fame in general) in that song.
I think we all agree that his lyrics are incredible. I find it interesting that he has often seems to downplay that aspect of his work in interviews. Do you get that sense as well? Man, if I wrote that stuff I'd probably speak in nothing but my lyrics! I also heard him say that he composes the melodies first and then adds lyrics. Does he say that consistently? I would've bet the farm it was the opposite.
Regardless, we are all richer for the wonderful words he has written.
I hear you about the "tumor, cut it out" line Neil. Maybe as I get older I don't find tumors to be so funny, ha. Then again, I still like Bodies by the Pistols, so maybe I should get over myself.
The line from My Scieince Fiction Twin that you mention is indeed great, I should have included it but didn't come up with it (gasp!). I love how he mocks himself (and fame in general) in that song.
I think we all agree that his lyrics are incredible. I find it interesting that he has often seems to downplay that aspect of his work in interviews. Do you get that sense as well? Man, if I wrote that stuff I'd probably speak in nothing but my lyrics! I also heard him say that he composes the melodies first and then adds lyrics. Does he say that consistently? I would've bet the farm it was the opposite.
Regardless, we are all richer for the wonderful words he has written.
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Oh, lummee, Ypsilanti and Ahawk Man, I swear he's getting better with age.
The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until the needle drags her through the static
What an startling, disturbing image of some has-been singer being brought alive by someone playing one of her old records. This is poetry. It's all said in an oblique way which is more powerful than just saying 'She lives on through her records'. It's night, you get the records, the sense of her being dumped, forgotten, dead, - the shellac is cracked - the scary attic, the grave, then the needle dragging her through the static - so alarming, so brilliant! It's a violent image of her being dragged back to life through playing the record - almost protesting at being torn from the peace of death. Crucially, she, not her voice, is dragged by a needle through the hissing, crackling static. I see her hair getting mixed up with the dust on the needle, as she's dragged along, her screams of protest mixing with her own singing voice playing on the record. The fact that you are forced to picture an impossible concept makes the line poetry, I think. 'Stella is silent as the grave until the needle drags her through the static'. Truly alarming and brilliant.
As I've said in a previous thread, the whole of She Was No Good and Red Cotton, taken together, are like condensed 19th century novels. Quite awesome.
It's not just about the words, though - the way they fall in the melody is so powerful.
The slave ship "Blessing" slipped from Liverpool
Over the waves the Royal Navy rules
To go and plunder the Kingdom of Benin
Where certain history ends and shame begins
That last line sounds so sarcastic and damning when sung with that melody and that augmented (?) note at the end.
I could go on ad infinitum. There are so many jokes. I love this one:
'He’s blowing his lines with his cheeks sucked in
Do you know what I’m saying?'
And I love the seemingly throwaway lines that add a whole world of detail -
'She'll look pale but feign indifference as they're handing out the prizes
Spitting daddy's words of wisdom and her ugly sister's tranquillisers.'
We already know plenty about 'her' - Lucy Grace - by this point, but now we've got her dad, and, especially, her ugly sister (at which point you can't help thinking of Cinderella, adding another layer). This ugly sister needs tranquillisers (why? lifelong jealousy of her pretty sister?) which she lends or has recommended to her prettier sister (you then have to picture this transaction). Or has Lucy Grace stolen them from sis on her way to the awards ceremony at which she's won nothing? You just get a whole world of emotional depth from one phrase.
I do think he's a genius - the sheer volume and quality of work has that 'channelling of humanity' feeling you get from Shakespeare and all the greats. It also feels as though he has tossed the songs off in an afternoon, forgotten them, and moved on to the next ones. I guess that's just a fantasy version of what happens, and there's a lot of perspiration as well as inspiration, but anyway - let's just be glad we've got him, and that he keeps bringing out stuff.
The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until the needle drags her through the static
What an startling, disturbing image of some has-been singer being brought alive by someone playing one of her old records. This is poetry. It's all said in an oblique way which is more powerful than just saying 'She lives on through her records'. It's night, you get the records, the sense of her being dumped, forgotten, dead, - the shellac is cracked - the scary attic, the grave, then the needle dragging her through the static - so alarming, so brilliant! It's a violent image of her being dragged back to life through playing the record - almost protesting at being torn from the peace of death. Crucially, she, not her voice, is dragged by a needle through the hissing, crackling static. I see her hair getting mixed up with the dust on the needle, as she's dragged along, her screams of protest mixing with her own singing voice playing on the record. The fact that you are forced to picture an impossible concept makes the line poetry, I think. 'Stella is silent as the grave until the needle drags her through the static'. Truly alarming and brilliant.
As I've said in a previous thread, the whole of She Was No Good and Red Cotton, taken together, are like condensed 19th century novels. Quite awesome.
It's not just about the words, though - the way they fall in the melody is so powerful.
The slave ship "Blessing" slipped from Liverpool
Over the waves the Royal Navy rules
To go and plunder the Kingdom of Benin
Where certain history ends and shame begins
That last line sounds so sarcastic and damning when sung with that melody and that augmented (?) note at the end.
I could go on ad infinitum. There are so many jokes. I love this one:
'He’s blowing his lines with his cheeks sucked in
Do you know what I’m saying?'
And I love the seemingly throwaway lines that add a whole world of detail -
'She'll look pale but feign indifference as they're handing out the prizes
Spitting daddy's words of wisdom and her ugly sister's tranquillisers.'
We already know plenty about 'her' - Lucy Grace - by this point, but now we've got her dad, and, especially, her ugly sister (at which point you can't help thinking of Cinderella, adding another layer). This ugly sister needs tranquillisers (why? lifelong jealousy of her pretty sister?) which she lends or has recommended to her prettier sister (you then have to picture this transaction). Or has Lucy Grace stolen them from sis on her way to the awards ceremony at which she's won nothing? You just get a whole world of emotional depth from one phrase.
I do think he's a genius - the sheer volume and quality of work has that 'channelling of humanity' feeling you get from Shakespeare and all the greats. It also feels as though he has tossed the songs off in an afternoon, forgotten them, and moved on to the next ones. I guess that's just a fantasy version of what happens, and there's a lot of perspiration as well as inspiration, but anyway - let's just be glad we've got him, and that he keeps bringing out stuff.
Last edited by Neil. on Fri Jul 24, 2009 3:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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toofargone
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
So many "liked" lyrics to choose from, so little time to sort through them. but one for now:
As I walk on through this wicked world,
Searching for light in the darkness of insanity,
One line I never quite got used to, in an otherwise great song:
when the switch broke 'cause it's old (?!)
sounds like a case of writers block at that moment in time?
As I walk on through this wicked world,
Searching for light in the darkness of insanity,
One line I never quite got used to, in an otherwise great song:
when the switch broke 'cause it's old (?!)
sounds like a case of writers block at that moment in time?
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bambooneedle
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
It sounds like he's having a go at the status quo radio establishment, who are "old" and out of touch.
"And if you 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"
Anyone who knocks Little Atoms is officially an idiot. Or My Science Fiction Twin. I always get a cuckle out of this one:
"And when he calls home with his alibi
she says, "is this really necessary?"
But she knows that a man can't be a man
unless he's punishing his secretary"
Sometimes one line is so indelible it just somehow takes a song to a whole other level. There are other lines that could possibly do that in Strict Time but for me it's "Try to look italian through the musical valium".
I always savour those lines, andYpsilanti wrote:Here's another little perfect jewel of a lyric which I heard in the car today. I was blown away--like I was hearing it for the first time...
I took my better nature out and drowned it in a babbling stream.
I took the blossom of my youth and blew it all to smithereens.
"And if you 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"
Anyone who knocks Little Atoms is officially an idiot. Or My Science Fiction Twin. I always get a cuckle out of this one:
"And when he calls home with his alibi
she says, "is this really necessary?"
But she knows that a man can't be a man
unless he's punishing his secretary"
Sometimes one line is so indelible it just somehow takes a song to a whole other level. There are other lines that could possibly do that in Strict Time but for me it's "Try to look italian through the musical valium".
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Ypsilanti
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Neil & Hawkman:
Great stuff from you guys!
Elvis always insists he isn't a genius, but on some level he must know better. For a little boy who wanted to grow up to be like Lorenz Hart...I'd say he's surpassed that by a million miles. He's got such a confident mastery of words--it's not just that he uses language--he plays with it. Jokes, puns, riddles, mysteries, alliteration, double & triple entendre, challenging rhyme schemes (i.e. sarcastic/elastic/gymnastics/matchsticks or prosceniums/Europeans/damnations/plantations), sarcasm, poison pen letters in song form...while other songwriters spend their careers writing one straight-up love song after another (possibly with some political outrage thrown in for good measure). I really get the feeling Elvis would be bored to tears if he "just" wrote songs.
I'm always struck, too, by the way he includes little nuggets of everyday life...grocery stores, wallpaper, trading stamps, overcoats, air-conditioning--thousands of tiny, well-observed details that make the songs really human and relatable.
Great stuff from you guys!
Elvis always insists he isn't a genius, but on some level he must know better. For a little boy who wanted to grow up to be like Lorenz Hart...I'd say he's surpassed that by a million miles. He's got such a confident mastery of words--it's not just that he uses language--he plays with it. Jokes, puns, riddles, mysteries, alliteration, double & triple entendre, challenging rhyme schemes (i.e. sarcastic/elastic/gymnastics/matchsticks or prosceniums/Europeans/damnations/plantations), sarcasm, poison pen letters in song form...while other songwriters spend their careers writing one straight-up love song after another (possibly with some political outrage thrown in for good measure). I really get the feeling Elvis would be bored to tears if he "just" wrote songs.
I'm always struck, too, by the way he includes little nuggets of everyday life...grocery stores, wallpaper, trading stamps, overcoats, air-conditioning--thousands of tiny, well-observed details that make the songs really human and relatable.
Bambooneedle: So True!!!! Little Atoms has to be the most delicious song I've ever heard! And extra points for EC's continuing, steadfast allegiance to the typewriter!"And if you 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"
Anyone who knocks Little Atoms is officially an idiot
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
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Hoopsrcool
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
And I think of all the women I pretend mean more than you
When I open my mouth and I can't seem to talk ...
American Without Tears
one (of many) Elvis lines I always found poetically brilliant
When I open my mouth and I can't seem to talk ...
American Without Tears
one (of many) Elvis lines I always found poetically brilliant
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Hoopsrcool
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
It occurred to me that I should introduce myself to the board. I can’t see where I should properly do so, so I’ll put this under my first post from yesterday. My name is HoopsRC (not really, but it’s the shorter version that I probably should’ve used as a handle) and I’ve been an Elvis Costello fan since the first time I heard the two songs from his first album that were being played in the rotation on Q107 in Toronto, back in 1977. Over the years and albums that followed, there came a moment when I realized to my own astonishment, that the pull that his music had on me, had in my own mind, overtaken the Beatles as my all-time-favorite. Since then, I’ve loved it all. These days, I don’t listen to one album (cd) or another as compulsively as I did for many years – daily – but I do still love the music of Elvis Costello, tremendously. As I’ve enjoyed reading this board for a long while now … and as I’ve had moments when I’ve felt compelled to add a comment or a paragraph on a subject being discussed from time to time, I registered yesterday so that I could on those occasions, do so.
I’m looking forward to the concert that he’s doing in late August at Massey Hall, hoping that it’s with his band. If it’s the Sugarcanes, I know it’ll still be great … but it’s not clear to me who he’s traveling with right now. Doesn’t matter. The best EC concert I ever saw was Elvis alone with Steve Naive at Massey Hall, around eight or ten years ago … he opened by singing ‘Temptation’ acappella, starting from behind the curtain, walking out with NO MIKE … ! Fuck me, it was magic. What an unbelievable show that was!
Thanks.
I’m looking forward to the concert that he’s doing in late August at Massey Hall, hoping that it’s with his band. If it’s the Sugarcanes, I know it’ll still be great … but it’s not clear to me who he’s traveling with right now. Doesn’t matter. The best EC concert I ever saw was Elvis alone with Steve Naive at Massey Hall, around eight or ten years ago … he opened by singing ‘Temptation’ acappella, starting from behind the curtain, walking out with NO MIKE … ! Fuck me, it was magic. What an unbelievable show that was!
Thanks.
Last edited by Hoopsrcool on Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Hi Hoops! Welcome! I know what you mean - his body of work is so rich, innit? That's what gets me. The Beatles are untouchable because of the moment they arrived - they were part of an incredible time, yet somehow created that time too. Incredible. But now that time has passed, I return to Elvis's stuff far more than any other artist - there's just so much of it, it has such depth, musically artistically. I can't think of anyone from the rock era who's pulled off this feat - is Dylan really any good any more, if we're honest? Springsteen? I don't know cos I'm not compelled to buy their stuff. Elvis keeps me interested, years and years down the line.
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Hoopsrcool
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Thanks Neil.
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bambooneedle
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
As previously stated I dislike:
'cause I don't know if you've been loving somebody
I only know it isn't mine.
It's such an unclever 'ughhh..!' line. I have a theory that 'Alison' was probably originally intended to be a creep song but since it became popular he chose not to admit this... he has done too well from it throughout his career to explain and ruin it. "sticky valentines", "but I heard you let that little friend of mine take off your party dress", etc. Any girl listening to these things would just wish the guy would get the hell away. I understand that there's a certain degree of pathos being used with the apparent sincerity of the guy's need, but his need is his problem. There's nothing to redeem him. It's guys who actually believe they are justified by their 'niceness' and reasonableness when trying to get into a girl's pants who are often the most in denial of how slimily they are out of order... eg. the dad character in Back To The Future approaching the girl at the dance. That's what the guy in Alison sort of reminds me of.
'cause I don't know if you've been loving somebody
I only know it isn't mine.
It's such an unclever 'ughhh..!' line. I have a theory that 'Alison' was probably originally intended to be a creep song but since it became popular he chose not to admit this... he has done too well from it throughout his career to explain and ruin it. "sticky valentines", "but I heard you let that little friend of mine take off your party dress", etc. Any girl listening to these things would just wish the guy would get the hell away. I understand that there's a certain degree of pathos being used with the apparent sincerity of the guy's need, but his need is his problem. There's nothing to redeem him. It's guys who actually believe they are justified by their 'niceness' and reasonableness when trying to get into a girl's pants who are often the most in denial of how slimily they are out of order... eg. the dad character in Back To The Future approaching the girl at the dance. That's what the guy in Alison sort of reminds me of.
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
I've always loved the imagery swirling through Tokyo Storm Warning, much as Steve's organ does. The opening verse:
Oh the sky fell over cheap Korean monster movie scenery
And spilled into the mezzanine of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abbatoir and the chemical refinery
I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell
I don't need to say anything - it speaks for itself! (A special shout-out, though, for the phrase 'Disney abbatoir' - you're forced to picture bits and pieces of Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie and Pluto lying around in a bloody mess.)
Crushed capsule hotel is brilliant too - aw, the whole thing is!
Oh the sky fell over cheap Korean monster movie scenery
And spilled into the mezzanine of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abbatoir and the chemical refinery
I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell
I don't need to say anything - it speaks for itself! (A special shout-out, though, for the phrase 'Disney abbatoir' - you're forced to picture bits and pieces of Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie and Pluto lying around in a bloody mess.)
Crushed capsule hotel is brilliant too - aw, the whole thing is!
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Ypsilanti
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Also love...
Japanese God Jesus Robots, telling teenage fortunes.
For all we know and all we care, they might as well be Martians.
and
They say the gold paint on the palace gates comes from the teeth of Pensioners.
Tokyo Storm Warning is like a giant, delicious words buffet. Every time I listen to it I feel like I'm gorging myself on wonderful images and ideas.
Japanese God Jesus Robots, telling teenage fortunes.
For all we know and all we care, they might as well be Martians.
and
They say the gold paint on the palace gates comes from the teeth of Pensioners.
Tokyo Storm Warning is like a giant, delicious words buffet. Every time I listen to it I feel like I'm gorging myself on wonderful images and ideas.
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
You're right - great stuff! I've seen a 'God Jesus robot' - Elvis showed them to us, the audience, at the Spinning Songbook tour in '86!
"The black sand stuck beneath her feet in a warm Sorrento sunrise..."
Corking song. Love the way it fades in, like a monster stomping into view over the horizon (fits in with the first line).
BTW, do you have the term 'bloke' in the US? "Death wears a big hat cos he's a big bloke"...
"The black sand stuck beneath her feet in a warm Sorrento sunrise..."
Corking song. Love the way it fades in, like a monster stomping into view over the horizon (fits in with the first line).
BTW, do you have the term 'bloke' in the US? "Death wears a big hat cos he's a big bloke"...
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Ypsilanti
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Holy crap! Seriously? Wow! What did it look like?You're right - great stuff! I've seen a 'God Jesus robot' - Elvis showed them to us, the audience, at the Spinning Songbook tour in '86!
I guess we have "dude" in place of "bloke". As I'm sure you've heard, we're all a bunch of Cowboys over here.BTW, do you have the term 'bloke' in the US? "Death wears a big hat cos he's a big bloke"...
Btw...I made a piece of artwork once that incorporated (among other Elvis images) the "soggy trading stamps" from Tokyo Storm Warning. Came out quite nicely.
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
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And No Coffee Table
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Ypsilanti
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Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
HOLY SHIT!!!
I can't begin to express how much I'm digging that robot! It's cool and weird and creepy and cute and bizarre and fucked-up and hilarious and a lot of other things all at once!!!
I can't begin to express how much I'm digging that robot! It's cool and weird and creepy and cute and bizarre and fucked-up and hilarious and a lot of other things all at once!!!
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Ypsilanti, you should scan and post that artwork on the site. We could all try and identify the Elvis imagery!
Another lyric I love is Poor Napoleon. The opening is a total classic:
'I can't lie on this bed any more - it burns my skin.
You can take the truthful things you've said to me and fit them on the head of a pin'
It's so cynical and dark - women are whores, men are hapless weaklings, and there's this undercurret of violence all the way through:
'Bare wire from the socket to the bed where you embraced that girl
Did you ever think there's far too many people in the world?'
What on earth?! The way that the erotic imagery of the bed is mixed up with the murderous idea of someone wiring the bed up to the mains!!!! Also, the following bizarre and disturbing concept, which again fits the weakling men imagery:
'Just like that place where they take your spine
And turn it into soapflakes'
And that last line, making guys seem utterly pathetic:
'So good night, little school boy, you'd better learn some self control
Did she mess up your hairstyle, pour scorn in your begging bowl?'
You can just picture a guy begging for sex, only to be rebuffed in a patronising manner.
Phew! He doesn't spare anyone, does he? The whole song is fantastic, with Cait's bored, sad voice intoning 'Poor Napoleon' at key moments, and Steve's organ swirling madly all the way through. Bloody brilliant. But who's Napoleon, d'you reckon?
The song that follows it, Next Time Round, also has a classic opening line: 'As I stepped out upon the landing my heart was already down the stairs - she's in the bedroom with that boy of hers' - and what about the 'velvet-lined purgatory'?!
Another lyric I love is Poor Napoleon. The opening is a total classic:
'I can't lie on this bed any more - it burns my skin.
You can take the truthful things you've said to me and fit them on the head of a pin'
It's so cynical and dark - women are whores, men are hapless weaklings, and there's this undercurret of violence all the way through:
'Bare wire from the socket to the bed where you embraced that girl
Did you ever think there's far too many people in the world?'
What on earth?! The way that the erotic imagery of the bed is mixed up with the murderous idea of someone wiring the bed up to the mains!!!! Also, the following bizarre and disturbing concept, which again fits the weakling men imagery:
'Just like that place where they take your spine
And turn it into soapflakes'
And that last line, making guys seem utterly pathetic:
'So good night, little school boy, you'd better learn some self control
Did she mess up your hairstyle, pour scorn in your begging bowl?'
You can just picture a guy begging for sex, only to be rebuffed in a patronising manner.
Phew! He doesn't spare anyone, does he? The whole song is fantastic, with Cait's bored, sad voice intoning 'Poor Napoleon' at key moments, and Steve's organ swirling madly all the way through. Bloody brilliant. But who's Napoleon, d'you reckon?
The song that follows it, Next Time Round, also has a classic opening line: 'As I stepped out upon the landing my heart was already down the stairs - she's in the bedroom with that boy of hers' - and what about the 'velvet-lined purgatory'?!
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Ypsilanti
- Posts: 542
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:02 am
- Location: down in a location that we cannot disclose
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Neil,
You write so beautifully about the music--I could read you posts all day!!!!
From Poor Napoleon I also love...
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?
I keep thinking that's a line from a movie, but maybe not. And that's quite a little detail...the suggestion that the "Boy" prefers to have sex while her stockings are still on.
and...
He put a penny in the slot
She called him her "Magic Fingers"
Dang!
The whole song has a real "Graduate" vibe--the woman seems older and more experienced (or professional) and approaching their encounter like a practical, slightly boring, transaction. The Boy is overwrought with emotion. I can see that cheap hotel bed so clearly in my mind--including the Magic Fingers machine. I guess those probably don't exist anymore.
OK. Here's a link to an album I have on Photobucket which shows my artwork. My friend Sylvia is making a website for me and these photos are the raw material. http://s555.photobucket.com/albums/jj475/skybar99/
The Elvis art is in there. It incorporates references to quite a few songs. I guess it's a visual record of my efforts to learn all of Elvis' music. There is a lot of detail and it's not possible to enlarge the photo very much, so here is another link which shows some cropped areas up close. http://s555.photobucket.com/albums/jj47 ... ?start=all
I don't think this is going to be what you might expect to see, but I hope you all like it. Not too many people have ever seen my art, so I feel a little shy about it. I guess I should mention that I did graduate from art school long ago (SVA in NY), but I think of myself as kind of an "outsider" artist or what is sometimes called a "visionary" artist, a term most often applied to untrained artists--hobos, prisoners, crazy people. I'm not any of those things, but I am mildly Autistic. I feel the Autism, while clearly a curse, also gives me the necessary patience and focus to create these little constructions. The Elvis one took 7 months to make.
You write so beautifully about the music--I could read you posts all day!!!!
From Poor Napoleon I also love...
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?
I keep thinking that's a line from a movie, but maybe not. And that's quite a little detail...the suggestion that the "Boy" prefers to have sex while her stockings are still on.
and...
He put a penny in the slot
She called him her "Magic Fingers"
Dang!
The whole song has a real "Graduate" vibe--the woman seems older and more experienced (or professional) and approaching their encounter like a practical, slightly boring, transaction. The Boy is overwrought with emotion. I can see that cheap hotel bed so clearly in my mind--including the Magic Fingers machine. I guess those probably don't exist anymore.
It always strikes me how Elvis returns to this image again and again, like in "In Another Room", for example.The song that follows it, Next Time Round, also has a classic opening line: 'As I stepped out upon the landing my heart was already down the stairs - she's in the bedroom with that boy of hers'
OK. Here's a link to an album I have on Photobucket which shows my artwork. My friend Sylvia is making a website for me and these photos are the raw material. http://s555.photobucket.com/albums/jj475/skybar99/
The Elvis art is in there. It incorporates references to quite a few songs. I guess it's a visual record of my efforts to learn all of Elvis' music. There is a lot of detail and it's not possible to enlarge the photo very much, so here is another link which shows some cropped areas up close. http://s555.photobucket.com/albums/jj47 ... ?start=all
I don't think this is going to be what you might expect to see, but I hope you all like it. Not too many people have ever seen my art, so I feel a little shy about it. I guess I should mention that I did graduate from art school long ago (SVA in NY), but I think of myself as kind of an "outsider" artist or what is sometimes called a "visionary" artist, a term most often applied to untrained artists--hobos, prisoners, crazy people. I'm not any of those things, but I am mildly Autistic. I feel the Autism, while clearly a curse, also gives me the necessary patience and focus to create these little constructions. The Elvis one took 7 months to make.
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Brilliant! These are great. Okay, I've spotted the trading stamps, the lipstick from Lipstick Vogue (or many others) the motel matches (and motel keys), the Empire State building illuminating the sky. The woman's taking her stockings off as in Poor Napoleon, there's the Hoover Factory and there's a man with two shadows (complicated shadows?). But I don't recognise the folorn-looking fella in the black and white photo, unless it's the writer Richard Yates? These are great, though! What d'you call them? They're like religious reliquaries, or something. Bette Davis, Sal Mineo and St Sebastian - I see a pattern emerging here!
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Beautiful art. You are very talented!
Re: elvis's lines that you like\dislike the most.
Beautiful, astonishing - thanks Ypsilanti for honouring us by sharing these images.