- 1 week ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello, I'm Elvis Costello, and this is Words and Music.
00:22Tonight, we're going to add a third element, pictures.
00:25We will be illustrating the songs with some of my artwork that I have made as I roam along
00:31the lanes and rambles of my dreams and nightmares.
00:36Hit it, George.
00:39I've been thinking about the first record I made, and when I say record, I mean a song
00:44where the studio sound is part of the mystery, and the words and the music are dramatized
00:49by some radical intervention.
00:52You see, on the sessions for my first album, my aim is true.
00:57Producer Nick Lowe made it feel as if we were just playing songs in a room full of microphones,
01:02and everything fell magically into place.
01:05Any tension or urgency came from my delivery, as at the time I was still operating an IBM
01:10computer in an office next to a lipstick factory.
01:16Apart from being discouraged by the complete commercial failure of my first two singles,
01:21the second of which was a song called Allison, Stiff Records planned to issue my first long
01:27player in July 1977.
01:30He advanced me 150 pounds and said, this is it, you've got to quit your job and form a band.
01:36We held auditions, but after playing the same three songs for the good, the bad, the indifferent
01:42candidates to be an attraction, I taught the rhythm section a brand new song.
01:49That song was watching the detectives.
01:56Nice girls, not one of the deep-edged cellophane shrink wrap so correct, red dogs under illegal legs.
02:08She looks so good that he gets down and bakes.
02:15She is watching the detectives.
02:22Oh, you're so cute.
02:27She is watching the detectives.
02:36She is watching the detectives when they shoot, shoot.
02:49They beat them up until the teardrops start, but it can't be wounded, cause it's got no heart.
02:57Long shot of that jumping sign, visible shivers running down my spine.
03:26You cut through that, they're taking off their clothes.
03:30Close up with the sign that says, we never close.
03:33We never close.
03:41You snatch your chin, you match your cigarette.
03:45She puts her eyes out with her face like a magnet.
03:49Like a magnet.
03:50Like a magnet.
03:51Like a magnet.
03:52Like a magnet.
03:53Like a magnet.
03:56Who Ohhhh.
03:57Look, I don't!
04:00I don't know how much more with this I can take.
04:01She's filing her nails while they're dragging the leg.
04:05She is watching the detectives
04:14Oh, she's so cute
04:20She's so cute
04:22She is watching the detectives
04:29When they shoot
04:35Shoot
04:39They beat them up until the teardrops hard
04:45But you can't be wounded because it's got no heart
04:49You think you're alone until you realize you're in it
05:00Now fear is to stay, love is here for a visit
05:03They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit
05:07Someone's scratching at the window
05:09I wonder who is it
05:11The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
05:15Who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance
05:18So dear, it took a miracle to get you to stay
05:22Only took my little fingers
05:25To blow you away
05:28Oh, just like watching the detectives
05:36We'll see you next time
06:22Back in 1969, I was just tagging along with my dad on a rare Saturday afternoon outing together.
06:43He was looking for a string of beads to offset his pale blue embroidered Indian tunic.
06:50Worn loose and belted at the waist.
06:55My dad had recently loosened his bow tie and left steady employment with a famous radio dance band, striking out with a new idea.
07:04His first solo single asked the question, would you like to ride in my velvet motor car?
07:14I strongly suspected that this was just an excuse for shenanigans with hippie girls who played the harp or the flute.
07:22Now keep those images in your mind and let me jump ahead a few years.
07:28When the opening credits of Pistol, that Danny Boyle produced a fictionalized history of those anarchic scamps, the Sex Pistols, needed to illustrate how punk had swept away all that old hippie decadence, they sent someone into the newsreel archive.
07:48What I've never revealed until this very moment is that the uncredited footage used in their opening montage happened to be of my dad and his second wife out for a stroll on the King's Road in 1969,
08:05apparently on their way to a Sonny and Cher look-alike contest.
08:13At least I can say that when I finally made a little money of my own, I never purchased any such unfortunate outfits.
08:26These, of course, are a satire of the cover of this year's model, my first record with the attractions.
08:31Two of them are here tonight?
08:39Most of the lyrics were written before I'd even turned 23 and still filled with a young man's suspicion and, it must be admitted, envy of glamorous facades, not to mention a fascination with forbidden desires and disastrous temptations.
08:56This piano arrangement is by Mr. Steve Naive.
09:08Photographs of fancy tricks
09:11To get your kicks at 66
09:16He thinks of all the lips he licks
09:22And all the girls
09:26And all the girls that it's going to fix
09:28She gave a little flirt
09:32Gave herself a little cuddle
09:33But there's no place here
09:35For the minuscred waddle
09:36Got a dull punishment
09:38She's last year's model
09:39You're calling a tassel
09:41But she looks like Elsie
09:43I don't want to go to Chelsea
09:46Oh, no, does not move me
09:49Even though I've seen the movie
09:51I don't want to check your pulse
09:55I don't want nobody else
09:58I don't want to go to Chelsea
10:01Everybody's got your waters
10:06Be a nice girl and kiss the waters
10:09Not a teacher is worth
10:13Be a nice girl and kiss the waters
10:19Everybody's got your waters
10:20Be a nice girl and kiss the waters
10:25Girl, kiss the waters
10:27And now the teacher is away
10:32All the kids begin to play
10:35And come screaming, dressed in white coats
10:38Shake it very gently by the throat
10:41One's named Gus, one's named Alfie
10:44I don't want to go to Chelsea
10:47Oh no, it does not move me
10:50Even though I've seen the movie
10:53I don't want to check your pulse
10:56I don't want nobody else
10:59I don't want to go to Chelsea
11:02Photographs of fancy tricks
11:24To get your kicks at six to six
11:30He thinks of all the lips he licks
11:36And all the girls it is going to fix
11:41She gave a little flirt, gave herself a little cuddle
11:46But there's no place here for the menace good waddle
11:49Capital punishment, she is last year's bottle
11:52Callin' a taxi when she looks like Elson
11:56I don't want to go to Chelsea
11:58Oh no, it does not move me
12:02Even though I've seen the movie
12:04I don't want to check your pulse
12:07I don't want nobody else
12:10I don't want to go to Chelsea
12:15Steve Naive, take a bow, Steve, take a bow
12:25Please welcome on the double bass, Davey Farragun
12:39On the mandolin and fiddle, Eleanor Whitmore
12:43On the piano, Steve Naive
12:47And on a drum kit fit for a king or a slumlord
12:52Mr. Pete Thomas
12:53This song tried to capture the giddy elation of a woman
13:01Whose memory is playing tricks on her
13:03As the light fades steadily from her mind
13:06While those around her
13:09Know that this will soon be a much darker room
13:13It was a surprise to me that such subject matter
13:16Would be played on the radio
13:18But the bright melody that Paul McCartney co-wrote with me
13:22Meant that it made it all the way into the top 20
13:25Tonight I'd like to sing this song as a ballad
13:28And dedicate it to my grandmother
13:31Mabel Josephine Veronica Jackson
13:35Is it all in that pretty little head of yours
13:50What goes on in that place on the top
13:57Well, you used to know a girl and I could have sworn
14:03That her name was Veronica
14:09Well, she used to have a carefree mind of her own
14:17And a delicate look in her eye
14:24These days I'm afraid she's not even sure
14:30If her name was Veronica
14:36Do you suppose that weights and hands on eyes
14:43Veronica has gone to hide
14:47And all the times she laughs at those
14:53Who shouted name and steal her clothes
14:58Veronica
14:59Veronica
15:03Veronica
15:04Did the day straight by
15:20Did the favors wave
15:22Did you run down the town all the wild
15:26Were you awake from your dream
15:30With a wolf at the door
15:32Reaching out for Veronica
15:37Where it was all 65 years ago
15:42When the world was the street where she lived
15:47And a young man sailed on a ship in the sea
15:52With a picture of Veronica
15:57Of the Empress of the sea
15:58Like the Empress of India
16:04And an초
16:07He calls to rise upon the world
16:10She spoke his name out loud again
16:30Do you suppose the weight and hands on ice
16:37Veronica has gotten to hide
16:42And all the time she laughs at those
16:48They shout her name and steal her clothes
16:53Veronica
16:54Veronica
17:07Veronica sits in her favorite chair
17:17And she sits very quietly still
17:21And they call her a name that they never get right
17:27And if they don't then nobody else will
17:32But you used to have a carefree mind of the wrong
17:38And a delicate look in her eye
17:42Saying you can call me anything you like
17:48But my name is Veronica
17:51But my name is Veronica
17:56Yes, my name is Veronica
18:01Do you suppose the weight and hands on ice
18:08Veronica has gotten to hide
18:13And all the time she laughs at those
18:19Who shout her name and steal her clothes
18:23Veronica
18:25Veronica
18:30Veronica
18:31Veronica
18:41Veronica
18:48I wrote the song when I was 22
19:05I was on the end of a train journey into Liverpool
19:08To see my mother
19:09Lillian Ablett
19:12Lillian Ada Ablett
19:14And she was before she got married
19:16To my dad
19:17Not sure that was a great idea
19:18But then again
19:20I wouldn't be here if that had not been the case
19:22I was on the last 10 minutes of the journey
19:25When this song came into my mind
19:27That was about mortality
19:28Which is a very strange thing to write about
19:31When you're 22
19:31But there you go
19:32Had just 10 minutes to
19:35Sing it in my head
19:36And then scribbled a few lines that came to me in a notebook
19:39And then for the half an hour it took me to find a taxi cab
19:44Which was a huge extravagance for me
19:46To go to my mother's house
19:48Without hearing any other music
19:50Because in those days there was no way to capture a melody
19:53Other than on a tape recorder
19:55And Emilian a reel-to-reel tape recorder
19:58So I had to sing the song in my head
20:01Tune out the radio station
20:03That the cab driver was playing
20:05Beautiful Radio 1
20:06And I wrote this here song
20:09I used to sing the song in my head
20:15But I said, I don't know
20:17I used to sing the song in my head
20:18I used to be disgusted
20:40Now I try to be amused
20:45But since the wings have got rested
20:49You know the angels want to win my red shoes
20:56But when they told me about the sight of the bargain
21:00That's when I did it I could not refuse
21:06And I won't get it on and out
21:10The angels want to win my red shoes
21:14I was watching while you're dancing away
21:25Our love got fractured in the echo and sway
21:31How come everybody wants to be their friend
21:36You know that it still hurts me just to say it
21:41Oh, I know that she's disgusting
21:46Oh, why's that
21:48Because she's feeling so abused
21:51That's too bad
21:54She gets tired of the lust
21:57Oh, I'm so sad
21:59But it's so hard to refuse
22:03How can you say that I'm too old
22:07And the angels have stolen my red shoes
22:13I said I'm so happy I could die
22:22She said drop dead and left with another guy
22:28That's what you get when you go chasing after vengeance
22:34But as soon as you got that punch
22:36And this has been my sentence
22:39Oh, I used to be disgusted
22:42Now I try to be a mule
22:47But since the wings have got rusted
22:53You know that angels want to win my red shoes
22:59But when they told me about the sight of the bargain
23:04That's when I knew that I could not refuse
23:10And I won't get any on and out of angels
23:15Want to wear my red shoes
23:20No, I won't get any on and out of angels
23:26Want to wear my red shoes
23:37Red shoes, the angels want to wear
23:42Red shoes, the angels want to wear
23:47Red shoes, the angels want to wear
23:52Red shoes, the angels want to wear
23:58Red shoes, the angels want to wear
24:03Red shoes, the angels went away.
24:08Red shoes, the angels went away.
24:33My mother's father, Jim Ablett of Home Street, Liverpool 8, was a man of few words.
24:44He reportedly only really expressed emotion after drink was taken.
24:52He expressed anger too.
24:54I suspect that he had seen some things in the First World War that he couldn't forget.
24:59He had spent three years as a prisoner of war working on a pig farm in what is now Poland.
25:06And he didn't even get home until the spring after the 1918 Armistice.
25:11He worked every day of his life for the Liverpool Gas Company when he got home.
25:15It ruined his lungs, but when war came again, he found himself digging a different kind of
25:19trench, working in the rescue squads during the 1940 Blitz.
25:25It was dangerous work that offered more horrifying sights.
25:29The bodies of neighbors buried beneath the rubble when a hot water boiler exploded.
25:35I suppose it might explain why he wanted to control what he could command within his immediate
25:41vicinity.
25:42He was the stern ruler of his house.
25:46Jim said very few words to me as a boy.
25:50But at the end of every visit, he would stand by the door and hold his calloused hands up
25:54to me to punch him in case I'd gone soft on account of being born in London and not in
26:00the streets of Liverpool with an ambition to wield a shovel or a pick.
26:05Little Palaces is a collection of images from all these family recollections.
26:12To play this song with us, please welcome from Dublin on the Ilanpipes, Sean McCune.
26:19In Chocolate Town, all the trains are baby brown, and the silver paper of the rapper, this
26:34dapper little man, and he wears a wax mustache.
26:39And it twists with nicotine fingers as he drops his cigarette ash.
26:45And someone comes and sweeps it up, and then he doffs his cap.
26:50There's a rat in someone's bedroom, and there's shots in someone's trap.
26:54And they'll soon be pulling down their little palaces.
27:01And the doors swing back and forth, from the bastard to the present.
27:06From the bedside crucifixion, there's some wood to phosphorescent.
27:11And they move from problem families, from the south up to the north.
27:16The mother's crying over some stops on proper intervals.
27:21And you say you didn't do it, but you know you didn't cause.
27:26And they'll soon be pulling down their little palaces.
27:33It's like shouting in a matchbox, filled with glass, the morning hall.
27:38Like a picture of Prince William, and the arms of John Paul.
27:43This world of good intentions, and pity in their eyes.
27:48It's dated homes of England, and there's to vandalize.
27:53So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name.
27:58And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.
28:03And they feel like knocking down their little palaces.
28:07I can't be gone.
28:08I can't be gone.
28:09I can't be gone.
28:10I can't be gone.
28:12I can't be gone.
28:14Yeah, I can't be gone.
28:15And you're the twinkle in your dad is high.
28:27You're the twinkle of your daddy's eye
28:35The name you spray and scribble
28:37And the girls are turning their heads
28:40And in turn they made you miserable
28:43Now you're the aromatics
28:47To the kingdom and the invisible
28:49Where you knock the kids about a bit
28:53Because they've got your name
28:56And you knock the kids about a bit
28:59Until they feel the same
29:01They feel like knocking down the little palaces
29:05One, two, three, four
29:26There's five, three, five
37:17a dam his wife said i do the best i can now he's lying in a grave in lambda can
37:24there were two sisters and brothers three one a boy john would never see so when wife followed
37:30husband into the ground along with our eldest isabella there was no one left to care for them
37:36and no one even left the town
37:37the other daughter lizzie worked as a skivvy three boys sent away to a different city
37:47awesomes of christ are the kind of bride two hundred miles from merseyside
38:09so farewell my own true love when i return united we will be
38:18it's not the leaving of lippable that grieves me but my darling when i think of them
38:29john jr played the clarinet the holy sisters taught pat to play the horn
38:34and the bugle that sounded after dawn they put him in a uniform at 12 years old
38:39taught him to march behind the older soldiers taught him to dodge among the slaughter and the
38:47rubble keep your head down boys stay out of trouble
38:49when wartime comes to all mankind and death becomes an industry maybe this one is meant for you maybe this one is meant for me
39:02maybe bullets don't get to choose between the emperor's and the infantry
39:14so i'm the first born of the owner child of the second son of john
39:18some beat blades into plowshares and good for them i say we beat shovels into horns and find some songs to play
39:35i took down your picture
39:51the one i used to love and all those other faces that i held so high above
39:58i took down your picture and put it in a pile with jesus christ and valentine dial
40:02put it in a pile with michael collins and michael jackson and jackson and jackson pollock and all that other old bollocks
40:17said to my father when he was getting on take that sentimental thought out of your head
40:22you're no more going back to dungannon than you're going back to birkenhead
40:26we live here now dad the land is green green with envy green with spleen green like moss or corroded
40:41chrome since john went walking you can't go home you can't go home you can't go home john went walking
40:52john went walking john went walking
41:16thank you it's been a pleasure to spend this time with you it's strange to think that
41:22despite having composed somewhere close to 500 songs 15 of them co-written with paul mccartney 25
41:30more with bert bacharack and a good number with some of my favorite people on earth and beyond
41:35people like alan toussaint the brosky quartet t-bone bennett and my wife diana there are cities as far flung
41:43as rio de janeiro and old macau in which i am only known as the man who sang charles aznaval's
41:52she my last big pop hit around the turn of the century it was attached to a rom-com notting hill
42:02with the lovely julia roberts and the even lovelier hugh grant imagine the audience's horror and dismay
42:10when they realize that i'm also inclined to sing desperate howling songs like i want you and kind of
42:16murder and man out of time or that i have written lyrics with an awareness of the futility of all of
42:23this like all this useless beauty but away forbidden play things or i want to vanish well not perhaps
42:34vanish just fade gently from view
42:38i would sing all of those songs for you now but the old clock on the wall says it's almost time to go
42:46so i want to thank you for this time we've spent together once again at the piano professor steve naïve
42:52on drums pete thomas
43:02on bass and vocals davy farragher
43:07and our special guest eleanor whitmore on fiddle mandolin and vocals
43:12so come a little closer to me i want to say one final goodbye to all of you out in television land
43:28with an ever timely song by my hero nick low who i first met when i was 17 years old and is surely the
43:36songwriter most people will never be as we ask the eternal question what's so funny about peace love
43:45and understanding
43:59as i walk through this wicked world
44:04as i walk through this world searching for life
44:09in the darkness of insanity oh yeah i ask myself
44:17is all hope lost
44:21is the only fear
44:24in hatred
44:25and misery
44:26and each time i feel like
44:32there's a time
44:33there's one thing i want to know
44:37what's so funny about peace love
44:40and understanding
44:44what's so funny about peace love
44:46and understanding
44:56what's so funny about peace love
45:06as i walk on
45:09through troubled times
45:13my spirit gets so downhearted
45:17sometimes
45:20so where are they strong
45:22who are they trusting
45:25who are they trusting
45:37in where is the harmony
45:43and who are they trusting
45:46What's so fun about peace, love, and understanding?
46:10Oh, where are we from?
46:16Who are the trusted?
46:19And where is the harmony?
46:25Sweet harmony
46:27Cause each time I feel it slipping away
46:31Just makes me wanna cry
46:35What's so fun about peace, love, and understanding?
46:41What's so fun about peace, love, and understanding?
46:46What's so fun about peace, love, and understanding?
46:50What's so fun about peace, love, and understanding?
46:55What's so fun about peace, love, and understanding?
48:41J.B. Fargo, Steve Naive, and Pete Thomas.
Be the first to comment