Armed Forces - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
After I had known and loved The Juliet Letters for several years, it finally occurred to me to find out what Elvis Costello had done otherwise. One of his songs, Big Boys, had appeared on Pandora, so it seemed as good a place as any to start. So I got the album that song is on, Armed Forces.
I had read that Costello was described as “punk”, but honestly I can’t see any resemblance between his music and the punk I am familiar with. Then again, I never have been very clear on what punk is supposed to be (or not be), and genre distinctions in general can get pretty fuzzy sometimes. An impression I got from this album is that parts of it would make a good soundtrack for an action movie - Goon Squad in particular feels somewhat “James Bondish,” as I described it to a friend. But from listening to the lyrics, it’s possible that an action-movie aesthetic was invoked on purpose in order to comment on or even parody some of the values and attitudes associated.
For instance, the song I have found myself enjoying the most on this listen-through (and singing to myself in quiet moments) is Oliver’s Army, which has a definite anti-military agenda. Even so, if I am driving with the windows down, I tend to spin the volume down during the end of the second verse. I can’t count on random passersby being aware that Costello is using the n-word satirically.
Aside from that, what I really like best is two covers that appear toward the end of the track listing. What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding is a refreshingly unironic social commentary. His rendition of My Funny Valentine (which appears as a bonus track on my extended-edition copy) is, as far as I’m concerned, the definitive version of the song (I never did care for jazz standards).
I know just from casual listening that Costello’s original songs are cleverly lyricized, and deserve a good critical reading when I have the headspace for it, but have never gotten around to seriously dissecting all the words. Even now that I am committed to listening critically in order to make a review, I find myself focusing more on the music than the words. When I do listen to the words, I find myself following them only as long as the song itself is playing, and then moving on to the next one without really retaining any intellectual understanding. Maybe I need to take a break from this project. Someday.
Next: Jingle All The Way
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I had a roommate in college (1979) who had this album. I never heard it, past Accident's Will Happen, which was the first track and my cue to find somewhere else to go. I was a pop music snob at the time, so never checked it out until 18 years later when a bandmate of mine started singing Party Girl. I only knew Party Girl from its Linda Ronstadt version. Elvis was considered punk for a time, until the term new wave began to be applied to bands. But he and his bands were really a genre apart, only labeled so that record stores would have an aisle to stock the product. When he ticked off Lorne Michaels at a Saturday Night Live performance, that might have reinforced the punk label. He and the band superficially resembled the Clash, and image then and now means a lot, to journalists and publicists anyway. Unlike the Clash, or any other genuine punks, Elvis and his bands were more poets and rockers than social commentators in a nihilistic clothing, like Sex Pistols, MC5, X, or the Dead Kennedys. My interest in Mr. McManus is mainly sociological, though his music is diverting enough to keep my attention if it happens to be on, now that I'm no longer a pop music snob.
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