And with that opening line--the entire song was written on a three hour train ride to visit his Mom when he was twenty-two--one of rock's great singer/songwriters showed early on that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
While looking over the career resume of Elvis Costello...it really makes you wonder just what the fuck it is you've done with your life, and how on earth can you be fifteen episodes behind on Designated Survivor? His first three albums (My Aim Is True--#168, This Year's Model--#98, and Armed Forces--#482) are all on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (not sure any other artist can say the same--Springsteen maybe? Zeppelin?). Over the course of the last forty years he has released 24 studio albums and 7 collaborative albums (including a country album, a classical album, and a jazz album). starred in an opera written by Attractions' guitarist Steve Nieve, produced numerous albums (including one of rock's great unheralded albums, Eastside Story by Squeeze), penned several pieces on his music fandom, starred in a TV show (a sort of Inside the Actor's Studio for musicians) and found time to spend on charitable causes and bashing Bedtime for Bonzo's equally clueless bedmate, Margaret Thatcher. Which doesn't even include selection into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Grammy Award, collaborations with Burt Bachrach and Paul McCartney, and the numerous tours in support of the numerous albums he's released. Oh, and for good measure, he's married to jazz chanteuse Diana Krall.
Fun Fact: Alas, Elvis Costello was not his given name--he was born Declan Patrick McManus, a name which is not quite as high on the Coolness Quotient as Elvis Costello...
Released in 1977 on his debut album, the aforementioned My Aim Is True, "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" was never released as a single (should have been!) but was one of numerous songs on his first LP that all the cool kids loved. There seems to be some disagreement among fans as to the song's meaning, with a lot of folks thinking it has something to do with suicide, but I find the song too cynically joyous to be about suicide. Personally, I thought the song was about a guy who had gotten his heart broken by a less than faithful lover and was now in the recovery phase wherein one realizes that life will go on without her and joy and happiness and laughter are now re-entering said life. Hence, the angels wanting to wear his red shoes--red shoes are made for dancing (and walking to Oz) and surely angels must love dancing as much as the rest of us (though they're presumably better at it, being angels and all). Anyway, the song has the early Elvis Costello "Can you believe this shit?' vocals, some magical guitar work, great lyrics, a catchy as all hell melody, and some backing vocal back and forth ("Oh, I know that she's disgusted [oh why's that?]") which one guesses Joe Jackson borrowed for his wonderful hit, "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" The song closes with Costello singing "Red shoes, the angels wanna wear my red shoes" over and over (emaycee fave--oft repeated lyrics), and if this one doesn't put a smile on your face every time you hear it...well, we have very different tastes in great music....
Lyric Sheet: "Oh I said 'I'm so happy I could die'/She said, 'Drop dead,' then left with another guy..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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