Your favourite Costello first lines of a song

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Thu May 13, 2004 9:02 am

"Hear silver trumpets will trill in Arabic streets of Seville
Oranges roll in the gutter
And you pick them up
And peel back the skin
To the red fruit within"

Amazing song

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu May 13, 2004 9:20 am

We're gonna drink enough tonight to drown the average army
By New Year's Day the next door neighbours will be going barmy.

Classic Costello

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:07 am

I don't wanna kiss you, I don't wanna touch!

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:16 am

Fair enough MBA - but what's your favourite opening lines to an EC song?!

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:18 am

In reference to VG's tagline:

I hung up the phone tonight
Just as you said "I Love You"
Once it might have been coincidence
Now these things start to bother me

Gillibeanz · Post by **Gillibeanz** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:22 am

It's at times such as this she'd be tempted to spit
If she wasn't so ladylike - All this Useless Beauty

When Sunday morning dandruff turns out to be confetti
And the cost of living in sin would make a poor man out of Paul Getty - Fish 'n' Chip Paper

I've been talking to the wall and it's been answering me
Oh darling how I miss you
I'm just the mere shadow of my former selfishness
I crave the silhouette of your kiss - Human Hands

I hate these flaming curtains they're not the color of your hair
I hate these striplights they're not so undoing as your stare
I hate the buttons on your shirt when all I wanna do is tear
I hate this bloody big bed of mine when you're not here - Ill Weat It Proudly

When we first met I didn't know what to do
My old love lines were all worn out on you
And the world walked round at my mouth - Jack Of All Parades

Now there's newsprint all over your face
Well maybe that's why I can read you like a book
Just when I thought I was getting my taste to bite
I go and lose my appetite - Men Called Uncle

to name but a fraction.......

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:30 am

One of the things that all of Gilli's great choices remind me of is that Elvis is a master at setting the tone of a song right off the bat. Even the "oh my baby, baby" intro of I Want You, which on paper appears to be a typical love note, somehow sonically warns even the first time listener of the menace that is to follow. Likewise, I have always thought of "All This Useless Beauty" as a very stately song, and the melody of those first few lines impart just that. Think of the longing in ECs voice on the acoustic version of 'Deportee'- that same longing for someplace lost comes out in almost every line of the song. Maybe that's why a lot of the songs on the released version of GCW sound a little 'off'. The tone he sets doesn't match the downbeat intention of the lyrics in many instances (especially on 'Deportee's Club' and 'The Comedians'. Just a thought.

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:52 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:We're gonna drink enough tonight to drown the average army
By New Year's Day the next door neighbours will be going barmy.

Classic Costello

great one. which song is it from?

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:54 am

I love the way he screams "much" on the opening lines to Sour Milk Cow Blues.

I think the openings on GCW are fine - it's not a bad album lyrically. It's just overproduced. I won't go over the arguments - they're on other threads.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:02 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:Fair enough MBA - but what's your favourite opening lines to an EC song?!

Oh, right, that.

The twitching impulse is
To speak your mind
I'll lend you my microscope
And maybe you will find it

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:16 am

GCW is just brilliant. It's a lot "less produced" than Spike was, that's for sure.

The classic...
"Oh I just don't know where to begin..."

"Don't tell me you dont know what love is when you're old enough to know better."

"He thought he was the king of America..."

"Is it worth it? A new winter coat and shoes for the wife."

"They talked to the sister, the father and the mother
With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other
AND THE CAMERA NOSES IN TO THE TEARS ON HER FACE"

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:37 am

and let´s not forget the young and angry Costello singin´his most famous 'love song':

"Oh it's so funny to be seeing you after so long, girl.
And with the way you look I understand
that you are not impressed.
But I heard you let that little friend of mine
take off your party dress"

girl out of time · Post by **girl out of time** » Thu May 13, 2004 2:04 pm

Shall we agree that just this once
I'm gonna change my life
Until it's just as tiny or important as you like?

The twitching impulses to speak your mind
I'll lend you my microscope and maybe you will find it
Is it in that ugly place that's just behind your face
Where you keep my picture still despite the fact
That you had me replaced

You need protection from the physical art of conversation
Though the fist is mightier than the lip, it adds the aggravation

See her picture in a thousand places
'cause she's this year's girl.
You think you all own little pieces
of this year's girl.
Forget your fancy manners,
forget your English grammar,
'cause you don't really give a damn
about this year's girl.

.....i could go on forever......

daybreaker · Post by **daybreaker** » Thu May 13, 2004 3:07 pm

The soldier asked my name and did I come here very often
Well I thought that he was asking me to dance
In my holy coat and hat and him in his red bonnet
We'd have made a lovely couple but we never had the chance

The sky fell over cheap Korean monster movie scenery
And spilled into the mezzanine of the crushed Capsule Hotel
Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery
And I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in heeeeeeell!

History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

Don't get smart or sarcastic
He snaps back just like elastic
Spare us the theatrics and the verbal gymnastics
We break wise guys just like matchsticks

clairequilty · Post by **clairequilty** » Thu May 13, 2004 4:21 pm

"1-2-3 2-2-3"

All the Rage

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Thu May 13, 2004 4:39 pm

i'm the sensitive type--"you're a swine and i'm saying thats an insult to the pig"

Uncomplicated · Post by **Uncomplicated** » Thu May 13, 2004 5:03 pm

I agree with MBA! The opening line to No Action is killer!

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Thu May 13, 2004 5:23 pm

and--"i can't lie on this bed anymore it burns my skin"

KLynB · Post by **KLynB** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:59 pm

"Don't send any MOOOOOOONEEEEEYYYYYYYYY"

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:04 pm

My alltime favorite - "i am starting to function in the usual way. everything's so provacative. very very temporary."

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:14 am

Uncomplicated wrote:I agree with MBA! The opening line to No Action is killer!

That goes triple for me as TYM was my first Costello album and pretty much all I'd heard before was "Detectives" on Saturday Night Live when I was half asleep. So, in a way, it's the ultimate EC opening line for me. It was like an announcement that he was going to be turning everything in pop on its head -- even if that wasn't precisely 100% true.

InnocentMan · Post by **InnocentMan** » Fri May 14, 2004 7:36 am

"He's a fine figure of a man and handsome too.." Hope Your Happy Now
Maybe not so much for the words but the way they come out.

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Fri May 14, 2004 8:31 am

"Now that your picture's in the paper being rhythmically admired
and you can have anyone that you have ever desired,
all you gotta tell me now is why, why, why, why."
Costello as a recording artist could not start in a better way. Quite impressive!

"Oh I used to be disgusted
and now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted,
you know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes."
Powerful and Witty! Costello at the top of the game

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Fri May 14, 2004 9:18 am

I predict that this thread will not die until every single song EC has ever written has been name-checked. Except for maybe "Dissolve."

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Fri May 14, 2004 9:36 am

miss buenos aires wrote:Except for maybe "Dissolve."

MBA - you asked for it

Sugar cube drop into a yellow cup
What makes the world just waking up
Revolve?
Dissolve
Who know where on earth it's going to stop?
I can't hear you 'cos we're breaking up
Dissolve

Sorry!

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Your favourite Costello first lines of a song

Your favourite Costello first lines of a song

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