Elvis Costello is back with his 31st (or so) studio album.
But dont look for any consolation from him.
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We are both wearing black sweaters and specs.
Sometimes I wear a hat, as he does.
Its an awkward thing to give a shot to thank him for, so I dont.
I never bought clothes.
Some of the records had sounds he could never reproduce.
Others demonstrated a way into who he could become.
The singer I wanted to be like when I was a kid was Levi Stubbs, he says.
He was a very fearless singer.
Nervousness.Young Declan took it all in.
His adenoidal singing voice is not perfect, but it delivers catharsis.
My vibrato is actually an affliction, he says when we discuss his distinctive singing on ballads.
Its because I have a heart murmur.
And I think it affects my breathing.
I didnt know this.
But emotionally, its so right for the material, he says.
I have certain limitations in my breathing.
Its like being color-blind.
it’s possible for you to have an appreciation of art and be color-blind.
you could read when youre shortsighted.
You take everything that happens in stride.
Costello always sounds like hes in a battle.
And, growing up, many of us felt that he was battling for us.
Take Pump It Up, a 1978 angry-young-man classic.
Costellos indignant muse is still going.
Which is a creepy image and not something anybody wants to think about.
The music belted out, brooded, crooned continues apace.
Over the years, Costello became expeditionary, taking us loyal fans along with him.
Pushing 40, he learned to drive, speak Italian, and finally read music.
Costello charted more in the U.K. than in America but still sometimes floated into the mainstream here.
Everyday I Write the Book (1983) became an MTV hit and can still be heard in supermarkets.
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored him years ago, he thanked Franz Schubert.
There is so much to say, and even more clues about where the bodies are buried.
But dont expect him to do the digging for you.
I dont really read the backstories of people, he says.
Should people read the backstory of you?
They could read the backstory I wrote.
Half of its lies.
But you reveal so much in the music.
On the screen, I can see my reflection and crumbling porch in his trademark specs.
I guess he can see himself.
Does he see me reading his backstory?
(His last album has a song called Unwanted Number.)
He is the thing we really want to do but cant and, in any case, probably shouldnt.
It is more naturalto talk about the songs that express these feelings than the feelings themselves.
Its like an open wound.
But Costello doesnt want to talk about its emotional content.
He wants to talk about songwriting almost in a technical sense.
He mentions that two of his favorite artists Dylan and Lennon had songs called I Want You first.
He listened very closely.
The Lennon I Want You repeats the title probably as much as my song does.
That song is a carnal celebration.
My song is the opposite.
I think its more interesting now for me to regard it in the past.
There are certain choices in there.
Its not just a raw spontaneous wailing.
No Flag, off the new album, feels appropriate to this long, sinking moment.
Where its … nothing satisfies you.
No philosophical idea, no theological idea, no allegiance.
None of it is consoling.
He continues, Thats the reason to write the song.
Do you feel that way in real life?
What, everything is a drum?
So that is the theme song for it, you know?
I ask him if he owns a gun.
He says, Me?
I will not touch a gun.
But there are guns all over the lyrics to that song.
Theyre all over the world.
But it sounds like youre saying that people are coming for our guns, but were all cowards.
Well, it doesnt really matter what I think or do.
Im singing about somebody whos fearful.
Were very selective about who we mourn.
Dont start me talking; I could talk all night.
Elvis cant tell us our secrets any more than anyone else.
Hes not going to tell us.
And yet he knew I had to ask.
So where are the bodies buried?
If we talked forever, wed never get there.
