Melody Maker, January 20, 1979: Difference between revisions
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''Armed Forces'' is a poor title — no nudge — and ''Emotional Fascism'' doesn't mean much to me either. The album should have been called "Home Front" or "Behind The Washing Lines." Costello wants to find out what happens when you use war words for domestic strife. Sometimes not much ("Senior Service"), sometimes something scarey ("Green Shirt"), sometimes something oddly touching: ''"And two little Hitlers will fight it out until / one little Hitler does the other one's will."'' | ''Armed Forces'' is a poor title — no nudge — and ''Emotional Fascism'' doesn't mean much to me either. The album should have been called "Home Front" or "Behind The Washing Lines." Costello wants to find out what happens when you use war words for domestic strife. Sometimes not much ("Senior Service"), sometimes something scarey ("Green Shirt"), sometimes something oddly touching: ''"And two little Hitlers will fight it out until / one little Hitler does the other one's will."'' | ||
Costello writes songs round phrases that probably don't mean much when he starts. His verbal facility is like John Cooper Clarke's (a friend). But Costello is more exercised by musical discipline — sound as well as vision, tight structures that don't always work. ''"I will return,"'' he announces on "Little | Costello writes songs round phrases that probably don't mean much when he starts. His verbal facility is like John Cooper Clarke's (a friend). But Costello is more exercised by musical discipline — sound as well as vision, tight structures that don't always work. ''"I will return,"'' he announces on "Little Hitlers", a suitably resonant threat. ''"I will not burn."'' And this is slack, a rhyme without a reason. | ||
''My Aim Is True'' was a record in the language of pop romance. Costello believed in the words, they failed him, and he blamed the world for the vacuity of his concepts. ''This Year's Model'' was his revenge. He used the words to pin down his enemies and rode high on the exhilaration of his own dexterity. On ''Armed Forces'' the words rhyme with more compassion. Costello's become an ironist too: ''"I will be your stranger,"'' he sings on "Moods For Moderns." It's his normal slick joke, but it suddenly sounds more affectionate, less a veiled threat than "I will be your friend." | ''My Aim Is True'' was a record in the language of pop romance. Costello believed in the words, they failed him, and he blamed the world for the vacuity of his concepts. ''This Year's Model'' was his revenge. He used the words to pin down his enemies and rode high on the exhilaration of his own dexterity. On ''Armed Forces'' the words rhyme with more compassion. Costello's become an ironist too: ''"I will be your stranger,"'' he sings on "Moods For Moderns." It's his normal slick joke, but it suddenly sounds more affectionate, less a veiled threat than "I will be your friend." | ||
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Elvis Costello: The People's Stranger. | Elvis Costello: The People's Stranger. | ||
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{{tags}}[[Armed Forces]] {{-}} [[My Aim Is True]] {{-}} [[This Year's Model]] {{-}} [[Old Grey Whistle Test|Whistle Test]] {{-}} [[Granada]] {{-}} [[Randy Newman]] {{-}} [[Frank Sinatra]] {{-}} [[Jake Riviera]] {{-}} [[ABBA]] {{-}} [[Oliver's Army]] {{-}} [[Nick Lowe]] {{-}} [[Accidents Will Happen]] {{-}} [[Chemistry Class]] {{-}} [[Sunday's Best]] {{-}} [[Emotional Fascism]] {{-}} [[Senior Service]] {{-}} [[Green Shirt]] {{-}} [[Two Little Hitlers]] {{-}} [[John Cooper Clarke]] {{-}} [[Moods For Moderns]] | |||
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Revision as of 10:15, 5 November 2020
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