In a message dated 16/08/01 13:27:45 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
<< I totally understand that, Hell...for years I made compilation tapes for
my sisters, and my older sister finally told me NOT to give her any more
Elvis tunes as she couldn't stand his voice.
BUT his songs can't be denied... [...] for someone to say that they are a
'lyrics' person, and then deny the lyrical genius of Elvis Costello, >>
Well I disagree. I think he's extremely overrated - which is not to say he
isn't good. I couldn't claim an in depth knowledge of his oeuvre, but I've
heard a lot of his stuff, ever since he started out in the late 70s. His
first few albums were all pretty good, with some truly great songs. More
recently, I'm not so sure.
I think his lyrics are meretricious - they flatter to deceive. There was an
unintended irony in the title of the song All This Useless Beauty - the
phrase "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" springs to mind. Some of
them leave a nasty taste in the mouth, especially in the bile directed
towards women. Just an example of this is a CD single I had with 4 songs;
two of them were So Like Candy and Sulky Girl. Can't remember what the other
two were, but all of them made me wince slightly. Check out how many of his
songs are written in the third person feminine.
I've had this conversation with two big EC fans - one of them thought I was
talking rubbish, the other agreed! Make of that what you will...
Anyhow Hell, I'm with you on this one!
