"love is always scarpering, or cowering, or fawning... you drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning" saw him on his Imperial Bedroom tour summer of 81. Awesome, beyond belief!!
Days of Dutch courage, just three French letters and a German sense of humour He's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege just brilliant.
let's face it you'd have to admit it that chorus elvis came up with is probably one of most clever melodic musical hooks of 1980's pop music. i remember hearing it the very first time on my cassette tape and the second time the chorus came around again i couldn't help myself i just had to do my elvis costello impression and sing along with much feeling! this guy is pretty clever and let's face it his voice is the real hook!!!!!
I keep coming back to this one. An amazing performance. His wordplay is hard to beat. The band is seasoned, relaxed. Each verse gets a different feel. One weird thing about this segment is the way it sounds like the bass amp blows out at the end. And I can't tell if Bruce and Elvis can hear that or not.
yep - This is one of his many classics..... my other favorites are: Waiting for the end of the world, Blame it on Cain, The Beat, You belong to me, Beyond Belief, red shoes, Human Hands, Good year for the roses, You'll never be a man, Brilliant mistake, Riot Act, Shabby Doll, Senior Service, Green Shirt, Clean Money, Charm school and the Greatest Thing and Alison.
Bought this album and as well as predicessors when it came out in 1982. All his work was fantastic and very under appreciated. Bought tickets to his concert at PSU and Elvis was snowed in and couldn't make it. Tour bus got stuck on Rt 80. I never got over it! I will see him someday. Imperial Bedroom was my favorite album.
I was a little late in hearing this song. I was only aware of his first few albums but once I did, it instantly became my favourite. The lyrics and the way he delivers them are spot on brilliant and the Attractions are fantastic here. Just an incredible song.
Just had a big fight with the wife. Crying to this song puts everything into perspective. And yet the sorrow I feel for my wife and I is somehow transformed to happiness thru understanding with this song. Thank you Elvis I have rediscovered you once again.
Saw this on TV back in the day.. Thanks for posting it.. I still have it on an old VHS tape.. "For the high heel he use to be, has been ground down". Probably my most favorite line by EC. I didn't see him until '96, and he opened up with this song.. That was just awesome.
Loved his music since the release of the album "This Years Model." Followed him ever since. Saw him in 1979/1980 at the Michigan Palace. It was Dah Bomb.
right! I always feel like I'm not totally getting it but I'm loving it .There is so much there therefore I can keep coming back to it ,His stuff never gets old. It's quality, craft , work . gold.I am a musician and whenever I want to figure out an EC song I know it's not going to be easy but it will be rewarding.
Elvis C....Elvis C.... Elvis C... He was ahead of his time then; he still is in 2010. When will he be acknowledged as one of the true musical geniuses of his generation?
Wow. What a great band playing songs with great lyrics and melodies and hooks. Imperial Bedroom, Incredible album. Wore it out. Declan McManus, quite a talent.
I was never a beatles fan-this man Elvis has the talent that all the FAB 4 combined had -he is inventive and a master performer !!! this is one of his best
Dave Letterman aired Elvis more than any other talk show host--by a huge margin. He even had him fill in as guest host. Dave has impeccable taste in music and people.
We're all entitled to our opinions (unless you're on youTube) but regardless of whether or not you feel Letterman was great (I do), his show was revolutionary and has had a massive influence and history will indeed recall his impact. His silliness, cynicism, in the field bits are continuously aped on current TV, just not as well executed.. Not to mention regular musical guests and wily in house band,
doug benjamin Unless you were living in a different time zone, David Letterman was never on NBC at 11pm. His show always aired AFTER JOHNNY CARSON at 12:35 a.m. On the main point of this thread, I couldn't agree more: Letterman was a talk show pioneer and his influence resonates to this day.
Good for you. I was so much where you are now, at your age. 30 years later, I feel like Elvis and I grew up (okay, old) together. Oh, and I'm seeing him in concert in November, for the first time. Just one thing, EC's lyrics are very much laced with sex as well, but also with real emotions. The music is real, the voice is real, the talent is real. There are other real musicians out there, just don't look for them on the radio or TV. So proud of you. Good kid.
it is amazing how much lyricism he has what a great voice i believe someone said about Elvis he writes 3 minute novels to further add to that he manages to put so much meaning into a few bars one of EC'S greats proud to be a Brit!!
Once an influential politician, now the guy is old, no longer powerful, near death, and looking at a life of nerves, drink, and alienation from his family. What a song. Reminds me of his take on politics in Shipbuilding. But has he met someone who can still love him even though hes out of time ?
@@DrawtheCurtains I've been a fan of Replacements and Paul W since 1984. Elvis and Dylan are still light years ahead of everyone wrt volume and quality and diversity
@@billkeon880 I politely disagree. Love Elvis, but Westerberg is just something else when it's come to witty lyrics. Always great to meet a fellow Replacements fan though!
Huge fan. I saw him do this in L.A. on the ¨¨Spike¨ tour w/o The Attractions (What A Band), before the outro he broke into one verse of "Just like Tom Thumb Blues". It was magical.
I am the other six thousand. Omg, the talent is so overwhelmingly incomprehensible to us mere mortals. Turn of phrase...ahhh. Complex metaphors.....perfect musical composition.......and...and... and...voice that touches my very soul in raw, yet rich and deep, honest emotion. Who is better? Please, who? I thought not.
Thank you for the uploader, my day, week ou month will be happier. So much to like about this, but I was impressed how the big "imperial" sound was not a studio trick. The piano, the guitar, etc sound really strong and present.
this is my favorite elvis costello song and from my all-time favorite album by elvis costello. it's also the first "adult" album that i've bought since i feel it's about adulthood and such.
As well knows as he is , I still don't think people get what an incredible talent he is. He is up there with Dylan , the Beatles , Randy Newman, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen
I just saw him (again) in Portland Maine...Must be at least 11 or 12 x over the years....a musical, and lyrical genious.....To me, "A Man Out Of Time".... is a paradox... Still love someone from the past....but we are getting older....?is it too late?...
Best Costello Album EVER; Imperial Bedroom.
Bruce is one of the best Bass Players that lots of people don't know about.
Soundtrack of my long-lost youth. Beautiful melody, great lyrics and very good playing by the Attractions.
Difficult to believe four guys make a sound this full and lush. This is big boy pop. Thanks Elvis.
The lyrics are sublime. The bass playing also.
That pumping, throbbing bass line in the last thirty seconds is the icing on the cake, and oh-WHAT a cake, indeed…
"love is always scarpering, or cowering, or fawning... you drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning"
saw him on his Imperial Bedroom tour summer of 81. Awesome, beyond belief!!
Gad ... guy gets more done musically and lyrically in 5 minutes than most do in a lifetime of albums. hard to think about it!
i won't think about it too much[although as a struggling musician myself I SHOULD !!] just drink in the music and his lyrical genius !! NIGHT !!
Damn right. The passage of chords though the chorus is magnificent.
Well said. He's thrown away better songs than I've ever conceived of.
Out of a career of untold brilliant work, Imperial Bedroom stands on its own pedestal.
couldn't have said it any better
Days of Dutch courage, just three French letters and a German sense of humour
He's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge
He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege
just brilliant.
Awesome wordsmith , but his cover of "She" turns me to tears too . Great great voice .
Most Americans miss many of his puns and double meanings. "French letters" as a synonym for "condoms" is not a well-know term here, for instance.
stringvest100 one of the greatest lyrics ever!
@Elvis Costello 🤩
@@LouisetheLithead Don't worry, we google 'em
The best musical artist of the past 35 years and his best song.
I'm cryin' here this song is so good. Yeah, it crescendos in the final minute beyond belief.
Stunning, as is Imperial Bedroom. Pet Sounds, Sgt Pepper's and.... Imperial Bedroom. Why not? This guy is a stone cold songwriting genius.
I've watched this a hundred times . What a genius
Absolutely stunning performance of a brilliant song! Thank you for posting.
I swear I can smell London through this song.
I love wallowing in the melancholy of this song! What a performance! Long live Elvis…
@gary I feel anything but melancholy at the moment, but I am doing that wallowing anyhow, because it’s so damned satisfying!..
let's face it you'd have to admit it that chorus elvis came up with is probably one of most clever melodic musical hooks of 1980's pop music. i remember hearing it the very first time on my cassette tape and the second time the chorus came around again i couldn't help myself i just had to do my elvis costello impression and sing along with much feeling! this guy is pretty clever and let's face it his voice is the real hook!!!!!
Classy and classic. He's just such class and the Attractions are too.
I ONLY HAVE ONE WORD WOW
always best with the attractions.
Chills and more chills, each and every listen…
I keep coming back to this one. An amazing performance. His wordplay is hard to beat. The band is seasoned, relaxed. Each verse gets a different feel. One weird thing about this segment is the way it sounds like the bass amp blows out at the end. And I can't tell if Bruce and Elvis can hear that or not.
This could be his best song!
One of the best songs from one of the greatest ever, and I still don't know what the song "means."
yep - This is one of his many classics..... my other favorites are: Waiting for the end of the world, Blame it on Cain, The Beat, You belong to me, Beyond Belief, red shoes, Human Hands, Good year for the roses, You'll never be a man, Brilliant mistake, Riot Act, Shabby Doll, Senior Service, Green Shirt, Clean Money, Charm school and the Greatest Thing and Alison.
+Ben Banks A typical Elvis "relationship" song comparing his love to the humiliation of a high-ranking official caught in a sex scandal.
Perfect
The Profumo scandal?
@Elvis Costello Long live Master!!
Bought this album and as well as predicessors when it came out in 1982. All his work was fantastic and very under appreciated. Bought tickets to his concert at PSU and Elvis was snowed in and couldn't make it. Tour bus got stuck on Rt 80. I never got over it! I will see him someday. Imperial Bedroom was my favorite album.
Imperial Bedroom is wonderful. I think the last great Attractions album
It's hard to choose a favorite EC song. Talent like this doesn't come along everyday
He should be as revered as the Elvis the 1st.
this is the most fucking unbelievable thing on youtube. staggering.
I was a little late in hearing this song. I was only aware of his first few albums but once I did, it instantly became my favourite. The lyrics and the way he delivers them are spot on brilliant and the Attractions are fantastic here. Just an incredible song.
One of the greatest songs ever
...from the intricate and layered arrangement...to the devastating lyrics..to the inspired performance...the song is heartbreakingly gorgeous.
Just had a big fight with the wife. Crying to this song puts everything into perspective. And yet the sorrow I feel for my wife and I is somehow transformed to happiness thru understanding with this song. Thank you Elvis I have rediscovered you once again.
Outstanding group with one of the greatest performers of all time. Class!
hows this not a hit
agreed one of the great lyricist of his generation and of course how could you not be moved by the power of this performance!!
Saw this on TV back in the day.. Thanks for posting it.. I still have it on an old VHS tape.. "For the high heel he use to be, has been ground down". Probably my most favorite line by EC. I didn't see him until '96, and he opened up with this song.. That was just awesome.
"love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning
you drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning."
Bill McCarty brilliance
Loved his music since the release of the album "This Years Model." Followed him ever since. Saw him in 1979/1980 at the Michigan Palace. It was Dah Bomb.
right! I always feel like I'm not totally getting it but I'm loving it .There is so much there
therefore I can keep coming back to it ,His stuff never gets old. It's quality, craft , work . gold.I am a musician and whenever I want to figure out an EC song I know it's not going to be easy but it will be rewarding.
R.I.P. LABOUR.
..and the Attractions are musical perfection, they know how to treat EC's songs
His music & lyrics would catch in my head for a short while speeding up the tempo of my brain.
Everyone has their favorite Costello song. This one is mine. Amazine video.
Elvis C....Elvis C.... Elvis C... He was ahead of his time then; he still is in 2010. When will he be acknowledged as one of the true musical geniuses of his generation?
“Because the high heel he used to be has been ground down / and he listens for the footsteps that will follow him around.”
Wow. What a great band playing songs with great lyrics and melodies
and hooks. Imperial Bedroom, Incredible album. Wore it out. Declan
McManus, quite a talent.
I was never a beatles fan-this man Elvis has the talent that all the FAB 4 combined had -he is inventive and a master performer !!! this is one of his best
Dave Letterman aired Elvis more than any other talk show host--by a huge margin. He even had him fill in as guest host. Dave has impeccable taste in music and people.
Sry, but it does not take any Letterman to reveal that Costello is great.
Elvis Costello will be remembered long after David is gone.
We're all entitled to our opinions (unless you're on youTube) but regardless of whether or not you feel Letterman was great (I do), his show was revolutionary and has had a massive influence and history will indeed recall his impact. His silliness, cynicism, in the field bits are continuously aped on current TV, just not as well executed.. Not to mention regular musical guests and wily in house band,
Especially when he was on NBC...Raise your hand if you remember when Letterman used to be on NBC at 11:00 am.
doug benjamin Unless you were living in a different time zone, David Letterman was never on NBC at 11pm. His show always aired AFTER JOHNNY CARSON at 12:35 a.m. On the main point of this thread, I couldn't agree more: Letterman was a talk show pioneer and his influence resonates to this day.
doug benjamin When I say "12:35 a.m., I mean 12:35 a.m. EST...
Good for you. I was so much where you are now, at your age. 30 years later, I feel like Elvis and I grew up (okay, old) together. Oh, and I'm seeing him in concert in November, for the first time. Just one thing, EC's lyrics are very much laced with sex as well, but also with real emotions. The music is real, the voice is real, the talent is real. There are other real musicians out there, just don't look for them on the radio or TV. So proud of you. Good kid.
it is amazing how much lyricism he has what a great voice i believe someone said about Elvis he writes 3 minute novels to further add to that he manages to put so much meaning into a few bars one of EC'S greats proud to be a Brit!!
Thank you Defiance for introducing me to this amazing song and to the genius of Elvis Costello.
This guy is the business - what a freakin hero, loving his work!
Once an influential politician, now the guy is old, no longer powerful, near death, and looking at a life of nerves, drink, and alienation from his family. What a song. Reminds me of his take on politics in Shipbuilding. But has he met someone who can still love him even though hes out of time ?
Yup. He's got a pretty bright future, this one.
Can't believe so few have seen this gem vid , vocals are amazing a one off performer, sheer joy one of my fav's of EC
the King Kong of modern music. The only one who comes close to Bob Dylan for lyrics.
You need to hear of a guy named Paul Westerberg.
@@DrawtheCurtains I've been a fan of Replacements and Paul W since 1984. Elvis and Dylan are still light years ahead of everyone wrt volume and quality and diversity
@@billkeon880 I politely disagree. Love Elvis, but Westerberg is just something else when it's come to witty lyrics. Always great to meet a fellow Replacements fan though!
Huge fan.
I saw him do this in L.A. on the ¨¨Spike¨ tour w/o The Attractions (What A Band), before the outro he broke into one verse of "Just like Tom Thumb Blues". It was magical.
Love Elvis, but maybe you need to listen to The Kinks.
I guess I had to grow up and become more mature to appreciate this guy.
love the music. great singer.
My favourite song of all time
I remember seeing this on David Letterman, and running out and buying the album the next day.
I saw it that night, too! Blew me away. That band, that song. Probably my favourite Elvis C. song.
I am the other six thousand. Omg, the talent is so overwhelmingly incomprehensible to us mere mortals. Turn of phrase...ahhh. Complex metaphors.....perfect musical composition.......and...and... and...voice that touches my very soul in raw, yet rich and deep, honest emotion. Who is better? Please, who? I thought not.
imperial bedroom = masterpiece
Thanks Elvis !!
Songs/music like this is what keeps me still a musician..
A sublime songwriter, and greatly underappreciated.
Just amazingly brilliant!
The last minute is.... incredible.
Love Elvis... and this is one of my favorites... especially live...
Thank you for the uploader, my day, week ou month will be happier. So much to like about this, but I was impressed how the big "imperial" sound was not a studio trick. The piano, the guitar, etc sound really strong and present.
Maybe my favorite Elvis tune, and this is a great performance.
This is why Elvis Is King~!
Great performance!
Beautiful song, yes!
MAGNIFICENT !
学生時代に聞いた名曲。永久に残って欲しい映像です。
Once again, Bruce gets little love from the cameraman.
Yep. His bass was essential and brilliant. Lipstick vogue is a classic Bruce performance. 😢
I can't believe i did not know about this genius songwriter/singer
this is my favorite elvis costello song and from my all-time favorite album by elvis costello. it's also the first "adult" album that i've bought since i feel it's about adulthood and such.
One of the best songs ever!
As well knows as he is , I still don't think people get what an incredible talent he is. He is up there with Dylan , the Beatles , Randy Newman, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen
I agree, except for Leonard Cohen
His best song? Maybe. His most majestic, for sure.
also boy with a problem
I would nominate “Riot Act” from “Get Happy”
just stunning, so great to see it again after all these years. Please also post You Little Fool from this broadcast! thnx, Thnx, THANK YOU.
Immense song.
Sorrow, regret, guilt, all condensed into a song.
what they said. And this is one of his best, or at least one of my all time favorites.
I just saw him (again) in Portland Maine...Must be at least 11 or 12 x over the years....a musical, and lyrical genious.....To me, "A Man Out Of Time".... is a paradox... Still love someone from the past....but we are getting older....?is it too late?...
This performance is amazing (and so is Steve's fringed jacket).
Sooooo good.
Steve Nieve pulling out all the stops on this cut both live and in the studio. One of EC's best ballads!!
たまらん！最高にカッコいい演奏
@dca9385
I agree. He has made many incredible songs but this has become my favorite.
And at David Letterman's first studio!! Love it.
Sounds like Big Star meets "Blonde and Blonde", fantastic!!
I think I count for at least 40 thousand of these views.
Fucking brilliant
who's up late polishing the blade?
Magnificent.
Excellent! Love this song and just did my own acoustic version! Thanks for posting!
"He's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge, stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege" Genius thy name is Declan McManus
The genius of these lyrics are that they’re built up from a tissue of cliches, proverbs and tabloid headlines… oh and plenty of puns.