Elvis Costello

(I don't want to go to) Chelsea
1978, written by Elvis Costello

Everybody's got new orders
Be a nice girl and kiss the warders
Now the teacher is away
All the kids begin to play


Men come screaming, dressed in white coats
Shake you very gently by the throat
One's named Gus, one's named Alfie
I don't want to go to Chelsea

Oh no it does not move me
Even though I've seen the movie
I don't want to check your pulse
I don't want nobody else
I don't want to go to Chelsea



Elvis Costello, born Declan Patrick MacManus, started out in the London pub scene in the 1970s. In the late 70s he was one of the influential figures in the punk rock/new wave scene. His artist name is derived from Elvis Presley and his mother's maiden name. "I had a lot of problems with my name ... my first name Declan is really not very well known outside of Ireland, MacManus is a name they could never spell ... if you think about the names of '76, '77 ... I got of kind of lightly — with a name you could live with, you know, in time. ... I kind of liked the dare of it. Of course we weren't to know that within a month of my first album actually being issued Elvis Presley would die, and it would actually be a talking point. ... Let me put it this way — people don't forget you with that name. It's sort of receded as — and this may sound terribly disrespectful and heretical — but as Elvis Presley has receded as a musical force, people make much less of a case about it. Elvis is a sort of cultural figure but there is no direct line between the music of Elvis Presley and the music of today. There is none whatsoever, he's no influence whatsoever, that I can detect, on music made today. Other than people who consciously retro in styling themselves after his ideas. There is no direct impact in the way that you can hear the influence of The Beatles or Stevie Wonder or numerous other people."

Pump it up
1978, written by Elvis Costello

Out in the fashion show,
down in the bargain bin,
you put your passion out
under the pressure pin.
Fall into submission,
hit-and-run transmission.
No use wishing now for any other sin.


Pump it up until you can feel it.
Pump it up when you don't really need it



Pump it up is a double entendre. The lyrics refer to turning the music louder as well as male masturbation.

In the late 1970s he became famous with his band the Attractions. Costello's biting lyrics in combination with his looks (he looked like the lovechild of Buddy Holly and Woody Allen) made quite an impact. His music appeals to a wide range of genres, in the more recent years he has worked with Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney and opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter. Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 80 in their greatest artists of all times list. Costello regularly writes articles for Vanity Fair and is married to jazz singer Diana Krall.

High Fidelity
1980, written by Elvis Costello

Even though you're nowhere near me
And I know you kiss him so sincerely now
Even though the signal's indistinct
And you worry what silly people think
Who just can't wait to feel so frozen out
I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions
I suppose he'll never know about


High fidelity
Can you hear me?



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