#430: Elvis Costello, ‘My Aim Is True’

COLUMBIA, 1977

Elvis Costello called his artist persona that of a “straight-talking psychopath.” I don’t know if I would think of him as a psychopath but I do think he was afflicted. 

Elvis Costello married his high school sweetheart but treated said sweetheart like garbage. He didn’t know how to commit to people he loved, he didn’t know how to cope with being a working-class musician, and he didn’t know how to be successful without burning things around him. He explores these feelings throughout the album. Even the song, “Alison” is hit with tragic notes of infidelity. 

He eventually figured out how to lead a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. He has a successful relationship and family with Jazz musician Diana Krall and he is highly respected by the likes of Paul McCartney and other music legends. Without him, the punk movement would not be packaged the same way and I don’t think musicians would be expected to be as smart as they are trying to be. I don’t think there would be a Vampire Weekend without him. 

Elvis Costello is one of my heroes because he stays true to himself in every single album. When he pulls something deeply tragic in his lyrics – he partners it with a Phil Spector beat and sprinkles in a bit of nostalgia that somehow immediately rings modern.

He is so smart, he is so angsty, and he is so funny. So, so, so!! He even promoted this album in a very Costello way and got himself banned from SNL for a decade (for more info on that, watch this video: Why SNL banned Elvis Costello).

The only way I can describe this album is that it sounds like the come-down from a panic attack. It’s that gray space between a spiked nervous system and the relief when your insides are no longer on fire. It’s angsty, angry, and raw but the melodies are interesting, fun, and catchy.

It’s that transitionary place where there is still adrenaline pumping through my body but there is also new space so that I can breathe and think. 

In 2020, I had my first panic attack. My nervous system was not ready to cope with the pandemic and the political aggression that came with it. 

My panic attacks are less frequent now but they still happen. Thank heavens for Zoloft.  

Being this far out of the pandemic and still in the aftermath (with small uprisings) of Trump’s America, I feel like we are in that gray space. I still find random people approaching me to talk about my stint at CNN and wanting to talk about how Trump was right or how vaccines are bogus. I still get crumbs of weird anti-wokeness and random QAnon chit-chat. We are in that gray. Just like with a panic attack, I am not 100% confident that the relief will come. The tension is still there and it is still distracting. But I have enough space to hope the relief will come. 

This album is Elvis Costello leaning into that tension while singing into that grey space. He can breathe but there is still a heaviness. It doesn’t overwhelm him but it does color his lyrics. Because he is breathing, he has room to be smart about how he communicates these feelings. It is punk, new wave, English rock, and Brill Building throwbacks and it is how I want to express myself a bit more this year. 

Let’s all lean into the tension this year knowing it will pass. We are in the part where we still feel the rage but our muscles are starting to relax. We can finally do something productive with our feelings.. Here’s to a year where we talk about the world  like a 1977 Elvis Costello but we love our people like his 2000s version of himself. 

Happy 2024, everybody. 

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Top songs: No Dancing, Alison, (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes, Less Than Zero, I’m Not Angry, No Action, Living In Paradise