wordplay

Today’s slow drag is with “Blame It on Cain,” from “My Aim is True,” released in 1977. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Blame It on Cain” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Blame_It_On_Cain

“Blame It on Cain” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHaI7rVp9g

 “The Ticker’s Rise and Fall” https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2008/02/01/the-tickers-rise-and-fall/

“Shallow Grave” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN5qkhNHEKg

“Good Luck Grin” https://stirredblog.com/2017/03/13/baldwin-bar/

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Blame It on Cain" Lyrics

Once upon a time, I had a little money

Government burglars took it long

before I could mail it to you

Still, you are the only one

Now I can't let it slip away

So, if the man with the ticker tape,

tries to take it, this is what I'm gonna say

 

Blame it on Cain

Don't blame it on me

Oh, oh, it's nobody's fault

but we need somebody to burn

 

Well, if I was a saint with a silver cup

and the money got low

we could always heat it up or trade it in

then the radio to heaven will be wired to your purse

And then you can run down the waveband,

coast to coast, hand in hand

Bad to worse, curse for curse,

don't be dissatisfied

So, you're not satisfied

 

(Chorus)

 

I think I lived a little too long

on the outskirts of town

I think I'm going insane

from talking to myself for so long

Oh, but I never been acute

But when they step upon your face,

they wear that good look grin

I gotta break out one weekend if I do somebody in

But every single time I feel a little stronger

they tell me it's a crime

Well, how much longer?

 

(Chorus)

 

Blame it on Cain

Please don't blame it on me

It's nobody's fault,

but it just seems to be his turn

Today’s slow drag is with “American Gangster Time,” from “Momofuku,” released in 2008. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “American Gangster Time” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=American_Gangster_Time

“American Gangster Time” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnRIKlVsk1w

Flag Etiquette: https://www.vfw.org/community/flag-etiquette

Flatter to Deceive idiom meaning: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/flatter-to-deceive#:~:text=to%20give%20the%20appearance%20of,just%20a%20lull%20in%20hostilities.

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"American Gangster Time" Lyrics: 

One, two, three, four

 

Somewhere downtown a pretty girl kneels

Offers her soft lips and a handful of pills

Peels off her dress and then the rest of her skills

It buys what she wants and the rest she just steals

 

He speaks between deep swallows of rum

While her head is beating like a big bass drum

And she wishes he were mute and not just dumb

When the trick asked her quick, "Did you come?"

 

It's a drag

Saluting that starry rag

I'd rather go blind

For speaking my mind

Or use it just like a gag

So, raise it in anger

Just let it hang

American Gangster Time

 

He sits back and starts to invent

All about some Saigon correspondent

"'Til the carbine fell silent and spent

I never knew it could be so eloquent"

 

Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin

For each harlot and each Puritan

Pull off their wings stick them on a pin

And just watch the money roll in

 

It's a drag

Saluting that starry rag

I’d rather go blind

For speaking my mind

Or use it just like a gag

So, raise it in anger

Just let it hang

American Gangster Time

 

What you got hidden up your sleeve?

The tracks of the train that were bidding you to leave

When they say that you should flatter to deceive

Don't count on any reprieve

 

The hands of the helpless are raised

Your dead little secrets are praised

The people stand dumbstruck and dazed

By the inches that you have erased

 

It’s a drag

Saluting that starry rag

I'd rather go blind

For speaking my mind

Or use it just like a gag

So, raise it in anger

Just let it hang

American gangster time

Committing the perfect crime

In American Gangster Time

 

Here we go

Bye bye

American Gangster Time

Today’s slow drag is with “Lip Service,” from “This Year’s Model,” released in 1978. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Lip Service” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Lip_Service

“Lip Service” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE6oRbX4CLc

“Grice’s Maxims” https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/grice.html

“Sharp Practice” meaning: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/sharp-practice

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Lip Service" Lyrics

You left the motor running

But I know you're so attractive

Getting in some sharp practice

You better not do anything reckless

 

But if everybody is going through the motions

Everybody is going through the motions

Are you really only going through the motions?

 

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

 

Don't make any sudden movements

These are dangerous amusements

When did you become so choosy

Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes

 

But if everybody is going through the motions

Everybody is going through the motions

Are you really only going through the motions?

 

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

But if you change your mind

You can send it in a letter to me

Today’s slow drag is with “The Man You Love to Hate,” from “The Boy Named If,” released in 2022. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Man You Love to Hate” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Man_You_Love_To_Hate

“The Man You Love to Hate” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZU9b4NOQBQ

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"The Man You Love to Hate" Lyrics 

I went to a theatre on Silhouette Street

It had a taste of decay, and a scent of defeat

All of the patrons in the pews were people that I'd killed or used

The actors on the stage were equally skilled

The players took turns in lighting the fuse

One of them said "Now you must choose"

 

A man of infamy or ill-repute

And that's the one that we will execute

 

None of that mob had turned up late

They said, "You'd better concentrate”

So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for

The Man You Love to Hate

 

All of the patrons sitting on pews

Were the shades of the ghosts of the once accused

There was music that dragged in line and word

Not a penny was spent, or a conscience was spared

The hero's motives were never in doubt

We laughed at the speeches that he would spout

Suddenly there arose a shout

 

Confessions simply tumbled out

And marriage vows, that someone mumbled about

 

None of that mob had turned up late

They said, "You'd better concentrate”

So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for

The Man You Love to Hate

 

The closing act

The first one billed

Into the limelight thrilled

 

The tale of a ship lured onto the rocks under

The cover of darkness, the hold was plundered

My mouth was parched my eyes red-rimmed

My false light shone 

And my ghost light dimmed

 

I went to a house on Silhouette Street

Where I lived once and died once more

Awoke a woman I once adored

Her husband came to the door

In a masquerade of dignity

He said, "I'm pleased to meet you but you don't know me"

She took my money and handed me the key

 

The number on the fob was "999" 

She whispered that's your room and this is mine

But that's a chamber that you can't afford

It's one door down, next to the Emergency Ward

 

None of that mob had turned up late

They said, "You'd better concentrate”

So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for

The Man You Love to Hate

The Man You Love to Hate

 

I'm a one party state

The Man You Love to Hate 

The girl you used to care for

Without a why or wherefore

The country that I loved

Is just a problem to solve

Until we all disintegrate before

The Man You Love to Hate

Today’s slow drag is with “Green Shirt,” from “Armed Forces,” released in 1979. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Green Shirt” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Green_Shirt

 

“Green Shirt” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilN9SpD6Y_Q

 

The Somerton Man Mystery: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/have-scholars-finally-identified-the-mysterious-somerton-man-180980540/

 

Quisling Clinic Photo https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM51270

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Green Shirt" Lyrics 

There's a smart young woman on a light blue screen

Who comes into my house every night

And she takes all the red, yellow, orange and green

And she turns them into black and white

 

But you tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

Better cut off all identifying labels

Before they put you on the torture table

 

'Cause somewhere in the "Quisling Clinic"

There's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes

She's listening in to the Venus line

She's picking out names

I hope none of them are mine

 

But you tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

Never said I was a stool pigeon

I never said I was a diplomat

Everybody is under suspicion

But you don't wanna hear about that

 

'Cause you tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

 

Better send a begging letter to the big investigation

Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?

 

You tease, and you flirt

And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

Today’s slow drag is with “The First to Leave,” from “The Juliet Letters,” released in 1993. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The First to Leave” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_First_To_Leave

 

“The First to Leave” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS0dPEacnTY

“The Dark Ensemble: Voice and String Quartet https://interlude.hk/the-dark-ensemble-voice-and-string-quartet-20th-century/

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"The First to Leave" Lyrics

I should open with a kiss

For if you're reading this

You must have opened up your case

And found this letter where I placed it

In between the silk and lace

There were other clues, like your walking shoes

But I still refused to believe

That you were meant to be the first to leave

 

Everybody here sends you their love

How could I forget you still walk above

Or below

Perhaps you'll never know this Purgatory

We never could agree

There's a thought, there's a pause

No time to repent

Eternally yours in a permanent Lent

 

But if I should give you up

If you're right and life just stops

And I never see your face again

Then from unearthly pleasures, proud and plain

I shall abstain

'Til you realize, my loss is your surprise

Unless you know otherwise, then don't grieve

You see I had to be the first to leave

Today’s slow drag is with “God’s Comic,” from “Spike,” released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com  

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “God’s Comic” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=God%27s_Comic

“God’s Comic” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajjBxMCMQQs

“God’s Comic” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0N6TfU54o8

“Requiem” by Andrew Lloyd Webber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CG8pUpVjg

“God is dead”: What Nietzsche really meant”: https://bigthink.com/thinking/what-nietzsche-really-meant-by-god-is-dead/ 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"God's Comic" Lyrics 

I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was a funny fella

The crowd would hoot and holler for more 

I wore a drunk's red nose for applause 

Oh yes, I was a comical priest 

"With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece" 

Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint 

Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar 

 

(Chorus:)

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead 

And I'm going on to meet my reward 

I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared 

He might’ve never heard God's comic 

 

So, there he was on a waterbed, drinking a cola of a mystery brand 

Reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem" 

He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer the one about my son" 

"I've been wading through all of this unbelievable junk 

And wondering if I should have given the world to the monkeys" 

 

(Repeat Chorus) 

 

I'm gonna take a little trip down Paradise's endless shores 

They say that travel broadens the mind, till you can't get your head out of doors 

 

I'm sitting here on the top of the world, I hang around in the longest night 

Until each beast has gone to bed and then I say "God bless" and put out the light 

 

While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe 

And you beg and you promise and you bargain and you plead 

Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus 

It's the big white beard, I suppose 

I'm going up to the Pole, where you folks die of cold 

I might be gone for a while if you need me 

 

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead

And you're all going on to meet your reward 

Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? 

You might have never heard, but God's comic

Today’s slow drag is with “The World and His Wife,” from “Punch the Clock,” released in 1983. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The World and His Wife”  https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_World_And_His_Wife

 

“The World and His Wife” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4wgrLmdVaI

 

“The World and His Wife” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJTTmA_vvs

“The World and His Wife” idiom: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/world-and-his-wife#:~:text=a%20great%20many%20people%2C%20especially,his%20wife%20will%20be%20there.

 

“It’s a Living” idiom https://www.englishforums.com/English/ItsALiving/mkphd/post.htm

 

“This is the life” idiom https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/this-is-the-life

“Score Draw” https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/score-draw#:~:text=Word%20forms%3A%20plural%20score%20draws,the%20same%20number%20of%20goals.

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

"The World and His Wife" Lyrics

The family circle gathers 'round from very far and near

To pass around the same remarks they passed away last year

The little girl you dangled on your knee without mishap

Stirs something in your memory and something in your lap

 

Chorus:

But it's a living

This is the life

For the world and his wife

The world and his wife

 

The kissing cousins slip outside to cuddle and confess

She says sweet nothing at all, it's much more of a mess

The conversation melts like chocolate down their open jaws

As the juniper berry slips down just like last night's drawers

 

(Chorus)

 

To tell the truth our Mum ran off with someone else's father

Went for two weeks' holiday in Taramasalata

Daddy went out with the rubbish and he kept on walking

Between Mum and the walls

God only knows who does the talking

 

(Chorus)

 

But late time in the evening through the tears and fol-de-rol

Come the sentimental feelings for the lure of vitriol

Longing thoughts go hankering for the old home overseas

With a blindfold and a national anthem sung in different keys

Today’s slow drag is with “Black and White World” from “Get Happy!”, released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com/

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Black and White World” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Black_And_White_World

“Black and White World” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDl6YvXhiw

“Black and White World” Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMLZi9v-RFM

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Black and White World" Lyrics:

I was looking at the black and white world

It seemed so exciting

If you'd only put me back-to-back with that girl

When the night's inviting

With just a little lighting

There'll never be days like that again

When I was just a boy and men were men

 

You never go from moment to moment

You're the living double of a single fiction

You're very colorful with your compliments

As you feel the finger's friction

It's a freeze-frame till it’s real life

You don't want to look

'Cause you've seen the film and you've read the book

 

I was looking at the black and white world

Trying to name some pin-up

Those days she was just a beautiful girl

Now she's framed and hung up

I thought she was young

Up until I saw her last night in close detail

Though they all fade away when you're so pale

 

It's more than just a physical attraction

It starts with a face and ends up a fixation

But you're never gonna feel a fraction

Of the way it used to work on your imagination

When you were looking at the black and white world

Today’s slow drag is with “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” from “Blood and Chocolate,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Honey,_Are_You_Straight_Or_Are_You_Blind%3F

 

“Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeSNPJ1bIY

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?"

Who do you see when you turn your eyes down?

Who do you see when I'm not seeing you?

The news is out all over town

And all these girls are taking turns at being you

 

Chorus:

Well, well, well

You'd better make up your mind

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

 

She's coming in between us, you know that she is

I'm not holding on to her but one of us is

My hands are in my pockets, my face is in a book

She could walk 'round naked and I wouldn't sneak a look

 

(Chorus)

 

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

 

She walked in and your eyes flew out the door

You squeezed my hand until the circulation ceases

She's just a doll like so many more

She's the kind of doll that you'd like to pull to pieces

 

(Chorus)

 

Well!

 

Well, well, well

You'd better make up your mind

Honey, are you straight or are you blind?

Read by Terry Cashburn

 

Production and Sound Design by Kevin Seaman

Today’s slow drag is with “White Knuckles” from “Trust,” released in 1981. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “White Knuckles” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=White_Knuckles

“White Knuckles” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbZ6TkpflKc

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Wave a White Flag”  https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Wave_A_White_Flag

“Wave a White Flag” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJwALX5riiU

“I need him like the axe needs the turkey” saying from “The Lady Eve.” https://melanienovak.com/2020/09/02/the-lady-eve-i-need-him-like-the-axe-needs-the-turkey/

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"White Knuckles" Lyrics:

White knuckles came down to put the frighteners on

I believe she's the one that he's got his heart set on

It doesn't matter if your face doesn't fit

There's no charge for changing it

 

Oooh ooh

What are you doing

You see right through him

You don't have to take it when he gets cruel

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

You don't have to take it so you just give in

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

Losing face with the boys while she's whispering in his ear

They never found out why they called it laughing gear

Maybe they weren't loved when they were young

Maybe they should be hung by their tongues

 

Oooh ooh

Under the blankets with the body jerk

He needs her like the axe needs the turkey

Thinking of après of this fancy footwork

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

Didn't mean to hit her but she kept laughing

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

There's always someone new to toy with when the penny drops in the slot

Now it's a petty crime on the news at nine

But it's all she's got

Love on the never never dreams don't come cheap

I don't close my eyes when I go to sleep

 

Oooh ooh

It gets right under your skin

It makes you as miserable as sin

You don't have to take it so you just give in

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

Didn't mean to hit her but she kept laughing

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

White knuckles on black and blue skin

You don't have to take it so you just give in

White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard

Never found out what the kisser was for

 

Why you don't come round anymore

Mother said

He's using you

Sister said

I told you so too

When he goes to your head

You took it to be true

Today’s slow drag is with “They’re Not Laughing at Me Now” from “Hey Clockface,” released in 2020. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: slow_drag_remedy 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “They’re Not Laughing at Me Now” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/They%27re_Not_Laughing_At_Me_Now

“They’re Not Laughing at Me Now” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_uR6jvQKAI

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"They're Not Laughing at Me Now" Lyrics:

Tell me, how does it feel?

In the hour of deception and the moment of pretend

To be scorned by those rank and those unkind strangers

You were fool enough to call your friends

Will you say as the curtain descends?

"They're not laughing at me now"

 

When the last of the garlands and laurel crowns and fine bouquets have all been swept away

You were lost in the smokescreens and cavalcades and accolades instead of traitor's pay

Where will you find the courage to say?

"They're not laughing at me now"

 

You could shake my hand

If I could unfold my fist

If I were a gentleman

If I were a Christian

But I wouldn't risk it

Why would you?

You know my name now

And it's "Mister" to you.

 

Now we're back at the start, no forgiveness in your heart, you turned your coat and asked me to turn my cheek

And it's all in a language that I can understand but never bring myself to speak

I'll leave it to you, if you dare

It's a peal too appalling to bear

I wonder if you're here or you're there

They're not laughing at me now

Today’s slow drag is with “Mischievous Ghost” from the Rhino reissue of “Mighty Like a Rose,” released in 2002. It was originally released as part of the “Bringing It All Back Home” soundtrack, released in 1991. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. This episode has been requested by a loyal and astute fan who believes “Mischievous Ghost” was the impetus for Mr. Costello’s dalliance with long hair, as he seems to have spent much time “in the blank hillsides” of Ireland himself at the time.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Mischievous Ghost” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Mischievous_Ghost

 

“Mischievous Ghost” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfbsGZvdNbk

 

Unmask Us, Elvis Costello on “Mischievous Ghost” https://unmask.us/songwriters-c-e/elvis-costello-p5/

The Vibrato Debate: https://www.newsounds.org/story/43709-the-vibrato-debate/

 

The Scottish Bagpipes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl9240HWXBU

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

 

"Mischievous Ghost" Lyrics

 

She came dancing right before my eyes

She said she came to warn me

Before it dawned on me

I went walking on the blank hillside

Where the sunset falls

Where the sunset dies

She gave me love / she told me lies

That most mischievous ghost

She was in disguise, she was in disguise, she was in disguise

 

He started to whistle, they bought him a flute

He was talking in tongues, they swore he was mute

He scoffed and blasphemed, they said it was beautiful

Busted a button, they bought him a suitcase full

 

They colored him cricket and laced him up tight

As he drew on their days, resurrected his nights

He raved in the dark, he went out in a blaze

"There you go," they said, "he's good for nothing and lazy"

 

With scandal and shame, they slandered his name

They told him to freeze, they damned him to roast

Disappointed that he passed away peacefully

Never dying to be a mischievous ghost

 

They dug him up quick with a polish and lick

They powdered him up till he only looked sick

The hinge in his backbone would bend to applause

But his dancing was not quite as lively of course

 

These are the rewards immortality affords

Bullied and bribed and beaten to bliss

Parroting slack sentimental laments

Of going away and not being missed

 

With scandal and shame, they slandered his name

They told him to freeze, they damned him to roast

Disappointed that he passed away peacefully

Never dying to be a mischievous ghost

 

With the green beer and the shamrock tattoos

Singing his songs of the battles we lose

And "Will ye come home again," so we can murder you

What would you do if they took his word

With forty-eight million to join in the toast

Move over my darling mischievous ghost

Mischievous ghost

Today’s slow drag is with “The Other Side of Summer” from “Mighty Like a Rose,” released in 1991. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.com  

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Other Side of Summer” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/The_Other_Side_Of_Summer

 

“The Other Side of Summer” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_9f1xuloo

“The Other Side of Summer” Music Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww0hN-puTdA

“Stand Like Greyhounds…” https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/191850.html  

 

“Give It Away Now” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr_uHJPUlO8 

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Earthbound”:http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Wendy_James:_Now_Ain%27t_The_Time_For_Your_Tears

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Earthbound

“Earthbound” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9Xs6Mhe9tU

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

"The Other Side of Summer" Lyrics

The sun struggles up another beautiful day

And I felt glad in my own suspicious way

Despite the contradiction and confusion

Felt tragic without reason

There's malice and there's magic in every season

 

(chorus):

From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf

The other side of summer

To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf

The other side of summer

 

The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace

The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice

The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows

A teenage girl is crying 'cos she don't look like a million dollars

So help her if you can

'Cos she don't seem to have the attention span

 

(chorus)

 

Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?

A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't need no lessons"?

The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop

The pop princess is downtown shooting up

And if that goddess is fit for burning

The sun will struggle up, the world will still keep turning

 

Madman standing by the side of the road saying

"Look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes"

Now you can't afford to fake all the drugs your parents used to take

Because of their mistakes, you'd better be wide awake

 

(chorus)

 

The mightiest rose

The absence of perfume

The casual killers

The military curfew

The cardboard city

An unwanted birthday

The other side of summer

 

The dancing was desperate, the music was worse

They bury your dreams and dig up the worthless

Goodnight

God bless

And kiss "goodbye" to the earth

The other side of summer

Today’s slow drag is with “Dishonor the Stars” from the Grammy Award winning “Look Now,” released in 2018. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.coms

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Dishonor the Stars” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Dishonor_The_Stars

 

“Dishonor the Stars” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E18wcuJYxRM

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

"Dishonor The Stars" Lyrics

If you wake and chance

to look above you

There's one that I named to show how

much I love you

Hanging up high

 

Poets long have written and 

have sung of

moonlight and some 

distant satellite and

when we're young we wish

upon them

 

Other men may only dream

to kiss you

But it's not a thrill like this

Put your lips a little closer to my cheek

then whisper,

then speak

So, tell me if you know

How deep can this thing go? 

 

Honey will still desire the flowers

And there will be a love like ours

Until the sky dishonors the stars

 

What in the world would all this 

amount to? 

If I can't tell you how much 

I want you

On such a night the sky might 

dishonor the stars

Disown and dishonor the stars

 

Poets long have written and 

have sung of

moonlight and some 

distant satellite and

when we're young we wish

upon them

 

Other men may only dream to kiss you

But it's not a thrill like this

Put your lips a little closer to my cheek

then whisper,

then speak

So, tell me if you know

How deep can this thing go?

 

Honey will still desire the flowers

And there will be a love like ours

Until the sky dishonors the stars

 

What in the world would all this 

amount to? 

If I can't tell you how much 

I want you

On such a night the sky might 

dishonor the stars

Disown and dishonor the stars

Today’s slow drag is with “There’s a Story in Your Voice” from “The Delivery Man,” released in 2004. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello, with the guest vocal of Lucinda Williams.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com 

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.coms

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “There’s a Story in Your Voice” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/There%27s_A_Story_In_Your_Voice

 

“There’s a Story in Your Voice” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6dXZNT-Sd4

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

"There's a Story in Your Voice" Lyrics

Once upon another time

If you had the need

I'd step right in the shoes that you've been walking

'Cos someone put the hurt in you

For everyone to see

And you only have to speak to tell your fortune

 

There's a story in your voice

Both by damage and by choice

It tells of promises and pleasure

And a tale of wine and woe

The uneasy time to come

And the long way 'round we go to get there

 

Once you told me fairytales

Everybody knows

But I didn't care for their prediction

Now you say you're leaving me

And packing up your clothes

I finally see you were a work of fiction

 

There's a story in your walk

Then you crumble just like chalk

And I could say that I was sorry

But I wouldn't mean it much

There are pages I can't touch

And something that's been torn out of this chapter

 

Far away, not far enough

'Cos I can still recall

How it felt when I read that last sentence

Now I go inside some rooms with Gideon in them all

And hide myself from all hope of repentance

 

There's a story in your eyes

Cheap sunglasses might disguise

But when the bedroom light reveals

All that bravado and that fright

That you cover up in spite

Attempts to strip away this fabrication

 

There's a story in your voice

Both by damage and by choice

It tells of promises and pleasure

And a tale of wine and woe

The uneasy time to come

And the long way 'round we go to get there

Today’s slow drag is with “Suit of Lights” from “King of America,” released in February, 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.coms

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Suit of Lights” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Suit_Of_Lights

 

“Suit of Lights” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Ke3f6yfI8

 

“Welcome to the Club” Nat “King” Cole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todFZrhmMc4

“Welcome to My World” Jim Reeves, 1963: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOCCvN8YDuc

“Workin’ Man Blues” Merle Haggard” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EwK0NsKdDY

“Everyday I Write the Book” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1d4r9awjKE

“It’s a Dog’s Life” Idiom: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/its-a-dogs-life

1987 Lasse Hallstrom Film, “My Life as a Dog” Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxzO8Qx96O4

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

"Suit of Lights" Lyrics:

While Nat King Cole sings "Welcome to My World"

You request some song you hate, you sentimental fool

And it's the force of habit

If it moves then you fuck it

If it doesn't move you stab it

And I thought I heard "The Working Man's Blues"

He went to work that night and wasted his breath

Outside there was a public execution

Inside he died a thousand deaths

 

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they put him in a suit of lights

 

In the perforated first editions

Where they advocate the hangman's noose

Then tell the sorry tale of the spent Princess

Her uncouth escort looking down her dress

 

Anyway, they say that she wears the trousers

And learnt everything that she does

And doesn't know if she should tell him yes

Or let him go

 

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they put him in a suit of lights

 

But, it's a dog's life in a rope leash or a diamond collar

It's enough to make you think right now

But you don't bother

For goodness sake as you cry and shake

Let's keep your face down in the dirt where you belong

And think of all the pleasure that it brings

Though you know that it's wrong

 

And there's still life in your body

But most of it's leaving

Can't you give us all a break

Can't you stop breathing

 

And I thought I heard "The Working Man's Blues"

I went to work that night and wasted my breath

Outside they're painting tar on somebody

It's the closest to a work of art that they will ever be

 

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground

And they put him in a suit of lights

And they put him in a suit of lights

Today’s slow drag is with “Spooky Girlfriend” from “When I Was Cruel,” released in 2002. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.coms

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Spooky Girlfriend” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Spooky_Girlfriend

“Spooky Girlfriend” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMBmd6m7h-c

“Spooky Girlfriend” Cruel Smile, Live on KFOG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsRa4XojFs

“London’s Brilliant Parade” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZmNE964rmk

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

"Spooky Girlfriend" Lyrics:

I want a girl to make a mess

To do no wrong she must confess

And then perhaps hitch up her dress

'Cos when the flashbulbs explode

She's such a sensitive soul

 

I want a girl who is helpless and frail

Who won't pull on my ponytail

I want a girl who has no past

She's made up now

But that won't last

'Cos when she sits on my knee

And then she whispers to me

 

"Can't you see

could be

could be

Your spooky girlfriend…

I could be, I could be your spooky girlfriend”

 

And the broken toys are scattered in the attic

And the Newspapers play in the words of the fanatic

And the greeting cards are your most poetic lyric

And the flat champagne is sweet sugar syrup

 

I want to paint you with glitter and with dirt

Picture you with innocence and hurt

The shutter closes

Exposes the shot

She says, "Are you looking up my skirt?"

When you say "No"

She says "Why not?"

 

I want a girl to turn my screw

To wind my watch, to buckle my shoe

And if she won't, her mother will do

'Cos when she does as she's told

We'll all turn platinum and gold

But when she sits on my knee

I hear her whispers to me

"Can't you see?"

"I could be your spooky girlfriend"

Today’s slow drag is with “You Little Fool” from “Imperial Bedroom,” released in 1982. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: slowdragwithremedy@gmail.coms

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag

 

References:

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “You Little Fool” http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/You_Little_Fool

 

“You Little Fool” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmVfF3WX_Q

 

“You Little Fool” Demo version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEo40X9_HUs

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Daddy's best girl in the world is not supposed to have a boyfriend

But she's never wanted at home

Other girls are allowed to wear their makeup

She sneaks out her lipstick, powder and comb

She surrounds his name with hearts and flowers

Talks on the telephone for hours and hours

But with a bird in his hand

And two on a string

The words of love have an imitation ring

 

Chorus:

You little fool, you little fool

I suppose that you're going to stay all night

You little fool

Don't look at me that way, you know it isn't right

You little fool

 

They say no news is good news

The little girl wants information

Mother just gives her some pills to choose

And says go and use your imagination

 

Daddy's best girl in the world says just look what I got

As she sits beside him on the high stool

With his arm around her neck, snowball in one hand

And the other full of imitation jewels

She fingers a string of pearls

An imitation but he'll never know it

Imitation lashes flutter above

Looking for an imitation of love

 

(Chorus)

 

Alternative second verse intro lyrics:

 And you’re so surprised she’s up to hijinks out on the high stools

Sitting with a snowball in one hand, the other full of imitation jewels