124 :: The Gaze That You Provoke :: A Slow Drag with "The Difference‪"‬ Slow Drag with Remedy :: An Elvis Costello Appreciation

Today’s slow drag is with “The Difference,” from “The Boy Named If,” released in 2023. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.
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Show Notes:
Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA
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“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
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References:
 
Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Difference” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Difference
 
“The Difference” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tvg-OfP1LA
 
Octameter: https://poemanalysis.com/poetic-meter/#:~:text=Octameter%20Octameter%20refers%20to%20a,patterns%20in%20English%20language%20verse.
 
The difference between undertone and overtone https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/undertone-and-overtone
 
What is an appositive: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appositive
 
Fiddlehead Reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYe6ZMs3K4
 
Fiddlehead: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiddlehead
 
The Male Gaze: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-male-gaze-5118422
 
Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”
 
Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y
"The Difference" Lyrics
I pulled a petal from the flower to tell just where my fortune fell
About a boy beyond my caution before I lay beneath his spell
And he said, "Do you know, do you know, do you, by chance, know wrong from right?"
"Do you know, do you know, do you know what turns pleasure to plight?
If you trust me, I know it may seem strange 
I'll show you the way down into the underworld"
I did just what he asked me to
Lifted my skirt to show him my shoe
Upon a reel of the finest fiddlehead
Light as the dance around Milady's bed
The steps came faster at his insistence
'Til he showed me all about the difference
"It's not about the things I promised, it's not about the vow we broke
If I am faithless or dishonest it's just the gaze that you provoke"
And he said, "Do you know, do you know, do you, by chance, know wrong from right?"
"Do you know, do you know, do you know what turns pleasure to plight?
If you kiss me, at first it may seem strange
I'll show you the way into another world"
My father shamed me just like you
Buried my name in a glass or two
'Til he came to me in his darkest house
He mistook me, took me for his spouse
And my cries for a woman in the distance 
So, I took this knife to show him the difference
'Til he came to me in his darkest house
He mistook me, took me for his spouse
And my cries for the woman in the distance 
So, I used this knife to show him the difference