Slow Drag with Remedy :: An Elvis Costello Appreciation Remedy Robinson

Today’s slow drag is with “Tears before Bedtime,” 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
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, “Tears before Bedtime” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Imperial_Bedroom
“Tears before Bedtime” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v_inbXiPLQ  
“Tears before Bedtime” Alternative version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA8uLxyBF9I
“Give up The Ghost” meaning https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/to-give-up-the-ghost#:~:text=Definition%20of%20'to%20give%20up%20the%20ghost'&text=If%20someone%20gives%20up%20the,what%20they%20are%20looking%20for.
A chorus versus and hook: https://emastered.com/blog/hook-vs-chorus#:~:text=A%20chorus%20is%20usually%20preceded,make%20for%20a%20catchier%20tune.
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
"Tears before Bedtime" Lyrics
I know the name on the tip of your tongue
And I know that accusing look
Everybody knows I've been so wrong
That's the problem and here's the hook
 
Chorus:
Tears before bedtime
There'll be trouble tonight
I don't want to talk about it anymore
I don't want to have another fight
I don't want to talk I don't want to fight
How wrong can I be before I am right
 
For the tears that you boo hoo hoo
There can be no defense
You say you'll forgive and forget
But it's only a pretense
 
(Chorus)
 
Either you can leave the past behind
Or give me something to disconnect my mind
I sleep with my fists clenched tight
When I don't lie awake all night
I guess time gave up the ghost too late
And the balance of our love
Very soon turns to hate
 
Darling your suspiciousness
Tortures me at night
But I can't excuse the cruel words
That I use whenever we fight
 
(Chorus)
 
How wrong can I be before I am right
 
Alternate Version Lyrics
I see that strange look in your eyes once again
And the name on the tip of your tongue is of a woman and not a man
There’ll be tears before bedtime, they’ll be trouble tonight
I don’t want to talk about it anymore, oh I don’t want to fight
How wrong can I be before I am right?
 
The pain that I’ve given you there is no defense
You say you’ll forgive and forget but it’s only a pretense
There’ll be tears before bedtime, they’ll be trouble tonight
I don’t want to talk about it anymore, oh I don’t want to fight
How wrong can I be before I am right?
 
Either you can leave the past behind or give me something to discount mind
I sleep with my fists clenched tights when I don’t lie awake all night
I guess time gave up the ghost too late
And the balance of our love
Very soon turns to hate
 
Suspicion and silence still torture my night
And the cruel words of anger that run through all our fights
They’ll be tears before bedtime, I’ll be trouble tonight
I don’t want to talk about it anymore, I don’t want to fight
How wrong can I be before I am right?

Today’s slow drag is with “Stella Hurt,” 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
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, “Stella Hurt” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Stella_Hurt
 
“Stella Hurt” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W93e5f6py9U
 
“Chekhov’s Gun” https://screencraft.org/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chekhovs-gun/
 
“Arcadia” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arcadia#:~:text=Now%20English%20speakers%20often%20use,%2C%20simple%2C%20or%20untroubled.%22
 
Blue Birds Songs: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/sounds#
 
“The Other End of the Telescope” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grIxnYllZxk
 
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
 
"Stella Hurt" Lyrics
You should wear your red galoshes
Walking o'er the city pride
Streets are paved with heaven's pennies
Gutters full of suicides
 
Teddy steadily fell from grace
Somewhere near Arcadia
Once she overheard a voice
she didn't hear on the radio
 
Velvet gloves and country clubs
Were never going to hold her
Ringing the necks of silly
Southern belles
Who wanted to scold her
 
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
 
Teddy soon dropped out of sight
Turned up in another town
Changed her name for the spotlight
Singing like a blue bird in a sequin gown
 
She finally fell and married well
But I knew it wouldn't last
Reversing back into the limelight
No one ever saw her even half-plastered
 
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?
 
Then she saw those soldier boys
Throw their bonnets in the air
Self-made men would pledge their fortunes
And dream of her
And dream of her...
 
Generals in the commissary opened up a case of wine
Checked the perfume of the cork
Said "Made in 1929"...
 
They used her up, to raise morale for money
And Old Glory
Her voice was shot beyond repair 
But this is not the last act of this story
 
The night is black as cracked shellac
Abandoned in an attic
Stella is silent as the grave
Until the needle drags her through the static
 
Don't bring me down
I'm trouble bound
Blue song
Red Alert
Who made Stella Hurt?

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
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, “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

Today’s slow drag is with “Lipstick Vogue,” 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  
“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, “Lipstick Vogue” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Lipstick_Vogue
 
“Lipstick Vogue” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3sqZUMgcX4 
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
"Lipstick Vogue" Lyrics
Don't say you love me when it's just a rumor
Don't say a word if there is any doubt
Sometimes I think that love is just a tumor
You've got to cut it out
 
You say you're sorry for the things that you've done
You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it
I wouldn't worry, I had so much fun
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being
 
It's you
Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
It's you
Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
Oh yeah
 
Get to the slot machine almost dead on arrival
Just hit me one more time with that live wire
Maybe they told you you were only a girl in a million
You say I've got no feelings
This is a good way to kill them
 
Select the control and then insert the token
You wanna throw me away but I'm not broken
You've got a lot to say, well I'm not jokin
There are some words they don't allow to be spoken
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being
 
It's you
Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
It's you
Not just another mouth in the lipstick vogue
 
Not just another mouth lost in the lipstick vogue (repeats)

Today’s slow drag is with “The Spell That You Cast,” from “National Ransom,” released in 2010. 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, “The Spell That You Cast” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Spell_That_You_Cast
“The Spell That You Cast” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEYZTE8BDuE
The Difference between You Got and You Have: https://preply.com/en/question/you-got-youve-got-43032#:~:text=“You%20have%20got”%20fully%20correct,missed%20too%20many%20days%20already.”&text=“You%27ve”%20(short,”%20(have%20is%20missing).
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 Spell That You Cast" Lyrics
The spell that you cast
Well, it seems to be wearing off fast
(The spell that you cast)
Come back baby, cos I don't think that I can last
(The spell that you cast)
 
And I wonder whether
You got some other kind of lover That you like to please
Better than me
Don't think I can take it
How am I gonna break it?
The spell that you cast
The spell that you cast
 
The spell that you've woven
Well, it seems to be coming undone
(The spell that you cast)
Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going
(The spell that you cast)
 
And you know quite well
That I'm not the jealous kinda fella
But they look in your eyes
And they're all hypnotized
I'm gonna miss you madly
'Cos I love you sadly
The spell that you cast
The spell that you cast
 
Jimmy, come quickly ‘cos I feel quite sickly
(Oh, the spell that you cast)
You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley
(Oh, the spell that you cast)
(Oh, the spell that you cast)
Here we go…
 
Don't think I can take it
How am I gonna break it?
The spell that you cast
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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