For Sunday: Elvis Costello sings "New Amsterdam"

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I’ve loved Elvis Costello since the 1970s. This song, from his “Get Happy!” album in the 1980s, is one of my favorites. The melody is wonderful, and the lyrics are amazing.

 

 

Note: this song might or might not be about Elvis’s love/hate relationship with New York City (try thinking of NYC as the woman he’s singing about; it kind of makes sense).

 

 

But who knows?

 

Enjoy.

 

 

 

New Amsterdam has become much too much

When I have the possession of everything she touches

Can I step on the brake to get out of her clutches

Can I speak double Dutch to a real double duchess

 

 

 

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Christmayapocalypse

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The Syfy Channel (I hate that name!) has been showing winter-themed disaster movies this month: “Ice Quakes,” “Ice Twisters,” “Snowmageddon,” and most notably, “The Twelve Disasters of Christmas.” This last one was best of all: a filmization of the Mayan apocalypse that’s scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, December 21, 2012.

 

 

Perfect!

 

 

We’ve all been joking for some time about the world coming to an end on December 21. And won’t we be all giggly if it turns out to be true!

 

 

But I think the end of the calendar year, and the darkness of the season, always makes us gloomy and fatalistic.

 

 

I noticed the other day that the asteroid Toutatis passed close to the Earth. Partner told me recently that a new asteroid just buzzed past Earth – closer to Earth than the Moon, in fact. The asteroid was approximately 120 yards wide – about the size of the asteroid that caused the Tunguska disaster in Russia in the early 1900s.

 

 

So many little perils! So many things that might happen to ruin our day!

 

 

So, while you’re waiting for the end of the world, a little traveling music from Elvis Costello:

 

 

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For Advent: Elvis Costello sings "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?"

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Well, it's the third Sunday of Advent.  I gave up Catholicism for Lent a few years ago and feel much lighter and less burdened as a result, but I respect some of the old traditions.  So: here’s a nice song in the spirit of the season.

 

And, by the way: Elvis is king!

 

09_(What's_So_Funny_'Bout)_Peace,_Love_&_Understanding.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Sunday blog: Elvis Costello sings "Green Shirt"

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I'm pretty sure I've done Elvis Costello before – didn't I give you “New Amsterdam”? - but here's another song. This is from his 1979 album “Armed Forces,” which is as bitter and tense and terrific as any of his early albums. I seem to remember that this was about some newsreader in the UK that Elvis thought was pretty – but of course he brought Fascism into it . . .

 

 

And it contains my friend Joanne's favorite line: “Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?”

 

 

05_Green_Shirt.m4a Listen on Posterous

 

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