My Aim Is True Elvis Costello, the first new artist signed to Stiff Records back in 1977, is one of the UK's finest songwriters.Here Martin Chilton picks his 40 best songs. Operating within a simple chord progression, the folk-y vocals immediately impress why Costello is one of the most formidable lyricists in rock music history. High on that list is “Man Out Of Time,” … The song’s classic use of crime drama swing gives Costello’s fanciful vocal take a queasy sort of thrust, morphing the noir-ish bubble of the subject matter into that of a sidebar to an article in Teen Beat. It actually hurts my head to try. Listen to the best Elvis Costello songs on Apple Music and Spotify, and scroll down for our list. Easily Costello’s most recognizable song, “Pump It Up” is one of the few he’s written whose core lovability can be boiled down to the fact that it’s just a great, peppy punk dance rocker. Double entendres abound dealing with the rigors of sexual frustration, appealing to both teenagers and musical connoisseurs alike. The song impressed Johnny Cash enough to lead off an album with it; Costello’s version also gives a tasty solo spot to guitarist James Burton, who spent years playing with the other Elvis. Luckily, the song is great no matter how thinly you spread its political agendas. Blood And Chocolate If you’re looking for a late-night ballad album that goes straight for the heart, try this one. Your email address will not be published. Man Out of Time Lyrics. The musician forms his own backing band, ‘The Attractions’ along with Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, and Pete Thomas in the year 1977. It prophetically captured the angst and nihilism of the pandemic era. Nearly any track from Costello’s roots-music reinvention King of America, could be a contender for fan favorite, but “The Big Light,” is a stone-country stomp that’s about as feisty as hangover songs ever get. The album received good commercial success. He has won multiple awards in his career, including Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. As the de facto Costello ballad, “Alison” is undoubtedly a great song, benefitted all the more by the often uncredited accompaniment by California country-rock crew, Clover. Few songs set out so confusingly sprawling, and this introduction to the Attractions’ abilities to adapt to Costello’s increasingly diverse muses was hugely impressive. You really do get depressed if you wear blue lenses. 1. What follows is but a sliver of the foam of the cream of the Costello catalog, as broken down by someone (again, me) who decided to get the man’s pose on the cover of My Aim Is True tattooed on his forearm some time ago. Other honorable mentions include collaborations with The Roots, Bill Frisell, Anne Sofie von Otter, and a few orchestras; not to mention dozens more notable solo tracks. At the other emotional extreme is “Alison,” arguably the first great ballad to come out of the New Wave movement and a song of conflicted tenderness. One of the gems was “Jacksons, Monk & Rowe,” which resembled a vintage Costello pop tune. Tracks of Disc 1; $0.99 on iTunes 1. Elvis Costello said of the song: "It was a satire. The song’s descending chords at the capable fingers of Steve Nieve are like a carnival train headed off the rails; and Bruce Thomas’ deft bass playing is solid goddamn gold. Costello didn’t waste much time waggling his middle finger to the powers that be on This Year’s Model, his first album with the Attractions and second album overall. All This Useless Beauty Burt Bacharach / Elvis Costello. You … It remains Costello’s biggest-ever single in the U.S. Modern songwriters don’t get more iconic than Burt Bacharach, and though their collaboration began by fax, it became a strong connection yielding an album full of heartfelt torch songs, Painted From Memory.