imperial bedroom

Elvis Costello and the Attractions created a sumptuous banquet with the ambitious excursions of this dark and delicate pièce de résistance. Costello says: "'Imperial Bedroom' was the record on which The Attractions and I granted ourselves the sort of scope that we imagined The Beatles had enjoyed in the mid-‘60s. We had engaged the engineering skills of the sonic, and somewhat unsung, genius behind many of those productions. The studio was booked for an unprecedented twelve weeks. If we needed a harpsichord or Mellotron, we hired one; if we required a 12-string acoustic guitar, marimba, or accordion, we went out and bought one; if we heard strings and trumpet and horns, we booked the musicians and Steve began writing out the parts. It had not begun in this fashion. After our excursion to Nashville, during which we recorded nearly thirty tracks in nine days for the album, 'Almost Blue', we reconvened at a country cottage to rehearse my new songs. This followed our working method for the album 'Trust'. Once again, we recorded the rehearsals on an 8-track machine. Even when we entered the vastly more sophisticated AIR Studios, we still intended to record the album 'live' with few overdubs."

The sessions were produced ("from an original idea by Elvis Costello") by Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick while he worked with George Martin and Paul McCartney on his 'Tug of War' album elsewhere in the AIR studios. Many of the songs were still in the process of being written, although Costello remembers: "We could draw from material written during the end of the 'Trust' sessions ('Boy With A Problem'), through my work on 'East Side Story' ('Kid About It'), during our Nashville adventure ('Tears Before Bedtime'), as well as time at home with my piano ('Almost Blue', '...And In Every Home' and 'Long Honeymoon'). We did not make any attempt to have the songs obey an arrangement or production style, rather we tried to make the most out of this musical variety...It is probably the vocal and instrumental additions that set this album apart from our previous records. Having decided to use some orchestral instruments, Steve Nieve began writing the charts; for a trio of French horns on 'Long Honeymoon' (which he later told me was supposed to sound like Wagnerian hunting horns, although as one of the players might have swallowed something that didn't agree with him, that effect came closer to a New Orleans funeral band), a brass and woodwind section on 'Pidgin English', a Philly-style violin section on 'Town Cryer' and a full forty piece orchestra for '...And In Every Home'"



'Imperial Bedroom' was heralded by critics as a return to form for Costello. It went to forty-nine in Australia; forty-five in the Netherlands; thirty-seven in New Zealand; thirty in Sweden and the US; eighteen in Norway; and number six in the UK. 









http://www.elviscostello.com/











'Beyond Belief' changed the course of the sessions. Costello recalls: "One afternoon, Pete Thomas arrived at the studio straight from a night of carousing, he confounded all of us by turning in the single inventive take of 'Beyond Belief' that transformed the song into the opening track of the record. It was originally entitled 'The Land Of Give And Take' with an almost improvised sounding text. The strength of Pete’s performance meant that I was able to consider a more ambitious and confidential vocal approach. I re-wrote the song over the existing backing track, achieving a more coherent structure."

History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues
I'm just the oily slick
On the windup world of the nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel
I hang around dying to be tortured
You'll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel
So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your Alice
You know she has no sense
For all your jealousy
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly
Charged with insults and flattery
Her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous
And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You say you have no secrets
And then leave discreetly
I might make it California's fault
Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Just like the canals of mars and the great barrier reef
I come to you beyond belief
My hands were clammy and cunning
She's been suitably stunning
But I know there's not a hope in Hades
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
So-called gentlemen and ladies
Dog fight like rose and thistle
I've got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief






'Man Out of Time' went to fifty-eight in the UK. Elvis admits: "The first two weeks did not go well. The only thing that really survives on the final record from those chaotic and undisciplined sessions is the screaming introduction and tag of 'Man Out Of Time'—a fair indication of the tone of those days. We were trying to beat the songs into submission."

So this is where he came to hide
When he ran from you
In a private detective`s overcoat
And dirty dead man`s shoes

The pretty things of Knightsbridge
Lying for a minister of state
Is a far cry from the nod and wink
Here at traitor`s gate

`Cause the high heel he used to be has been ground down
And he listens for the footsteps that would follow him around

To murder my love is a crime
But will you still love
A man out of time

There`s a tuppeny hapenny millionaire
Looking for a fourpenny one
With a tight grip on the short hairs
Of the public imagination

But for his private wife and kids somehow
Real life becomes a rumor
Days of Dutch courage
Just three French letters and a German sense of humor

He`s got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge
He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege

To murder my love is a crime
But will you still love
A man out of time

The biggest wheels of industry
Retire sharp and short
And the after dinner overtures
Are nothing but an after thought
Somebody`s creeping in the kitchen
There`s a reputation to be made
Whose nerves are always on a knife`s edge
Who`s up late polishing the blade

Love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning
You drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning

To murder my love is a crime
But will you still love
A man out of time
Will you still love
A man out of time
Will you still love

A man out of time







Costello says 'Almost Blue' "was written in imitation of the Brown/Henderson song “The Thrill Is Gone”. I had become obsessed with the Chet Baker recording of that tune, firstly the trumpet instrumental and, later, the vocal take. It is probably the most faithful likeness to the model of any of my songs of this time. It has become my most covered composition." 

Almost blue
Almost doing things we used to do
There's a girl here and she's almost you
Almost all the things that your eyes once promised
I see in hers too
Now your eyes are red from crying

Almost blue
Flirting with this disaster became me
It named me as the fool who only aimed to be

Almost blue
It's almost touching it will almost do
There's a part of me that's always true...always
Not all good things come to an end now it is only a chosen few
I've seen such an unhappy couple

Almost me
Almost you

Almost blue





"Almost Blue" by Elvis Costello from Norman Mancy on Vimeo.



Costello explains that 'Little Savage' is "one of several cuts rehearsed and even recorded in different tempi and time signatures. The slower pace of the album demanded the up-tempo arrangement to be included."


I would have waited all my life
Just to make love out of something other than spite
But the beauty is the beast you're baiting
Should really be worth the waiting


You do something very special to
Mr. Average
Now the lamb lies with the lion
He's just a little savage










'You Little Fool' charted at number fifty-two in the UK.


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
With the bird in his hand and two on a string
The words of love have an imitation ring


You little fool, little fool, little fool
I suppose that you're going to stay all night
You little fool, little fool, little fool
Don't look at me that way, you know it isn't right








'Town Cryer'

'Imperial Bedroom' 

full album:

All songs written by Elvis Costello unless otherwise indicated.

Side one

"Beyond Belief" – 2:34

"Tears Before Bedtime" – 3:02

"Shabby Doll" – 4:48

"The Long Honeymoon" – 4:15

"Man Out of Time" – 5:26

"Almost Blue" – 2:50

"...And in Every Home" – 3:23

Side two

"The Loved Ones" – 2:48

"Human Hands" – 2:43

"Kid About It" – 2:45

"Little Savage" – 2:37

"Boy with a Problem" (Costello/Chris Difford) – 2:12

"Pidgin English" – 3:58

"You Little Fool" – 3:11

"Town Cryer" – 4:16