Your Weird Moment of Synchronicity for the Day
Posted on April 14, 2005 Posted by John Scalzi 9 Comments
I’m listening to “Every Day I Write the Book,” by Elvis Costello, and came to the part in the final verse where Costello opines:
Even in a perfect word, where everyone was equal
I’d still own the film rights, and be working on the sequel
To which I thought: Hey! I do own the film rights! I am working on the sequel! Every day I do indeed write the book!
I’m living an Elvis Costello song. Better this one than, say, “Let ‘Em Dangle.”
Just thought I’d share.
Or “Oliver’s Army” although that could be a future OMW title.
Now I’ll be hummin’ that all day.
What *I* want to know is if executioners really did shake hands with the executionee to calculate their weight. Didn’t they have scales?
Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being when I listen to Elvis Costello.
Hey, at least it’s not “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” or, as Evan hints, anything off of This Year’s Model. Brr.
Ah, “Punch the Clock”.
The entire album — classic.
But who was the first jackass to rephrase “I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused” as “I used to be disgusted, now I’m just amused”? And do I have to pay that jackass royalties to use it as my blog tagline?
Personally, I once lived the opening line of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”…
“Rollin’ down Imperial Highway
Big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin’ hot from the north
And we was born to ride
Roll down the window put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys
Don’t let the music stop…”
The big nasty redhead was my boss’ secretary, driving me to the airport because of a family emergency, but it was Imperial Highway, it was a convertible and the Beach Boys were on the radio and for a little while I forgot about the family emergency and giggled uncontrolably…
Costello is just awesome. I knew the Internet bubble era was completely out of control when this worthless little company hired him and Steve Nieve to play its launch party, and then my wife and I were two of the few people who actually tried to listen to the performance as everyone else went on chattering. Ridiculous. But we saw him more recently in a more hospitable venue, the Beacon Theater in New York. Great show.
All of this reminds me that I need to change out the Costello disc in my car’s CD changer. I always keep one of his among the six, and it’s been “All This Useless Beauty” for a few weeks. Has its moments, but not his very best work.
Chapter 1: So you mention Elvis Costello this morning and I think, “hmm…. good music in the 80’s – can’t believe I’d forgotten about him”.
Chapter 2: Next thing I’m googling for used record stores and BAM! – there’s one right in my backyard. Who would have guessed? Not me, I can tell you.
Chapter 3: Spent Sunday afternoon in new-found CD heaven and nabbed a couple of otherwise unobtainable disks for *pennies*! Life is good – Thanks John!
Still no Elvis though :( Chapter 4, perhaps, or maybe a sequel? :)
The title track off of “All This Useless Beauty” is easily one of my favorite Elvis songs, just a great piece of songwriting.