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. . . . 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: [email protected]   “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

Today’s slow drag is with “American Gangster Time,” from “Momofuku,” released in 2008. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. . . . 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: [email protected]   “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   References:   Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “American Gangster Time” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=American_Gangster_Time “American Gangster Time” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnRIKlVsk1w Flag Etiquette: https://www.vfw.org/community/flag-etiquette Flatter to Deceive idiom meaning: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/flatter-to-deceive#:~:text=to%20give%20the%20appearance%20of,just%20a%20lull%20in%20hostilities.   Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”   Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "American Gangster Time" Lyrics:  One, two, three, four   Somewhere downtown a pretty girl kneels Offers her soft lips and a handful of pills Peels off her dress and then the rest of her skills It buys what she wants and the rest she just steals   He speaks between deep swallows of rum While her head is beating like a big bass drum And she wishes he were mute and not just dumb When the trick asked her quick, "Did you come?"   It's a drag Saluting that starry rag I'd rather go blind For speaking my mind Or use it just like a gag So, raise it in anger Just let it hang American Gangster Time   He sits back and starts to invent All about some Saigon correspondent "'Til the carbine fell silent and spent I never knew it could be so eloquent"   Next week there'll be some fashionable new sin For each harlot and each Puritan Pull off their wings stick them on a pin And just watch the money roll in   It's a drag Saluting that starry rag I’d rather go blind For speaking my mind Or use it just like a gag So, raise it in anger Just let it hang American Gangster Time   What you got hidden up your sleeve? The tracks of the train that were bidding you to leave When they say that you should flatter to deceive Don't count on any reprieve   The hands of the helpless are raised Your dead little secrets are praised The people stand dumbstruck and dazed By the inches that you have erased   It’s a drag Saluting that starry rag I'd rather go blind For speaking my mind Or use it just like a gag So, raise it in anger Just let it hang American gangster time Committing the perfect crime In American Gangster Time   Here we go Bye bye American Gangster Time

Today’s slow drag is with “Lip Service,” from “This Year’s Model,” released in 1978. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag “Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Lip Service” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Lip_Service “Lip Service” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE6oRbX4CLc “Grice’s Maxims” https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/grice.html “Sharp Practice” meaning: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/sharp-practice Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "Lip Service" Lyrics You left the motor running But I know you're so attractive Getting in some sharp practice You better not do anything reckless   But if everybody is going through the motions Everybody is going through the motions Are you really only going through the motions?   Lip service is all you'll ever get from me Lip service is all you'll ever get from me Lip service is all you'll ever get from me But if you change your mind You can send it in a letter to me   Don't make any sudden movements These are dangerous amusements When did you become so choosy Don't act like you're above me, just look at your shoes   But if everybody is going through the motions Everybody is going through the motions Are you really only going through the motions?   Lip service is all you'll ever get from me Lip service is all you'll ever get from me Lip service is all you'll ever get from me But if you change your mind You can send it in a letter to me But if you change your mind You can send it in a letter to me But if you change your mind You can send it in a letter to me

Today’s slow drag is with “The Man You Love to Hate,” from “The Boy Named If,” released in 2022. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag   References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Man You Love to Hate” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Man_You_Love_To_Hate “The Man You Love to Hate” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZU9b4NOQBQ Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "The Man You Love to Hate" Lyrics  I went to a theatre on Silhouette Street It had a taste of decay, and a scent of defeat All of the patrons in the pews were people that I'd killed or used The actors on the stage were equally skilled The players took turns in lighting the fuse One of them said "Now you must choose"   A man of infamy or ill-repute And that's the one that we will execute   None of that mob had turned up late They said, "You'd better concentrate” So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for The Man You Love to Hate   All of the patrons sitting on pews Were the shades of the ghosts of the once accused There was music that dragged in line and word Not a penny was spent, or a conscience was spared The hero's motives were never in doubt We laughed at the speeches that he would spout Suddenly there arose a shout   Confessions simply tumbled out And marriage vows, that someone mumbled about   None of that mob had turned up late They said, "You'd better concentrate” So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for The Man You Love to Hate   The closing act The first one billed Into the limelight thrilled   The tale of a ship lured onto the rocks under The cover of darkness, the hold was plundered My mouth was parched my eyes red-rimmed My false light shone  And my ghost light dimmed   I went to a house on Silhouette Street Where I lived once and died once more Awoke a woman I once adored Her husband came to the door In a masquerade of dignity He said, "I'm pleased to meet you but you don't know me" She took my money and handed me the key   The number on the fob was "999"  She whispered that's your room and this is mine But that's a chamber that you can't afford It's one door down, next to the Emergency Ward   None of that mob had turned up late They said, "You'd better concentrate” So, start the show, 'cos we can't wait for The Man You Love to Hate The Man You Love to Hate   I'm a one party state The Man You Love to Hate  The girl you used to care for Without a why or wherefore The country that I loved Is just a problem to solve Until we all disintegrate before The Man You Love to Hate

Today’s slow drag is with “Green Shirt,” from “Armed Forces,” released in 1979. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag   References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Green Shirt” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Green_Shirt   “Green Shirt” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilN9SpD6Y_Q   The Somerton Man Mystery: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/have-scholars-finally-identified-the-mysterious-somerton-man-180980540/   Quisling Clinic Photo https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM51270   Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”   Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "Green Shirt" Lyrics  There's a smart young woman on a light blue screen Who comes into my house every night And she takes all the red, yellow, orange and green And she turns them into black and white   But you tease, and you flirt And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it   Better cut off all identifying labels Before they put you on the torture table   'Cause somewhere in the "Quisling Clinic" There's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes She's listening in to the Venus line She's picking out names I hope none of them are mine   But you tease, and you flirt And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it   Never said I was a stool pigeon I never said I was a diplomat Everybody is under suspicion But you don't wanna hear about that   'Cause you tease, and you flirt And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it   Better send a begging letter to the big investigation Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?   You tease, and you flirt And you shine all the buttons on your green shirt You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it You can please yourself but somebody's gonna get it

Today’s slow drag is with “The First to Leave,” from “The Juliet Letters,” released in 1993. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag   References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The First to Leave” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_First_To_Leave   “The First to Leave” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS0dPEacnTY “The Dark Ensemble: Voice and String Quartet https://interlude.hk/the-dark-ensemble-voice-and-string-quartet-20th-century/   Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”   Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "The First to Leave" Lyrics I should open with a kiss For if you're reading this You must have opened up your case And found this letter where I placed it In between the silk and lace There were other clues, like your walking shoes But I still refused to believe That you were meant to be the first to leave   Everybody here sends you their love How could I forget you still walk above Or below Perhaps you'll never know this Purgatory We never could agree There's a thought, there's a pause No time to repent Eternally yours in a permanent Lent   But if I should give you up If you're right and life just stops And I never see your face again Then from unearthly pleasures, proud and plain I shall abstain 'Til you realize, my loss is your surprise Unless you know otherwise, then don't grieve You see I had to be the first to leave

Today’s slow drag is with “God’s Comic,” from “Spike,” released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag   References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “God’s Comic” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=God%27s_Comic “God’s Comic” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajjBxMCMQQs “God’s Comic” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0N6TfU54o8 “Requiem” by Andrew Lloyd Webber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CG8pUpVjg “God is dead”: What Nietzsche really meant”: https://bigthink.com/thinking/what-nietzsche-really-meant-by-god-is-dead/  Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "God's Comic" Lyrics  I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was a funny fella The crowd would hoot and holler for more  I wore a drunk's red nose for applause  Oh yes, I was a comical priest  "With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece"  Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint  Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar    (Chorus:) Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead  And I'm going on to meet my reward  I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared  He might’ve never heard God's comic    So, there he was on a waterbed, drinking a cola of a mystery brand  Reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem"  He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer the one about my son"  "I've been wading through all of this unbelievable junk  And wondering if I should have given the world to the monkeys"    (Repeat Chorus)    I'm gonna take a little trip down Paradise's endless shores  They say that travel broadens the mind, till you can't get your head out of doors    I'm sitting here on the top of the world, I hang around in the longest night  Until each beast has gone to bed and then I say "God bless" and put out the light    While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe  And you beg and you promise and you bargain and you plead  Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus  It's the big white beard, I suppose  I'm going up to the Pole, where you folks die of cold  I might be gone for a while if you need me    Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead And you're all going on to meet your reward  Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared?  You might have never heard, but God's comic

Today’s slow drag is with “The World and His Wife,” from “Punch the Clock,” released in 1983. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag   References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The World and His Wife”  https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_World_And_His_Wife   “The World and His Wife” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4wgrLmdVaI   “The World and His Wife” Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJTTmA_vvs “The World and His Wife” idiom: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/world-and-his-wife#:~:text=a%20great%20many%20people%2C%20especially,his%20wife%20will%20be%20there.   “It’s a Living” idiom https://www.englishforums.com/English/ItsALiving/mkphd/post.htm   “This is the life” idiom https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/this-is-the-life “Score Draw” https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/score-draw#:~:text=Word%20forms%3A%20plural%20score%20draws,the%20same%20number%20of%20goals. Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y "The World and His Wife" Lyrics The family circle gathers 'round from very far and near To pass around the same remarks they passed away last year The little girl you dangled on your knee without mishap Stirs something in your memory and something in your lap   Chorus: But it's a living This is the life For the world and his wife The world and his wife   The kissing cousins slip outside to cuddle and confess She says sweet nothing at all, it's much more of a mess The conversation melts like chocolate down their open jaws As the juniper berry slips down just like last night's drawers   (Chorus)   To tell the truth our Mum ran off with someone else's father Went for two weeks' holiday in Taramasalata Daddy went out with the rubbish and he kept on walking Between Mum and the walls God only knows who does the talking   (Chorus)   But late time in the evening through the tears and fol-de-rol Come the sentimental feelings for the lure of vitriol Longing thoughts go hankering for the old home overseas With a blindfold and a national anthem sung in different keys

Today’s slow drag is with “Black and White World” from “Get Happy!”, released in 1980. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. . . . 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: [email protected]   Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com/ Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Black and White World” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Black_And_White_World “Black and White World” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDl6YvXhiw “Black and White World” Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMLZi9v-RFM Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "Black and White World" Lyrics: I was looking at the black and white world It seemed so exciting If you'd only put me back-to-back with that girl When the night's inviting With just a little lighting There'll never be days like that again When I was just a boy and men were men   You never go from moment to moment You're the living double of a single fiction You're very colorful with your compliments As you feel the finger's friction It's a freeze-frame till it’s real life You don't want to look 'Cause you've seen the film and you've read the book   I was looking at the black and white world Trying to name some pin-up Those days she was just a beautiful girl Now she's framed and hung up I thought she was young Up until I saw her last night in close detail Though they all fade away when you're so pale   It's more than just a physical attraction It starts with a face and ends up a fixation But you're never gonna feel a fraction Of the way it used to work on your imagination When you were looking at the black and white world

Today’s slow drag is with “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” from “Blood and Chocolate,” released in 1986. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello’s birth name. . . . 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: [email protected]   Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag   References: Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Honey,_Are_You_Straight_Or_Are_You_Blind%3F   “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeSNPJ1bIY   Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”   Listen to the audiobook for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y   "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?" Who do you see when you turn your eyes down? Who do you see when I'm not seeing you? The news is out all over town And all these girls are taking turns at being you   Chorus: Well, well, well You'd better make up your mind Honey, are you straight or are you blind?   She's coming in between us, you know that she is I'm not holding on to her but one of us is My hands are in my pockets, my face is in a book She could walk 'round naked and I wouldn't sneak a look   (Chorus)   Honey, are you straight or are you blind? Honey, are you straight or are you blind? Honey, are you straight or are you blind? Honey, are you straight or are you blind?   She walked in and your eyes flew out the door You squeezed my hand until the circulation ceases She's just a doll like so many more She's the kind of doll that you'd like to pull to pieces   (Chorus)   Well!   Well, well, well You'd better make up your mind Honey, are you straight or are you blind?