In addition to gearing up to release new album Hey Clockface, Elvis Costello has launched “50 Songs For 50 Days," which is "a-song-a-day rollout of 50 songs and couplets (mostly) from his catalog leading up to and including Tuesday, 11/3 (Election Day)." He introduced the series on Tuesday (9/15) with the following lyrics:
“If you’re tired of the lies of politicians and of preachers
You can place your trust in me, help me be your brother’s keeper
If you pay too many taxes, think salvation should be cheaper
Just say “Blood and Hot Sauce”
Elvis noted that those lyrics are from a song he'd written for the musical adaptation of Budd Schulberg's classic story "A Face in the Crowd" (which was adapted for Elia Kazan's 1957 movie starring Andy Griffith) which "would have been coming to the stage quite soon, had it not been for the present contagion."
He went on to say Face "is the tale of Lonesome Rhodes, a lying, cheating, pill-popping double-talking no-good, who is discovered in jail by Marcia Jeffries, a radio producer who sees potential in his silver tongue and common touch. The story sees him rise through the broadcasting world until Lonesome gets such good ratings that he believes that he holds sway over 'The Ordinary Man,' who he secretly despises." If you're getting where Elvis is going with this, he stops there, saying "But that story is for another day."
With that, expect the lyrics offered up in "50 Songs For 50 Days" to have some correlation to our Election Day lead-up climate. The songs will be added to a growing Spotify playlist, and a few of those songs "will be issued here for the first time."
Elvis wraps up his intro with "I hope you get what you wish for or what you really deserve and that we can all find a way to forgive those who trespass against us." You can read his full "50 Songs for 50 Days" statement below.
For today's Day 2 entry in the series, it's "Waiting For The End Of The World" from his 1977 debut, My Aim is True: "Hiding from a scandal in the national press / They had been trying to get married since they stole the wedding dress / You may see them drowning as you stroll along the beach / But don't throw out the lifeline till they're clean out of reach." Listen to that and the Day 1 song ("This Town" from 1988's Spike) below.
Elvis Costello's new album Hey Clockface is out October 30 via Concorde Records.
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ELVIS COSTELLO’S OCTOBER SURPRISE
“If you’re tired of the lies of politicians and of preachers
You can place your trust in me, help me be your brother’s keeper
If you pay too many taxes, think salvation should be cheaper
Just say “Blood and Hot Sauce”
These lines come from a campaign song that I wrote for a musical adaptation of the Budd Schulberg story, “A Face In The Crowd”, which would have been coming to the stage quite soon, had it not been for the present contagion.
“Face” is the tale of Lonesome Rhodes, a lying, cheating, pill-popping double-talking no-good, who is discovered in jail by Marcia Jeffries, a radio producer who sees potential in his silver tongue and common touch.
The story sees him rise through the broadcasting world until Lonesome gets such good ratings that he believes that he holds sway over “The Ordinary Man,” who he secretly despises.
But that story is for another day.
In the meantime, I have created this installation of “50 Songs For 50 Days”, presenting lyrics written over the last 50 years - most of them my own - and heard on recordings made between 1977 and 2020, including several that will be issued here for the first time.
These songs were written in response to events over these many years but it strikes me that you may find something useful in them at this present moment; a joke, a motto or even a couple of dance steps to keep the blood pumping and the hot sauce at hand.
I hope these songs will amuse, console or even infuriate, because passive indifference is hardly the way forward.
From September 15, we will bring you a different song every day for the next 50 days via the miracle of your favourite streaming service and the wonder of the internet. Please stay tuned.
I hope you get what you wish for or what you really deserve and that we can all find a way to forgive those who trespass against us.
One day I will see you again in the stalls or in the stars. Love from your friend in the future.