In 1976, a 22-year-old Elvis Costello took a sick day from his job as a computer operator and holed up in a London studio with a band called Clover to record one of the great debut albums in rock history, My Aim is True.
The album wasn’t a huge commercial hit, but it was a critical smash. This weird-looking guy with Buddy Holly glasses and a pigeon-toed punk stance could jump from New Wave pop to Bacharach-style ballads in the course of a few songs. Right off the bat he was hard to peg.
But one thing was certain, he was a brilliant songwriter with a talent for mind-bending wordplay. A song such as ‘Watching the Detectives’ just doesn’t sound like something you’d hear on a debut album. It sounds advanced, like a post-grad level song released by somebody who should be in the musical equivalent of high school.
The best-loved song on My Aim is True was ‘Alison,’ a delicate ballad for the girl who got away. This track remains the quintessential Elvis Costello song 34 years after its release, and probably the only thing a lot of people know by him.
But as we’ll see, he was just getting started.
And with the way you look I understand
that you were not impressed.
But I heard you let that little friend of mine
take off your party dress.
I’m not going to get too sentimental
like those other sticky valentines,
’cause I don’t know if you were loving some body.
I only know it isn’t mine.
Alison, I know this world is killing you.
Oh, Alison, my aim is true.
Well I see you’ve got a husband now.
Did he leave your pretty fingers lying
in the wedding cake?
You used to hold him right in your hand.
I’ll bet he took all he could take.
Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking
when I hear the silly things that you say.
I think somebody better put out the big light,
cause I can’t stand to see you this way.
Alison, I know this world is killing you.
Oh, Alison, my aim is true.
My aim is true.
Meet Me In Montauk 
Well, it doesn’t look like your link to the song is working, but no matter. We, of course, know the song well.
This may have been the first song where I took notice of how incredible a lyricist EC is. That is not to suggest that the lyrics on the rest of his debut album are any less worthy of praise, but, in a ballad, the words are generally pushed to the forefront where they sometimes soar but more often reveal inane cliched drivel . Indeed, even sweet sentiments like Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” become stale on repeat listening. Yet, over 30 years after this song was penned by a wise beyond his age EC, the lyrics still feel crisp and interesting.
Incidentally, I’ve often wondered if EC is really even capable of writing a bad lyric. So far, I have yet to find that he is.
Hmm… the song is working for me. Maybe a temporary glitch?
I think I could probably dig up a few bad lyrics from his expansive ouvre, but I agree it would be far more challenging than finding brilliant ones.
Yeah, it worked on the refresh–must have been an issue on my end.
I don’t know, I’m not saying every word he has ever written is pure genius, but I have yet to hear words that make me groan.
Well, well, well… you are just full of surprises this week. I never would have guessed you’d stoop to feature the “hit,” but clearly (and happily) I am wrong.
This is a song I just love, and it offered up what might be one of the best and most fitting lyrics/album titles of all time.
Sorry I shared it yesterday, though it’s sort of intriguing to hear the song as it’s performed 20+ years after it was first created, then as it was first released on the album.
It’s a perfect song. Everything I love about Elvis is richly displayed in this song. It’s that wonderful juxtaposition of quirky and sweet that creates a kind of honesty that so many artists just don’t have the nerve for. Or so it seems to me.
There’s a live, acoustic version I heard on the web somewhere that was freakin awesome.