Here’s another in the long line of random tracks culled from Elvis Costello’s many reissues.
I’ll be honest, I would probably never hear these songs if it weren’t for Random Weekends. It’s not that they aren’t worthy… I just don’t have much patience for bonus tracks in general. That’s like watching deleted scenes rather than a favorite movie.
Here’s what Elvis had to say about this track in his liner notes:
Guitars don’t really feature that much in the songs recorded for this album. The exception is the outtake “Turning The Town Red”. The basic track was cut at SARM, but I completed the more intricate guitar and vocal arrangement at AIR Studios with Jon Jacobs, who had worked on Imperial Bedroom.
The song was written for the opening titles of Alan Bleasdale’s comic serial Scully, in which the title character dreams of leading out the Liverpool football team in front of their most dedicated fans on the Kop terrace. I also made a supporting appearance in the story as a nearly mute member of the central family who is obsessed with railway timetables.
A demo of the first draft (CD2, track 11) appears to have a lyric that is being free-associated, but the final version (CD2, track 3) sounds like another of my many attempts to write a Chrissie Hynde song (“Men Called Uncle”, “Kid About It”, “Mouth Almighty”).
So you’re turning the town red
They put me in the picture but the film turned blue
A glimpse of you
Turning the town red
You said they carried you shoulder high
After turning the town red
Now you’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’
And you don’t know why
Turning the town red
You made your bed and now you better dream in it
The word that you once whispered, now you’re screaming it
Turning the town red
Days drip down the damp wallpaper
Pictures plastered in an ivy creeper
Between your old toy soldiers and your mother’s sleepers
Soon you’ll be turning the town red
Don’t get the needle with the boys in the blocks
Find yourself alright when the bathroom door locks
You’re a big boy now with a face to stop clocks
Soon you’ll be turning the town red
Turning the town red
Turning the town red
You made your bed, you better face the consequence
A black pool opened at my feet into a dream sequence
Turning the town red
I smell trouble I heard her call my name
At least I think that’s what she said
Surely I’m the poor relation who can’t afford the shame
So what’s she doing in my bed?
You know that scent that often lingers
After turning the town red
I can’t find it on my face or even on my fingers
I’m turning the town red
Turning the town red
Turning the town red
Turning the town red
Meet Me In Montauk 
I don’t see the song embedded in the post, however, I have it in my iTunes collection so I was able to pull it up. I too have never dedidicated time to hear each and every bonus track on Elvis’ reissues, though they come up randomly from time to time on my iPhone.
I don’t recall hearing this bonus track before. Not a bad song, but certainly a weaker stepchild of the far stronger material on Imperial Bedroom. Those liner note comments are quite interesting though, particularly his admission of trying to write in a Chrissie Hynde style. I had never really made that connection on the songs he mentions, but I can definitely hear it, particularly on “Kid About It.”