Guest blogger Dana concludes… (and thanks for taking the reins for the past two weeks!)
Elvis Costello & The Roots – ‘Wake Me Up’
Well, I guess I am nothing if not predictable in placing Mr. Costello number one on my “best of” list, though there have certainly been years in the recent path where his output might not have merited such high praise.
Here once again, I could have very easily gone with your pick, ‘Sugar Won’t Work.’ However, since you featured that one, I’m going to go with ‘Wake Me Up,’ one of many re-workings of other Costello songs, or at least lyrics from those songs, on this album.
I must admit that, as familiar as I am with Costello’s work, I found it difficult at times to figure out the precise song from which Elvis was borrowing lyrics even though the lyrics were so damn familiar. ‘Wake Me Up’ is an example of that frustration.
And so I had to do a Google search to find the source material. In doing that search, I cam across a review of the album that had this to say about ‘Wake Me Up’ while disclosing the lyric source:
The stand out example, though, is ‘WAKE Me Up,’ which appropriates lyrics from two different songs. The spare funk groove is bruised and brooding, with the dark imagery from ‘Bedlam’ (The Delivery Man) perfectly balanced by a chanted refrain of, ‘Wake me up, wake me up…/ With a slap or a kiss,’ from the title track of River In Reverse (2006). Costello’s lyrics and trademark vocal tone is complemented by the Roots’ rhythmic treatment.
Yeah, I’ll second that! Great song from a great album.
I’ve got this harlot that I’m stuck with carrying another man’s child
The solitary star announcing vacancy burnt out as we arrived
They’d throw us back across the border if they knew that we survived
And they were surprised to see us
So they greeted us with palms
They asked for ammunition, acts of contrition and small alms
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
I’ve got this imaginary radio, and I’m punching up the dial
I’ve got the A.C. trained on the T.V. so it won’t blow up in my eye
And everything that I thought fanciful or mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams
And I’m practising my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
And if I hold my hand outstretched
A little bird comes to me
And I might recite a small prayer
If I ever said them
I lay down on an iron frame
And found myself in Bedlam
Stepping on the fingers that were stretching through the bars
Wailing echoes down the corridors
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
They’ve got this scared and decorated girl strapped to the steel trunk of a Mustang
They drove her down a cypress grove where traitors hang and stars still spangle
They dangled flags and other rags along a coloured thread of twine
They dragged that bruised and purple heart along the road to Palestine
Someone went off muttering, he mentioned thirty pieces
Easter saw a slaughtering, each wrapped in bloodstained fleeces
My thoughts returned to vengeance but I put up no resistance
Though I seemed a long way from my home
It really was no distance
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
With a slap or a kiss
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
And the player piano picks out “Life Goes On”
The Ringtone rang out “Jerusalem”
Into the pit of sadness
Where the wretched plunge
We’ve buried all the Innocents
We must bury revenge
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
There must be something better than this
In the name of the Father and the Son
In the name of Gasoline and a Gun
Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
Meet Me In Montauk 
You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.
This is a fascinating album, even if it loses steam before the end. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard another artist reimagine his own catalog like this, bringing in another band with a completely different style.
Wasn’t there another song titled “Wake me up” this week? Anyway, great job Dana!
Yes, there was another song with that same title on my list.