Random Weekends are looking a lot like Elvis Costello Weekends this week.
Today’s track is another of the many bonus tracks Costello has released on the numerous reissues of his back catalog. I will let the man himself describe this version of the Imperial Bedroom track ‘Kid About It,’ as well as the story behind the writing of the song.
It’s funny how some songs drift in and out of our good graces.
When Elvis Costello released 1996’s All This Useless Beauty, I loved every minute of it, including (perhaps especially) its opening track, ‘The Other End (of the Telescope).’
Years later the song started to get on my nerves, particularly due to one lyric toward the end in which Costello sings of putting “a bamboo needle on a shellac of Chopin,” as pretentious a phrase as he’s ever uttered.
I know Morrissey is not very popular in these parts, but ‘Hairdresser On Fire’ is another example of why I dig him so much.
Morrissey’s sound, both solo and with The Smiths, is so distinct. Plenty of bands have imitated, or drawn inspiration from, that sound but nobody has done it as well.
Somehow I made it through 1,730 Songs of the Day without once featuring a solo Natalie Merchant track.
I guess that’s not completely surprising given that Merchant’s solo career isn’t (wasn’t?) exactly earth-shattering, and in my defense I have featured three 10,000 Maniacs songs, but it does feel like an oversight.
Apologies to Amy, who recently requested that I not post anymore Bob Dylan songs.
I’m not sure why she picked on poor Dylan, who hasn’t made many appearances on the blog lately (only two this year, though admittedly one was less than a week ago).
I hope today’s song, a standout from The Times They Are A-Changin’, will get a pass. If the Random iTunes Fairy serves up more Zimmerman tomorrow, that’s another story.
Meet Me In Montauk 