# The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes - Elvis Costello **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 7, 2021, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922 "2021-11-07T04:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/21 "2021-11-22T20:49:14Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > And, man, did they do a fantastic job. While EC is scratching his way on his guitar, the rest of the band is filling the song with rhythm and melody. What a great band they were. It’s too bad that EC won’t talk to Bruce Thomas anymore. Well, I hate to be a wise-ass, but as far as I know the Attractions didn’t play on that song. “My Aim Is True” was recorded before the Attractions were formed, and the band on the recordings is the American band Clover that just was available. Clover later turned into Huey Lewis and the News, of all bands. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/22 "2021-11-22T20:50:12Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The angels/red shoes metaphor isn’t totally thought through, as you’d expect from a song written in 10 minutes on a drunken train ride. I’d kill to be able to write such a song in half a year, sober. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/23 "2021-11-22T21:12:50Z")
Oh, I know that of course. I think Steve Nieve was on some of the first album, but it was a studio band. I was responding to a different post with that part of my post. (I just checked wiki – Nieve was on Watching the Detectives) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/24 "2021-11-22T21:22:39Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Oh, I know that of course. I think Steve Nieve was on some of the first album, but it was a studio band. I was responding to a different post with that part of my post. Oops, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice that you weren’t referring to the song that’s the subject of this thread. But don’t you also think that Clover did a great job on MAIT? The Attractions are a fantastic band, but the weakest part was always Costello’s guitar work, and the guitar by John McFee on MAIT is outstanding and better than on any EC and the Attractions album. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/25 "2021-11-22T21:43:02Z")
Oh, I love that album for sure, and the songs are great. Alison is a great example of guitar work that EC could never do in a million years. The next bunch of albums are basically a different style from My Aim is True, and then you get to Punch the Clock and I start to lose interest. EC was too content by then or something. As a bad keyboard player and aspiring bass player and sometimes drummer, I love how those instruments take the lead on the Attractions stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/26 "2021-11-22T22:00:12Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Oh, I love that album for sure, and the songs are great. Alison is a great example of guitar work that EC could never do in a million years. The next bunch of albums are basically a different style from My Aim is True, and then you get to Punch the Clock and I start to lose interest. EC was too content by then or something. My feelings exactly. But in truth I dropped in to post something else. Because I drifted away from Costello, I was unaware that the original demo of Red Shoes had been released. Actually, it’s rather good - not particularly from a technical point of view, it’s just a demo, but I like its spirit. And, presumably, the lyric is closer to the original conception. It took a little tracking down, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ARP99_U5Tx4?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLzGotn8LeP0fdHlRDHmXC5je0ogxLqDWJ And for anyone interested, this is how I found it. (This is a proper rabbit hole - you have been warned.) [Song info](http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/(The_Angels_Wanna_Wear_My)_Red_Shoes) [Album info](http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/My_Aim_Is_True_(2007_Hip-O_deluxe_edition)) j ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/27 "2021-11-22T22:07:14Z")
THAT. WAS. TERRIFIC. Man, thanks for sharing that. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/28 "2021-11-22T22:35:22Z")
Glad you liked it! j ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922/29 "2021-11-22T23:05:27Z")
I enjoyed that too. Sounded a bit like Billy Bragg. And I found myself supplying the responses “Oh, why’s that?” “Oh that’s too bad.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-elvis-costello/953922.md?page=1)