God’s Comic comes to mind.
Good catch. Who wrote your user name? 
“Accidents Happen”.
I saw Elvis in Seattle a few months ago. He played pretty much every song mentioned above. Good show.
BTW: Alison
Sorry, I hope this isn’t threadshitting. But I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite Elvis Costello song. I don’t love *all *of them, but I love far too many of them to possibly pick a favorite. Hell, every single song on “Get Happy” alone would be battling it out for the top spot, along with many, many others.
(Favorite album, I might be able to whittle it down, but it would still be tough)
I’m a songwriter. If Elvis Costello were to cover one of my songs, then someone were to say that that song was their favorite Elvis Costello song …I’d feel pretty damned highly valued.
The OP didn’t ask for best songs written by Elvis Costello, so there’s no reason to remove covers from the selection. What the … !!! wasn’t even the first person in the Thread to name a cover song, Baron Greenback mentioned “She” in post #8.
I’d imagine Nick Lowe is reasonably proud of Costello’s version of the song. Hell, not only did Lowe produce it but he originally released it with the artist credit as “Nick Lowe and His Sound”. The arrangement pretty much matches up with Lowe’s original version with Brinsley Schwarz. The fact that it stands out so much can certainly be credited to the personal flare of the performers. The same can be said of “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down”, “I Stand Accused”, and all of the Almost Blue album and Kojack Variety.
Hell, years ago I started a Thread here to see if anyone knew anything about Australian band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons specifically because I so loved Elvis Costello’s cover of their song “So Young”. I would even count “So Young” among my favorite Elvis Costello songs despite the fact that he didn’t write it. I fucking love that recording of that song!
OK, OK, but I’m doing this under protest…
Right now it would be American without Tears:
mmm
Well, Lowe and Costello have been best mates for 30 years, there were on the same label, same influences, etc.
It’s not his song. The OP didn’t ask for best performance.
Other than that, not worth arguing over.
One can say that about any singer who performs a song they didn’t write. Or that they only wrote the music or the lyrics for. I really think that’s pressing the point.
Yes, in my opinion, Elvis’ covers of songs other people wrote and/or performed count as his songs.
I think I’ll continue to call those ‘covers’.
Don’t think it has been mentioned yet, but there was a long while that Radio Sweetheart was WAY up there in my pantheon of ALL songs.
You’re just being dense on purpose. Nobody is saying they aren’t covers. Nobody is saying they aren’t covers.
Seriously. Would you rush into a “Your Favorite Frank Sinatra Song?” Thread just to say “Frank Sinatra song? What the hell is this Thread about? There is no such thing as a Frank Sinatra song! How can you people have a Thread about something that is completely nonexistent!?!?”
Elvis Costello’s recording of “(What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” is an Elvis Costello recording …of a song. The recording is an Elvis Costello recording, the performance is an Elvis Costello performance of a song thus, in casual conversation, an Elvis Costello song- in exactly the same way that “My Way” is a Frank Sinatra song.
No, it’s not the same at all.
Nick Lowe is an artist, previously in groups more recently as a soloist. Even if he’s not well known in your world he is in mine. He performs his own songs. His friend Elvis Costello covers one of Nick’s songs, just as Nick Lowe occasionally covers an Elvis song.
By all means look at it another way, but preferably not by using Frank Sinatra.
To be fair, it’s possible to distinguish between a song, which is what songwriters write, and a recording or performance of a song. The Grammys make this distinction in awarding “Song of the Year” and “Record of the Year.” Since Elvis Costello is renowned both as a songwriter and as a recording artist, it’s possible to interpret the “favorite song” that the thread asks for in either of these ways. The OP didn’t specify which he had in mind, but his quoting of lyrics makes it reasonable to think he was looking for “songs written by EC.”
He didn’t specify in the OP but he did clarify later in the Thread that any songs recorded suffice for the Thread.
And, up_the_junction, why would you think that Nick Lowe isn’t known on this board? Especially in a Thread about Elvis Costello!? I’d wager that at least 90% of the people in this Thread know who Nick Lowe is. Not only do I have his solo albums, I have all of the Brinsley Schwarz albums as well a wonderful cover of his song “Battlefield” by Nanci Griffith and the beautiful cover of “The Beast in Me” by Johnny Cash.
Nick Lowe is doing pretty damned well for himself and I’m confused as to why you feel like he needs you White Knighting for him.
ETA: Oh, and I forgot: I also have the Little Village album. Sometimes I forget about that one because it is surprisingly sucky given the immense heapings of musical talent that went into it.
Yeah, I figger it is just a matter of time before Rockpile takes off! :rolleyes:
(Maybe we should talk about favorite Dave Edmunds tune - tho I’m not sure how many of the would be considered “his”! ;))
I like All this Useless Beauty. And his new memoir is really good by the way.
I’ll be diplomatic and choose (What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding as my favorite Elvis Costello cover song, and Radio, Radio as the favorite original. As bienville suggested, as a Costello fan I’m quite familiar with Nick Lowe’s work and love him as a songwriter, but the Brinsley Schwarz version doesn’t come close to Elvis’ turbocharged recording. Same with Radio, Radio, so much energy, and I especially like the way he really did bite the hand that fed him when he unexpectedly performed the song unannounced on SNL, which was very bold.
By a smidgen, “High Fidelity” and “Party Girl”.
I’m going to offer up a half-cover, just to complicate things (as if that needs to happen … ).
This is a staggering piece of work, really wonderfully assisted by The Attractions and Elvis. It’s a female interpretation of an Elvis composition that walks the line between obsession and plain mental illness. I encourage you to give it a go: I Want You: