Snapshots #369: A Top Twelve Songs covered by Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello is one of the foremost songwriters of his generation. But he's not averse to singing other people's songs too. 

Here are earlier versions (not always the originals) of those songs, and twelve Elvis covers...

12. Nathan is Best!

Nathan Jones & George Best...

George Jones - A Good Year For The Roses

Elvis Costello - A Good Year For The Roses

11. Ugly Kenny.

Ugly Betty meets Kenny Everett...

Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded

Elvis Costello - Getting Mighty Crowded

10. Kaine, coded.

Anagram!

The song was written by Leon Payne but originally recorded by...

Eddie Noack - Psycho

Elvis Costello - Psycho

9. American sandwich in the automobile with George. 

The sandwich would be a hoagie, in a car, with Michael...

Hoagy Carmichael - My Resistance Is Low

Elvis Costello - My Resistance Is Low

8. James was outlawed from Arfur's Club.

Jesse James was an Outlaw; Arfur Daley's club was The Winchester.

Jesse Winchester - Payday

Elvis Costello - Payday

7.  Where you might get trapped by a preacher.

The Amen Corner - World of Broken Hearts

Elvis Costello - World of Broken Hearts

6. Father Christmas meets Quasi-Girl. 

OK, so Quasimodo's lady was Esmerelda, not Esmeralda. Sue me. 

Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Yes, there were earlier versions of that tune, notably by Nina Simone and The Animals. But neither were quite as D-I-S-C-O.

Elvis Costello - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

5. Uncle, and resident of Dagenham.

Uncle Sam and Dagenham Dave...

Sam & Dave - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

Elvis Costello - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

4. Liverpudlian egg scramblers.

The Merseybeats - Really Mystified

Elvis Costello - Really Mystified

Or, you could have had...

The Merseybeats - I Stand Accused 

Which was originally by...

Tony Colton & The Big Boss Band - I Stand Accused

But neither is quite as in your face as this...

Elvis Costello - I Stand Accused

3. Night train.

Sleeper - What Do I Do Now?

Elvis Costello - What Do I Do Now?

2. Unsolve Zara Arch.

Anagram!

Charles Aznavour - She

Elvis Costello - She

1. Not Rod Stewart's baby.

Rod sang Oh No, Not My Baby. This is Oh no.

Oh yes it is!

Not the best song on the list today, but it's the first time Yoko has appeared on Snapshots... and well, I figured it would keep George happy.

Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice

More Elvis covers tomorrow.

More Snapshots next Saturday.

Snapshots #257: A Top Ten Pronoun Songs

This is Ezra Furman. They have a new record out. It's pretty good. Not yet sure if it's as good as Transangelic Exodus, but I'll let you know. Ezra once said, "I am trying to figure out why I as a trans person don’t care about gendered pronouns, and so many people do. Why I’m fine with he/she/them and others have strong preferences." I can't answer that question for them. But I can answer these pronoun questions for you...

10. Careful - you can cut yourself on this number!

No, it's not Rocky Sharpe & The Replays.

It is a sharp number ten though.

Ten Sharp - You

9. This is what happens when your dating app freezes.

When Tinder sticks...

Tindersticks - Her

8. Does Liam Love It?

Liam Gallagher is partial to a bit of Lyle Lovett, apparently.

Gallagher & Lyle - We

7. Big Irish Dogs.

The Wolfhounds - Me

6. Reagan & Clinton, perhaps?

Ron & Bill - It

5. What Captain Kirk sings at Christmas.

It's a carol, Jim, but not as we know it.

Jim Carroll - Them

4. Richard Hall's wine producer.

Richard Hall is Moby. Grapes produce wine.

Moby Grape - He

3. Miner 7th.

Bit of a stretch this one, but it worked for me. Miners dig coal, and get very black doing so. The 7th day is...

Black Sabbath - I

2. Where Murdoch lives.

Rupert Murdoch presumably has multiple homes.

Rupert Holmes - Him

Until very recently, the only copy of this tune I had was transferred from a scratchy 7 inch I pulled out of a skip. Listening to the digital version now, it doesn't sound right without the crackles.

1. Zane's rural havoc.

Only one anagram this week? Shocking!

Charles Aznavour - She

You would be right to expect more next week. I will deliver. Unless they stop me.

Mid-Life Crisis Songs #33: Yesterday, When I Was Young

I had one of those moments yesterday. One of the moments when you realise something about your life.

Yesterday, when I was young

The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue

I teased at life as if it were a foolish game

The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame

The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned

I always built to last on weak and shifting sand

I lived by night and shunned the naked light of the day

And only now I see how the years ran away

I have been a part of the working world now for 30 years. I started my first job (as detailed here in my early Radio Song posts) when I was 16. I've been working for 30 years, and I've probably got another 20 to go.

Yesterday, when I was young

So many happy songs were waiting to be sung

So many wild pleasures lay in store for me

And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out

I never stopped to think what life was all about

And every conversation I can now recall

Concerned itself with me and nothing else at all

This all coincided with hearing a song on the radio that I hadn't heard in years. The song has been recorded by many people, and has kept cropping up in my record collection over the years. Here are just a few of the versions out there...

Glen Campbell version

Dusty Springfield version

Marc Almond version

Shirley Bassey version

Roy Clarke version

It was, of course, originally written by Charles Aznavour, under the French title Hier Encore (Yesterday Again). The lyrics were translated into English by Herbert Kretzmer (the man who wrote the lyrics to Les Miserables) and the song was re-recorded by Aznavour... who also apparently recorded versions in Italian, Danish, Spanish, Japanese and Finnish. Or so says iffypedia, and who am I to doubt? The reason I heard it played on the radio was obviously as a tribute to the man Terry Wogan always used to affectionately call "Charles Az-no-voice", but hearing it again yesterday, I might as well have been hearing it for the first time.

Yesterday the moon was blue

And every crazy day brought something new to do

I used my magic age as if it were a wand

And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond

The game of love I played with arrogance and pride

And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died

The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away

And only I am left on stage to end the play

30 years in the world of work, another 20 to go. The thing is, I'm terrified of the prospect of another 20 years as a teacher. I've only been in the job seven or eight years, but it gets harder and more pressured every year. I'm aware that in another 20 years I'll look back and wish I was 46 again rather than 66... just as I wish I was 26 again, knowing what I know now. And 46 may well actually be the best years of my life, because I'm getting to watch Sam grow up and nothing else in my life has even come close to that. I'm trying to cling onto that, to appreciate every moment of it, because I know how fast it will go and the loneliness that will follow... I just wish everything else was easier so I could appreciate it more.

There are so many songs in me that won't be sung

I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue

The time has come for me to pay for

Yesterday, when I was young

Still, we'll always have Charles. RIP, sir. Thanks for the song...

My Top Ten She Songs

Ten great songs called "She"... and nothing else.

Interestingly, there are absolutely NO songs in my music library just called "He".


10. Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians - She

Edie Brickell knows where her head is at.

9. The Misfits - She

1 minute and 19 seconds long and it sounds like it was recorded on the back of a fag packet. That's proper punk for you.

Apparently this particular She was Patty Hearst.

8. Suede - She

No education, it's the arse of the nation

Must be one of my students.

7. Laura Mvula - She

One of this year's best new female voices. Keep an ear out for her.

6. Wicked Lester - She

Before Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley became Kiss, they were Wicked Lester. They recorded one album in 1971 that wasn't ever officially released. This track was later re-recorded by Kiss themselves with more guitars and less flute, but I quite like the folkier original.

5. The Sundays - She

Remember your old school discos? Harriet Wheeler does...

Just to be one of a crowd
Feet scuttling across the floor
Spinning lights round and round
And it’s adolescent war
Shoes grind kick like crazy
And arms tangling up with hair
Shaking them up and down again
And hearts pounding everywhere

Ah, Harriet. Isn't it about time for a Sundays reunion?

4. Green Day - She

From the days when Green Day looked like spoilt brat 12 year olds. Forgotten how much I loved this album...

Are you locked up in a world
That's been planned out for you?
Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?

3.  Gram Parsons - She

Get out your dictionary. Look up the word "mellow". This song is playing.

Hallelujah.

2. The Monkees / The Colourfield - She

Normally if there's more than one version of a song, I can choose the best. But Mickey Dolenz vs. Terry Hall? That's too tough to call. Although the Phil Spector kettle drum and the ironic video almost tip it in Terry's favour.

1. Elvis Costello - She

On the other hand, with all due respect to Charles Aznovoice (and even though it comes from a sucky Richard Curtis film), nobody sings this one quite like Elvis.




So - how was it for you? She... or sheeeeit?