Elvis Costello's "50 Songs for 50 Days," Part 2

Here on PhilosFX, we will bring you an ongoing recapitulation of Elvis Costello's project, "50 Songs for 50 Days."

On Sept 15, 2020, Sir Declan Patrick MacManus, OBE announced he'd be launching a song daily for the next 50 days. These songs will comprise a curated playlist for this time of cultural, political, and environmental upheaval. The announcement was made on his official website and came to my attention via his Facebook page. 

"I hope these songs will amuse, console or even infuriate, because passive indifference is hardly the way forward."--Elvis Costello

It's probably no surprise that the next 50 days takes us up to early November and an important election in the United States of America. 

If you are a fan of Elvis Costello, you will likely already: 

• be connected to his website
• be able to see each new song as it gets added to the playlist 
• have a streaming service lined up to play these tunes (Playlist added to Spotify on 9/17) 
• have access to the lyrics via a comprehensive Wiki.

But what you will not have, and what we at PhilosFX, therefore, pledge to provide, is a recapitulation of all 50 songs, complete with links to lyrics enabling you to read (or sing?) along as each song plays. 

I want this resource for myself and I am more than happy to build it day by day and share it with others as it develops and afterward, for posterity.  Patronize the creator for the original content, and let me know whether this recap adds value by leaving a comment. 

Part 1 (Songs 1-14) is available HERE

Now we commence with Part 2:

No. 15 - "20% Amnesia" from Brutal Youth (1994)

The wine you drink has never seen a grape
And now your sci-fi suit has lost its shape
But it's a dangerous game that comedy plays
Sometimes it tells you the truth, sometimes it delays it

No. 16 - "Beyond Belief" from Imperial Bedroom (1982)

History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

No. 17 - "Walk Us UPTOWN" from Wise Up Ghost (2013)

Will you walk us uptown
Will you gather us near
As cowards flee
And traitors sneer
Keep a red flag flying
Keep a blue flag as well
And a white flag in case
It all goes to hell

No. 18 - "The River In Reverse" from The River In Reverse (2006)

So count your blessings when they ask permission
To govern with money and superstition
They tell you it's all for your own protection
'Til you fear your own reflection
But the times are passing from illumination
Like bodies falling from a constellation
An uncivil war divides the nation

No. 19 - "Welcome To The Working Week" from My Aim Is True (1977)

All of your family had to kill to survive
And they're still waiting for their big day to arrive
But if they knew how I felt, they'd bury me alive
Welcome to the working week

No. 20 - "Riot Act" from Get Happy (1980)

Why do you talk such stupid nonsense?
When my mind could rest much easier
Instead of all this dumb-dumb insolence
I would be happier with amnesia

 

No. 21 - "The Other Side Of Summer" from Mighty Like A Rose (1991)

The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace
The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice
The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows
A teenage girl is crying 'cause she don't look like a million dollars
So help her if you can
'Cause she don't seem to have the attention span

No. 22 - "Wise Up Ghost" from Wise Up Ghost (2013)

Go on your merry way now if you must
Fool's Gold turns rivets into rust
'Til you don't know who to trust
Wise Up Ghost

No. 23 - "Phonographic Memory" the B-side of “We Are All Cowards Now” released August 28, 2020

Ever since the U.S. Mint was sucked dry and spat out, bookworms paid for rare tomes with wheelbarrows full of banknotes, some of them worthless Confederate money, stashes of which had been secreted in the plinths of various toppled statues.
They bartered with it on a Mississippi square with the irony of victors.
None of it helped the healing.

No. 24 - "Bedlam" from The Delivery Man (2004)

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 I thought fanciful and mocked as too extreme
Must be family entertainment here in the strange land of my dreams

No. 25 - "Red Cotton" from Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (2009)

The Lord will judge us, with fire and thunder

As man continues with all his blunders

It's only money

It's only numbers

Maybe it is time to put aside these fictitious wonders

Man is feeble

Man is puny

And if it should divide the Union

There is no man who should own another

When he can't even recognize his sister and his brother

No. 26 - "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" from The River in Reverse (2006).

Mama get up early, early in the morning
Papa's already gone
Going out a-working for half of what he's worth now
You know that it's wrong
What happen to the Liberty Bell I heard so much about?
Did it really ding-dong?
It must have dinged wrong
It didn't ding long

No. 27 - "Green Shirt" from Armed Forces (1979).

Better send a begging letter to the big investigation

Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?

No. 28 - "This Is Hell" from Brutal Youth (1994).

Endless balmy breezes and perfect sunsets framed
Vintage wine for breakfast
And naked starlets floating in Champagne
All the passions of your youth
Are tranquillized and tamed
You may think it looks familiar
Though you may know it by another name
This is Hell

Stay tuned, there's more to come!