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! 

Recap of EC's 50 Songs for 50 Days (Part 1: Songs 1-14)

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

Sir Declan Patrick MacManus, OBE announced today (Sept 15, 2020) that 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. You will be able to see each new song as it gets added to the playlist. You will also already have a streaming service lined up to play these tunes (Playlist added to Spotify on 9/17). And, if you are interested in the music or the lyrics, you will have access to repositories of those resources such as the comprehensive Wiki.

But what you will not have, and what I, therefore, seek to provide, is a list of all 50 songs in one place. 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. 

Here goes! 

No. 1 - “(You’re Nobody 'Til Everybody In) This Town (Thinks You’re A Bastard)” from Spike (1989).  

It was a song with a topical verse which I'm afraid he then proceeded to sing
Something about the moody doomed love of the Fish-Finger King

No. 2 - "Waiting For The End Of The World" from My Aim Is True (1977).

Hiding from a scandal in the national press
They had been trying to get married since they stole the wedding dress
You may see them drowning as you stroll along the beach
But don't throw out the lifeline till they're clean out of reach

No. 3 - "Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?" from All This Useless Beauty (1996). 

Must he be burdened by all that he's taught to consider his own?

His skin and his station, his kin and his crown, his flag and his nation

They just weigh him down

No. 4 - "Jimmie Standing In The Rain" from National Ransom (2010).

Eyes going in and out of focus
Mild and bitter from tuberculosis
Forgotten man
Indifferent nation

No. 5 - "Night Rally" from This Year’s Model (1978).

They're putting all your names

In the forbidden book

I know what they're doing

But I don't want to look

No. 6 - "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" from Mighty Like A Rose (1991).

In time you can turn these obsessions into careers
While the parents of those kidnapped children
Start the bidding for their tears

No. 7 - "All This Useless Beauty" from All This Useless Beauty (1996). 

Nonsense prevails, modesty fails

Grace and virtue turn into stupidity

While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise

While our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts

They still think they're the gods of antiquity

No. 8 - "Brilliant Mistake" from King Of America (1986).

 

He thought he was the King of America

Where they pour Coca Cola just like vintage wine

Now I try hard not to become hysterical

But I'm not sure if I am laughing or crying

No. 9 - "Less Than Zero" from My Aim Is True (1977).

He said he heard about a couple living in the USA

He said they traded in their baby for a Chevrolet

Let's talk about the future now we've put the past away

No. 10 - "Withered and Died" from Goodbye Cruel World (1995).*

This cruel country has driven me down

Teased me and lied, teased me and lied

I've only sad stories to tell to this town

My dreams have withered and died

*This song, written by the great Richard Thompson, was originally released in 1984. "Withered and Died" did not make the original cut-list for that year's album, Goodbye Cruel World. However, the song appears as a hidden track on the 1995 Rykodisc/Demon reissue of Goodbye Cruel World. For the graph, I split the "Year" credit evenly between 1984 and 1995. 

 

No. 11 - "Shut Him Down" (with Michael Leonhart Orchestra & Jswiss) from the new album, Hey Clockface coming out Oct. 30, 2020.

Say something once
Does it make a true?
To me
To you
And everyone you knew

No. 12 - "Tokyo Storm Warning" from “Blood & Chocolate (1986)

So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are

While the K.K.K. convention are all stranded in the bar

They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery

But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday

No. 13 - "REFUSE To Be Saved" from Wise Up Ghost (2013)

They're hunting us down here with Liberty's light
A handshaking double-talking procession of the mighty
Pursued by a T.V. crew and coming after them
A limousine of singing stars and their brotherhood anthem
The former dictator was impeccably behaved
They're mopping up all the stubborn ones who just refuse to be saved

No. 14 - "No Flag" from the new album, Hey Clockface coming out Oct. 30, 2020.

No time for this kind of love
No flag waving high above
No sign for the dark place that I live
No God for the damn that I don't give

End of Part 1 with 14 down and 36 to go. More to come! Go to Part 2.