As always, great lyrics from Costello. Not sure about the backing music in this, but I guess it was the era where this kinda sound was popular - sounds very cheesy now.

Some of the best lyrics ever written (in my opinion) by this master songwriter. A long-time favorite.

 horstman wrote: 
Truth-  This song could have been anybody's throw away.

Elvis gets better with age. 

His catalog is huge.  His pop was smart and catchy!

Holds up as such.

ten

 horstman wrote: 

Couldn't disagree more vociferously.  And I have been a huge fan of this absoulute and total fucking musical genius since before THIS Years Model. 

He is constantly reinventing himself and that is what makes any artist continually interesting rather than some one note wonder who keeps going out on tour with other oldies acts to play their 3 or 4 songs we all remember from way back when.

A lot of wisdom in this song - a great one by EC!

 hencini wrote: 
gotta admit, was never a fan, but this song and "Alison" (sp?) stuck with me, and now, I grudgingly admit that Elvis has done some really good stuff....

Great song.  This was one of two that really turned me towards EC, the other being "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror".  Both very hard to beat.  

sweet vid...remember when it came out on MTV when they actually played music.  Lady Di and Charles theme if I remember correctly.

sugarbaby wrote:

If this song and Veronica caught your ear for this musician, then you missed his genius . . . his Buddy Holly meets the Ramones rock and roll quick shuffle side step.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Elvis died after Armed Forces. He is an artist that is constantly reinventing himself. And that's great if the end result is evolution.

But in this case, and in Elvis's career in general, it is more a de-evolution in sound as he matures.

Give me New Years Model anyday over this pop tripe!

6.6 is pretty fair if not generous.

Hey Bill, let's round off to the nearest 100. That way we might get the blessed 6.66 rating for such a devilish song.

oh elvis, sweet! this was my first elvis tune, and i can still remember the mtv vid. great memories and a lovely tune

RobK wrote:

People are Strange - that's a Door's song ;).

I think maybe the reason for the low rating is that compared to other Elvis Costello songs this is not his best work - closer to generic pop and less like Elvis Costello's usual. Not what people expect from him.

That said a 6+ rating ain't bad.

just amazed at the (low) rating for this song, and the amount of negative comments. it's such a good tune, so well-crafted...i never ever ever would have thought there'd be any significant number of people out there who truly disliked it. it's a solid 9 for me. people are strange.

first song that made me really pay attention to this guy. if not this song, then veronica would caught my fancy later...

Probably my favorite EC song (closely followed by Veronica).

It's clever, it's self-deprecating, it's tuneful, and I love the bass line. Stellar.

Ohhhhhhhhh, I do like Elvis C. :)

bmeador wrote:

Actually this song is listenable, but only on mute.

Sorry, only Presley is my Elvis.

Oh dear lord this is painful. Make it stop.

Kind of a strange period for Elvis. One last attempt at mainstream success, winning no new fans and alienating old ones. (At least for a while.)

ThePoose wrote:I LOVE the bass line on this...

Saw him do this at the Greek years ago right after this album. Sounded great.

Did anybody catch his Elvis and Friends special recently on VH1? Super cheezy interviews, but he played with Alanis Morrisette, Billy bob what's his name from Green Day and those Death Cab for Cutie guys. The music wasn't too bad...

This is one of the tunes I take with me to test speakers/headphones at the audio shop. I love the strings in the background, and only a good piece of equipment can bring them out.

oufason wrote:I was, uh, you know, kidding....?? :~

This song always reminds me of my favorite poem by Wallace Stevens, The Planet on the Table. The song refers more to Stevens than the book of love.

One of my fave costello tunes. And I'venot been a fan in years.

SigmaBetaTooth wrote:

Actually, they were never his back-up band...just the studio players on the first album. The Attractions were formed before the album was released, which is why Watching The Detectives sounds so different than everything else on the American version of the debut.

Clover did some tasty stuff, I might add, and was a killer, tight live band. Saw them about a month before Elvis rolled through St Louis in '78...all the elvis crew asked about when they heard they missed them was if they left any pot!!!

And only Huey Lewis and the bass player went on to the news. John McFee joined the Doobie Brothers...

Book of love? What an overused metaphor.

Oh I wonder wonder wonder wonder who (bump) who wrote the book of love?...

Even Nick Lowe did "When I Write The Book."

And then, Steve Naive/Maurice Worm playing that asinine dotty keyboard background - because he couldn't think of anything else useful. Listening to that Punch The Clock period of Elvis, you can tell that the ideas had dried up. He wasn't writing as good as he did on the Trust album, but fortunately hadn't veered off into irrelevancy like he would later for a few decades.

Only good part is the fade out where he plays with the rhythm of "Every day I-I write the book."

I'm a big EC fan. There are so many good songs, why pick this one? It's dippy and trivial, plus it already gets radio play on commercial stations.

RobK wrote:

That may have been when the CD was re-released or re-issued. I think the LP came out in 83

I'm not much of an Elvis C fan, but I like this.