| Elvis Costello – (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think a lot of people here have made the assumption that Elvis is referring to the Chelsea district of New York rather than the one in London. Of course, Elvis must have been aware of them both, so we can assume that he wrote the lyrics in such a multi-layered way that as many targets as possible could be assassinated in relatively few words. The pun 'capital' in capital punishment suggests the song is more about London as a capital city, as well as affluence as ThunderCow pointed out; Chelsea notably being a well-to-do area of West London. Whilst all the theories above (knowing EC's knack for lyrical intricacy) probably hit the nail on the head, it should also noted that the punk scene was centered around Chelsea (Malcolm McClaren and Vivienne Westwood's SEX boutique was situated on the King's Road) so that aspect shouldn't be ignored. Could Elvis be distancing himself from the punk bracket he found himself forced into with this tirade? |
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| Elvis Costello – No Action Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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the best part of this is the 'I just wanna put you down' line. Works on three levels: 1) to, literally, put the phone down 2) to put her down, as in put her in her place, or even insult/degrade her 3) like how you'd put down an animal to death Such an amazing album opener! Dripping with bile.. |
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