In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Almost blue
Almost doing things we used to do
There's a girl here and she's almost you, almost
All the things that your eyes once promised
I see in hers too
Now your eyes are red from crying
Almost blue
Flirting with this disaster became me
It named me as the fool who only aimed to be
Almost blue
It's almost touching; it will almost do
There's a part of me that's always true, always
Not all good things come to an end now; it is only a chosen few
I have seen such an unhappy couple
Almost me
Almost you
Almost blue
Almost doing things we used to do
There's a girl here and she's almost you, almost
All the things that your eyes once promised
I see in hers too
Now your eyes are red from crying
Almost blue
Flirting with this disaster became me
It named me as the fool who only aimed to be
Almost blue
It's almost touching; it will almost do
There's a part of me that's always true, always
Not all good things come to an end now; it is only a chosen few
I have seen such an unhappy couple
Almost me
Almost you
Almost blue
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Love this song.
It's about two people in a relationship who have grown apart. "There's a girl here and she's almost you..." refers to his current love, but because they've grown apart, she's just not the same.
There is a comment on the Youtube showing of this song that says that the song is too short; I disagree, it says so much in two verses it needs no more
An exquisite song, Costello at his best as a writer and performer. Catch, if you can, the haunting performance by Chet Baker.
the gwen stephani version is awesome as well
I haven't heard that version, but it strikes me as being akin to Justin Bieber doing Luciano Pavarotti. Vapid vs. substance.
Gwen Stefani? Really?
Anyway... this song reminds me of his album North.
thanx addie. silly me, i was too literal and thought he was comparing a current lover to an ex-lover...which doesn't make much sense, as they'd both have to be present for him to see into two pairs of eyes. somehow I didn't reach the obvious conclusion.
the wordplay on imperial bedroom is astounding, even by the high standards set by elvis' past work. you could write a book on the lyrical complexity of songs like "beyond belief" or "man out of time"...in terms of meter, rhyme, prosody/phrasing, meaning, subtext, running themes (within the album or throughout his career), etc.
here he uses a device (hardly original, but rarely done as well) exploiting the ambiguity of a word which fits into both one line and the next:
There's a girl here and she's almost you...almost All the things that your eyes once promised
[which is how he sings it...but it also works this way]
There's a girl here and she's almost you Almost all the things that your eyes once promised
This is sheer poetry, as indeed are a great deal of Costello's lyrics. The words in this song are overloaded, double meanings exploited and hidden meanings deftly stitched into what has in this case become pretty much an acknowledged jazz classic. There have been so many covers of this song, but I've yet to hear one that improves on the original. IMO Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl comes closest, but ultimately fails through a less than stellar arrangement.
So what's it all about? As I see it, he is singing to his ex-lover, about a narrow escape he's just had with a different girl, who in many ways was almost like his ex. He flirted with this girl, but caught himself in time, realising that he was well on the way to making a fool of himself, by trying to repeat his affair with the ex - an affair that we must assume ended in tears, or at least ended with him (and her) being blue.
"Almost Blue" suggests emotional ambiguity. The narrator is in a new relationship with a girl that has all of the good qualities that his ex had. But the downside is that being so much like his ex, the new love constantly reminds him of the old love. So his heart and mind are in constant tension to keep from descending into sadness and nostalgia.
Structurally, the song seems greatly inspired by Rodger and Hart's "My Funny Valentine," especially with the opening minor chord and descending bass line to the 7th and 6th. I always thought MFV's light hearted lyrics were at odds with the sad, haunting feel of the melody, so I feel Almost Blue is the superior song. Steve Nieve's piano makes the arrangement gorgeous.