(Music Talk) 111: Elvis Costello and The Roots “I Want You” (2023)
【Mass of Desire】
Whether in Japanese or a foreign language, ultimately, the simpler the words used to express human encounters and partings, the more intense the heat, weight, and meaning they convey.
I love you, goodbye, I like you so much, I hate you, I'm in love, let's break up…they can be interpreted in any number of ways depending on the context, but they are very powerful words in themselves. And then there is the question of how to express those things without using those intense words directly. Can you captivate the listener and make them think, "That's a clever way to put it," "For some reason, I cried," or "The lyrics really sank in"? Or, alternatively, the technique of intentionally highlighting those simple words is also effective, isn't it?
For example, there is a song by Yosui Inoue called "Musubikotoba" (Closing Words).
It is a quiet song included on his 1976 album "Show Without an Invitation", but terrifyingly, not a single personal pronoun appears in it. Furthermore, words that directly express emotion barely appear, and it is packed with expressions that allow everyone to imagine a sad parting through the description of the scenery. Even without "I love you" or "goodbye," this song world where love, affection, memories, and parting are understood is, in my opinion, one of Yosui's greatest masterpieces.
On the other hand, there is a song by Paul McCartney/Wings called "Silly Love Songs".
Back in the 1970s, Paul was mocked for "only singing sappy love songs." He responded by intentionally singing, "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. I look around me and I see it isn't so. Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. And what's wrong with that? I'd like to know," and the chorus just said "I love you". This song reached number one on the US Billboard charts for the year in 1976. He shouted, "What's wrong with singing about love!"
Yosui and Paul's approaches are polar opposites, but either way, everyone puts a lot of ingenuity and taste into expressing parting, love, sorrow, and joy. We enjoy these things every day, and music is an existence that touches and shakes the folds of our hearts in various ways, revitalizing us.
So, what about Elvis Costello?
Born in Liverpool, England, in 1954. After playing in bands, he made his solo debut in 1977 (produced by his close friend Nick Lowe). He has released numerous albums, and looking at his musical history, the range is truly surprising. His characteristic husky voice hasn't changed much, but the sound and arrangements are different with every album.
"This Year's Model" (1978) is pub rock, "Armed Forces" (1979) is new wave, "Almost Blue" (1981) is country, "Blood And Chocolate" (1986) is 80s rock & pop, "Spike" (1989) is almost a Beatles sound, "The Juliette Letters" (1993) is string quartet and art songs... things get even crazier after this, but I'll stop here lol. Perhaps his biggest commercial hit was the lead single from "Spike,"
"Veronica". It's well known that his hero is The Beatles, and it was a song born from a dream-like collaboration for him with Paul, and Paul played his Hofner bass (the violin-shaped bass, Paul's trademark) for the first time since the breakup of The Beatles on this track. It has a very Beatly sound. Come to think of it, it was later used as the opening theme for a certain Japanese morning information program, lol.
And then "She" and "Smile" became big hits, and his recognition in Japan increased. Still, this guy never settles down. Even after that, he continued to change his collaborators and musical forms while producing numerous albums. He is truly a workaholic. He still feels very active today.
The video I am introducing this time is a studio live performance from 2023 with the American hip-hop band The Roots, and "I Want You" is a track from the aforementioned "Blood And Chocolate" (1986). You could say it's one of his signature songs... though perhaps it's not that mainstream. The Roots is a band centered around
Questlove (drums), whose words and actions carry great influence within the U.S. Along with the intense and fluent rapping of Black Thought (MC), they are an extremely skillful musical collective with great flexibility, moving freely not only between hip-hop but also R&B, soul, jazz, and rock. It makes sense in a way that they are connected to the genre-less Costello. (The Roots are also famous for serving as the house band for the popular U.S. TV show
"Late Night With Jimmy Fallon").
With such talented musicians as The Roots backing him, Costello sings calmly, yet gradually with more passion, while strumming his guitar. The members of The Roots also watch his lead and adjust their dynamics accordingly. It is truly a live performance. The tension of a one-take recording permeates the air. The arrangement has more of a blues flavor than rock, but the emotion of "I want you so badly it's maddening" becomes a massive lump of sound that comes to beat us up. If I heard this live, I'd surely lose control... (Wait, lose what?)
Costello says various things in this song, but in short, he just wants to say "I Want You...". Therefore, I will not be including a Japanese translation of the lyrics this time. When that lump of maddening desire grows too large, the way his guitar rings out with a screech hits me very directly. The nervousness of the thin, sharp guitar tone that sounds like it's about to snap, the excessively bent chokes... brilliant.
A lump of desire that resonates precisely because it is simple. What do you feel from this performance?
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