Get Happy!!! (1980)
The Band:
Elvis Costello: Vocals, Guitar, and Organ on "Posession" (All instruments on New Amsterdam)
Steve Nieve: Piano and Organ
Bruce Thomas: Bass, and Harmonica on "I Stand Accused"
Pete Thomas: Drums
Mostly Produced By Nick Lowe
Rykodisk Liner Notes (For Those Too Cheap to Shell out bucks for the GOOD release!)
"Several of the songs on "Get Happy" had been played on the mysteriously named "Armed Funk Tour" in the spring of 1979, our last American trip for over two years. However our first trial sessions revealed our "road" arrangements to be trite, brittle, and uncomfortably close to the rapidly dating style which was now called "New Wave". The decision to change was not exactly agonised over. It took a few drinks, a handful of old Stax singles (which I had recently bought in Camden Town) and our copies of "Motown Chartbusters vol. 3" for us to imagine that we could quickly find a new blueprint for the album.
"Some songs, such as "Men Called Uncle" and "Riot Act", retained the shape sketched out at the demo sessions, while almost everything else was reworked, often to the extent oftrying the patience of more than one member of the band. Of course, just because you listen to somebody's record doesn't mean that you will sound anything like them. Sessions were often far from coherant and anything but analytical: A song or singer would be mentioned and it was sheer luck if we all hadsame response to a direction such as: "Play it like a Garnet Mimms tune". In other cases it is hard to imagine who, or what, we were thinking of. Having said that it is fairly obvious that "Temptation" is based on the Booker T. and the MG's hit "Time is Tight", while "Love for Tender" and "High Fidelity" both quote in different ways from Supremes songs. I could also point out that "King Horse" uses the guitar figure from the Four Tops' "Reach Out (I'll Be There)", but after that you are on your own.
""Get Happy" was produced by Nick Lowe, balanced by Roger Bechirian at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Holland during October 1979 (a little recording was also done at Eden Studios, London). The main exception is "New Amsterdam", which was a fluke recording that came out of a demo session in a fifteen-quid-an-hour studio in Pimlico. Attempts to re-create the mood with the entire band failed, so my solo effort was included on the album and later issued as part of an E.P. On the whole, Wisseloord was a more sedate environment than we were used to, but it did have unforeseen advantages such as a glass "strings" booth which proved to be more useful for creating the vocal sound on "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down". This song was a Sam and Dave b-side which we changed from a ballad into an up-tempo number, while the other cover on the album, "I Stand Accused", was learned from The Merseybeats."
"I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" was the first release on the new F-Beat label, but only after a legal dispute with Warner Bros. over the departure of the Riviera Global team (E.C., Nick Lowe, and Jake Riviera) from Radar Records (during which the record was briefly pressed and scheduled for release on The Specials' Two-Tone label). With hour satisfied the delayed single became a top five British hit. The follow-up "High Fidelity" was the last in an unbroken run of eight top thirty singles.
"With such songs as "Posession" beign written while we were in Holland, we eventually settled on these twenty tracks. Special care had to be taken with the cutting and pressing process, but now thanks to the wonders of technology we are able to present the new, improved, "Get Happy" containing, count them, THIRTY TRACKS!!!"
EXTENDED PLAY
"Girls Talk" ("I can't Stand Up For Falling Down" b-side)
"Perhaps I was careless to give this song away to Dave Edmunds as it became a top five hit for him in Britain. This was just one of the versions of the song that we recorded during the "Get Happy" sessions."
"Clowntime is Over (No. 2)" ("High Fidelity" b-side)
"This is how the song was originally written, however being unhappy with our first recording we developed the arrangement heard on the album. I later re-recorded the vocal on our original track. Both versions have featured in "live" performances."
"Getting Mighty Crowded" ("High Fidelity" b-side)
"I learned this song from the great Betty Everett record. Our version was recorded at Eden Studios during the "Get Happy" sessions."
"So Young" (from the Demon compilation "Out of Our Idiot")
"This song was borrowed from the great Joe Camilleri, then of Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, after our first trip to Australia. Unfortunately our only Abbey Road session fell on a Bank Holiday and was blighted by flying coffee cups, technical resistance and overwhelming blueness."
In fact, before the session, "So Young" was to be a summer single. Elvis And the Attractions performed the song at the Pink Pop Festival in Holland that July. The bill which now makes curious reading was (in order of appearance): Average White Band, The Police, Dire Straights, E.C. and the Attractions, rush and Peter Tosh.
"Just A Memory" ("New Amsterdam" E.P.)
"Recorded at T.W. Studios, Fulham with Steve Nieve at the keyboards and released on the "New Amsterdam" E.P. Later, with addition of an extra verse (which had to be sung down a transatlantic telephone line), this song was finally recorded by the artist for whom it was originally intended: Dusty Springfield."
"Hoover Factory" (Ampro Studios "Clubland" b-side)
"Although this song ws written in 1976 it was among the experimental "solo" recordings made around this time at Ampro and Archipelago studios."
"Ghost Train" (Ampro Studios "New Amsterdam" E.P.)
"I first used this storyline in a song I wrote in Liverpool in 1972. This version was written in 1976."
"Dr. Luther's Assistant" (Ampro Studios "New Amsterdam" E.P.)
"Written in 1977 and briefly considered for the album "This Year's Model". I recorded this version at the same session as "Ghost Train", playing everything apart from drums which Pete Thomas added at a later date."
"Black and White World" (Archipeligo Studios; from the Demon and Columbia Compilations "10 bloody Mary's and ten How's your fathers" and "Taking Liberties")
"This is a demo recording for "Get Happy" which presents an entirely different treatment of the music, while although this "Riot Act" (Archipelago Studios; previously unreleased) is a blueprint for the final recording. I think it has something that is missing from the final version."
Track Listing
(Rykodisk Version)
All tracks written by Elvis Costello unless noted
LYRICS
Love For Tender You won't take my love for tender You can put your money where your mouth is But you're so unsure I could be a miser or a big spender But you might get much more than you bargained for Check in on a checkmate Grassing on a classmate So beautiful and fortunate You're the one who hates to love But he's the one who loves to hate He can fix you all for good Because he is the neighbourhood You can get money for blood Blood money for doing no good Better tell me now, have you made your selection? Are you ready for correction? Cause the wages of sin are an expensive infection It'll make you bankrupt Better pay up now, don't interrupt So in love, I'm so sincere Just like a well-known financier You know I've never been corrupt I'll pay you a compliment And you'll think I am innocent You can total up the balance sheet And never know if I'm a counterfeit You won't take my love for tender...
Opportunity Born in the middle of a second big baby boom Those noisy boys just might have spoken up too soon Now I'm looking for a little girl, I wonder where she's gone Big money for families having more than one Opportunity, opportunity This is your big opportunity They shop around follow you without a sound Whatever you do now Don't turn around Whatever happened to the pride of the nation? They say, "just wait until you break formation" She was sitting pretty on a velvet cushion But her bedroom eyes were like a button she was pushing She said, "When they get to Dover they'll be be taking over" I said I'd come to her defense and then she pulled me over Chorus I'm in the foxhole, I'm down in the trench I'd be a hero but I can't stand the stench The Fitness Institute was full of General Motormen And the "Hello House of Beauty" wouldn't stand a chance with them The chairman of this boredom is a company collector I'd like to be his funeral director Chorus Please don't turn around...
The Imposter Trying to be too bad Trying to talk too tough Trying to jack the lad You'd think he'd had enough But he's not the man you'd think that he can be I just don't know why you can't see That he is only the imposter That he is only the imposter You've never been this far You've always been too smart And you know all our boys Are really girls at heart But he's not... When I said that I was lying I might have been lying Never let me hear you say you're not trying This is your big decision Hope you're not disappointed He's got double vision When you want him double jointed And he's not... He'll only bring you souvenirs It's only gonna end in tears And he is only the imposter
Secondary Modern This must be the place Second place in the human race Down in the basement Now I know what he meant Secondary modern But there must be a problem till the girls go home This is the hand that you never shook You never gave me the chance that I took Secondary modern But there won't be a problem till the girls go home Is it out of the question Between you and me Is it pleasure or business Or a packet of three? Nobody makes me sad like you Now my whole world goes from blue to blue Secondary modern But there won't be a problem till the girls go home...
King Horse Cheap cut satin and bad perfume Showtime is almost here Teased up by a strip cartoon Laughing up your sleeve Sniggering in your beer He'd seen the bottom of a lot of glasses But he'd never seen love so near He'd seen love get so expensive But he'd never seen love get so dear Now I know that you're all King Horse Between tenderness and brute force (repeat) She can turn upon a sixpence in the mouth and trousers set Hit the bill, ring the bell, never spill a sip And still she knows the kind of tip that she is gonna get A lot of loose exchanges, precious little respect When it's someone else's weekend That's the best you can expect Chorus So fond of the fabric So fond of fabrication From comic books to tragic Through the heart of complications Meanwhile back in some secluded spot He says 'will you please?' and she says 'stop' If I ever lose this good thing that I've got I never want to hear the song you dedicated tonight Cause I knew that song so long before we met That it means much more than it might Chorus
Possession If there's anything that you want If there's anything that you need There's no need to be evasive Money talks and it's persuasive Possession Now you're sending me your best wishes Signed with love and vicious kisses You lack lust, you're so lacklustre Is that all the strength you can muster Possession Even when we are out of touch Now I know that I've seen too much Seen too much So I see us lying back to back My case is closed my case is packed I'll get out before the violence Or the tears or the silence Possession
Men Called Uncle Now there's newsprint all over your face Well maybe that's why I can read you like a book Just when I thought I was getting my taste to bite I go and lose my appetite Look at the men that you'd call uncle They'd like to sink their teeth into you For the pride and the pleasure And the privilege of having you If I say you're the one do you think that I'm serious You get that kind of talk from older men If I say I love you then I must be delirious So why are you trying to put my temperature up again Look at the men that you'd call uncle Having a heart attack round your ankles When you wake up with X-rated eyes When you wake up still shaking How can I apologize As you check your effects and check your reflection I'm so affected in the face of your affection Look at the men that you'd call uncle Having a heart attack round your ankles I could swear, I could promise that I'll always be true to you But we may not live to be so old I could even say I'm going to do something new to you Now the girls I see just leave me cold Look at the men that you call uncle...
Clowntime Is Over Tears on your blackmail Written to ransom A point of the fingernail Says that he's handsome Clowntime is over Time to take cover While others just talk and talk Somebody's watching where the others don't walk Clowntime is over A voice in the shadows Says that his men know He don't step back as expected He's otherwise and unprotected Chorus Almost too good to be true Who do you? why do you? what do you do? While everybody's hiding under covers Who's making lover's lane safe again for lovers? Chorus
New Amsterdam You're sending me tulips mistaken for lilies You give me your lip after punching me silly You turned my head till it rolled down the brain drain If I had any sense now I wouldn't want it back again New Amsterdam it's become much too much Till I have the possession of everything she touches Till I step on the brakes to get out of her clutches Till I speak double dutch to a real double duchess Down on the mainspring, listen to the tick tock Clock all the faces that move in on your block Twice shy and dog tired because you've been bitten Everything you say now sounds like it was ghost-written Chorus Back in London they'll take you to heart after a little while Though I look right at home I still feel like an exile Somehow I found myself down at the dockside Thinking of the old days of Liverpool and Rotherhide The transparent people who live on the other side Living a life that is almost like suicide Chorus
High Fidelity Some things you never get used to Even though you're feeling like another man There's nothing that he can do for you To shut me away as you walk through Lovers laughing in their amateur hour Holding hands in the corridors of power Even though I'm with somebody else right now High fidelity Can you hear me? There's a new kind of dedication Maybe you'll find it down the tunnel Maybe I got above my station Maybe you're only changing channel Even though you're nowhere near me And I know you kiss him so sincerely now Even though the signal's indistinct And you worry what silly people think Who just can't wait to feel so frozen out I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions I suppose he'll never know about Chorus
I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down I'm the living result I'm a man who's been hurt a little too much and I've tasted the bitterness of my own tears sadness is all my lonely heart can feel I can't stand up for falling down I can't stand up for falling down simple though love is still it confused me why I'm not loved the way I should be now I've lived with heartaches and I've roomed with fear I've dealt with despair and I've wrestled with tears I can't stand up for falling down I can't stand up for falling down the vow that we made you broke it in two but that don't stop me from loving you I can't stand up for falling down I can't stand up for falling down
Black And White World I was looking at the black and white world It seemed so exciting If you'd only put me back to back with that girl When the night's inviting With just a little lighting There'll never be days like that again When I was just a boy and men were men You never go from moment to moment You're the living double of a single fiction You're very colourful with your compliments As you feel the finger's friction It's a freeze-frame Still it's real life You don't want to look Cause you've seen the film and you've read the book I was looking at the black and white world Trying to name some pin-up Those days she was just a beautiful girl Now she's framed and hung up I thought she was young Up until I saw her last night in close detail Though they all fade away when you're so pale It's more than just a physical attraction It starts with a face and ends up a fixation But you're never gonna feel a fraction Of the way it used to work on your imagination When you were looking at the black and white world...
5ive Gears In Reverse Five gears in reverse For girls looking at the big lift Somebody send out for the night nurse Please don't stick me on the late shift If you don't know by now Nobody's gonna tell you If you don't know by now The shock will probably kill you But if your patience is corrupted and you still cannot decide You're sitting in the garage contemplating suicide And you have no motivation you can't even catch your breath All of this acceleration is driving you to death Five gears in reverse You think I don't know what I'm doing Another fashionable first Like walking down the road to ruin But if you're safe and sound Don't let me interrupt you And if you're gagged and bound Well how can I corrupt you Chorus
B Movie I found America hiding in the corner of my wallet It's a well kept secret, thought that I had better swallow it Before they make me spit out the truth Before they find you're lying about your youth B movie, that's all you are to me Just a soft soap story Don't want the woman to adore me You can't stand it when it goes from real to reel Too real too real You can't stand it when I throw punch lines you can feel All the time, there's a rule book in Brittania That no one ever waives And everybody's on the make It's not your heart I want to break Turn out the lights I'm thinking that I want to go to sleep now Just give me a promise that I'm supposed to keep now I don't want some fool asking me why When I find you're finally making me cry
Motel Matches Somewhere in the distance I can hear "Who Shot Sam?" This is my conviction, that I am an innocent man Though you say I'm unkind I'm being as nice as I can Boys everywhere, fumbling with the catches I struck lucky with motel matches Falling for you without a second look Falling out of your open pocketbook Giving you away like motel matches I wake with the siren in an emergency Though your mind is full of love In your eyes there is a vacancy And you know what I'll do When the light outside changes from red to blue Chorus
Human Touch I know I've just gotta get out of this place I can't stand any more of that mechanical grace Though you say it's only industrial squeeze It looks like luxury and feels like a disease Oh give it to me, give it to me I don't want to know much about much Give it to me, give it to me I need, I need, I need the human touch Left with just a house to hold Drinking your way to drydock It's easy to break up a model citizen Living in the state of shock I just can't believe I am responsible for this What the makeup hides can't be hidden with a kiss When I'm talking in tongues I go where you lead I don't make you plead, oh I need you How I'd like to fix her in a picture of rage How I'd like to catch her when she's acting her age But when she's laying stretched out on the floor It's no mystery to me anymore Chorus
Beaten To The Punch You say that you can and then you run to get your mummy And you're almost beaten to the punch Looking for the man who sold you the dummy And you're almost beaten to the punch Laughing at the older guys who say it's just as well Saved by the wedding bell Almost beaten to the punch You're looking for somebody new that you can knock around You are almost beaten to the punch If you've got a head for figures then you'd better count me out You were almost beaten to the punch You pulled the piece but you soon called it love You go hand in glove Almost beaten to the punch Your body speaks much louder than your voice You let it do the talking so I don't have any choice Now you find the younger guys are putting up resistance And you're almost beaten to the punch You better get out now because you'll never go the distance And you're almost beaten to the punch You'll find a girl and you'll promise her anything Even a wedding ring Almost beaten to the punch
Temptation Who's this kid with his mumbo jumbo Living in air-conditioned limbo Though they treat him just like a guest He's living under threat of arrest Now that he's finally trying to make some sense He drinks in self-defense Give me temptation The subtle touch of authority will Take you anytime down to the station You say that it's alright by me Now you're living with the curse of sophistication Now that you're shackled up to the rigmarole With absolute control I see you lying so wide awake After I've given you all that you can take So for heaven's sake Give me temptation Still you want to succeed so badly Finding your life will not be deadly You tell me you can take it or leave it Sometimes I think that you really believe it You're just itching to break her secret laws As you go from claws to clause Give me temptation
Riot Act Forever doesn't mean forever anymore I said forever But it doesn't look like I'm gonna be around much anymore When the heat gets sub-tropical And the talk gets so topical Riot act - you can read me the riot act You can make me a matter of fact Or a villain in a million A slip of the tongue is gonna keep me civilian 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 They say forget her Now it looks like you're either gonna be for me or against me I got your letter Now they say I don't care for the colour that it paints me Trying to be so bad is bad enough Don't make me laugh by talking tough Don't put your heart out on your sleeve When your remarks are off the cuff Chorus
Girls Talk There are some things you can't cover up with lipstick and powder I thought I heard you mention my name, can't you talk any louder ? Don't come any closer, don't come any nearer My vision of you can't get any clearer Oh, i just want to hear girls talk I got a loaded imagination being fired by girls talk But I can't say the words you want to hear I suppose you're going to have to play it by ear Right here and now Girls talk and they want to know how Girls talk and they say it's not allowed Girls talk, if they say that it's so Don't you think that I know by now That the word up on everyone's lips Stick that you're dedicated Though you may not be an old fashioned girl You're still going to get dated Was it really murder ? Were you just pretending ? Lately I have heard you are the living end Girls talk and they wanna know about her Girls talk, they wanna know if I care Girls talk and they wanna know where Girls talk girls talk
Getting Mighty Crowded I'm packing up my memories And I'm gonna move all out of your heart I'm turning in my keys And I'm gonna move all out of your heart 'Cause there ain't room enough for two In dreams that were made for me and you I'm telling you, it's getting mighty crowded Too crowded for me It's getting mighty crowded I'm gonna take these things of mine And I'm gonna move all out of your life Stop wasting my time And I'm gonna move all out of your life 'Cause there ain't room enough for three In dreams that were made for you and me So you see, it's getting mighty crowded Too crowded for me It's getting mighty crowded I'm saving you the trouble of putting me down Starting on the double, yeah yeah I'm gonna shop around I'm gonna find another heart Where I can live all by myself Gonna find another heart I don't have to share with anybody else 'Cause you don't treat me like you should And hanging around this neighborhood is no good It's getting mighty crowded Too crowded for me, getting mighty crowded I'm packing up my memories, getting mighty crowded Too crowded for me, getting mighty crowded Too crowded for me, getting mighty crowded
So Young Do. Do do do do do. So young, we've discovered. Got them so confused. Don't mind putting the time in. It's shocking. That's what they all say now when we're walking hand in hand As one, you and I. Ooh yeah, ooh yeah, you said it's timed out We've got them hangin' on a string. There's no time for compromises; we got that good old thing. So young, so young. (x4) It's wrong to run for cover. We've got them in a spin. You don't mind sticking the sticker in. It's too late. That's what they all say now when we're walking hand in hand As one, you and I. Chorus. Do do do do do. Do do do. Chorus, again. So young, so young.
Just A Memory Layin' about, lyin' in bed Maybe it was something that I thought I'd said With the tempo of today and the temptation of tomorrow I don't know if I could give you anything but sorrow They stay alive this late on Radio Five But the pen that I write with won't tell the truth 'Cause the moments that I can't recall Are the moments that you treasure Better take another measure for measure Losing you is just a memory Memories don't mean that much to me Losing you is just a memory Memories don't mean that much to me Now you're here, I'm here too Could be this easy for me and you Losing you is just a memory Memories don't mean that much to me Losing you is just a memory Memories don't mean that much to me Lyin' about layin' in bed Maybe it was something that I thought I'd said
Hoover Factory Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue Must have been a wonder when it was brand new Talkin' 'bout the splendour of the Hoover factory I know that you'd agree if you had seen it too It's not a matter of life or death But what is, what is ? It doesn't matter if I take another breath Who cares ? Who cares ? Green for go, green for action From Park Royal to North Acton Past scrolls and inscriptions like those of the Egyptian age And one of these days the Hoover factory Is gonna be all the rage in those fashionable pages Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue Must have been a wonder when it was brand new Talkin' 'bout the splendour of the Hoover factory I know that you'd agree if you had seen it too It's not a matter of life or death But what is, what is ? It doesn't matter if I take another breath Who cares ? Who cares ?
Ghost Train Maureen and Stan were looking for a job They got songs for every occasion And a little limelight robbery No one will employ them There's nothing to decide So he autographs his overdraft While she goes out of her mind Stuck on the wall with a thousand faces Unwanted posters of the haunted places Roll up for the ghost train Non-stop through the city Step right up and show your face We only want the pretty ones Roll up for the ghost train Non-stop through the city Step right up and show your face We only want the pretty ones Maureen and Stan at the skating rink Looking for the drummer who threw up in the sink Laughing and singing, dressed up like dice Maybe they could freeze to death out there on the ice Look at the graceful way she dances On foot speaks, the other answers Roll up for the ghost train Non-stop through the city Step right up and show your face We only want the pretty ones Roll up for the ghost train Non-stop through the city Step right up and show your face We only want the pretty ones She plays the queen of the fleapit He plays a Spanish guitar He got a black eye from a waitress She's not seeing any stars You can be refused, you can be replaced You can change your name but you can't change your face While they make believe it's just another holiday They turn on each other when they hear that joker say Roll up for the ghost train Non-stop through the city Step right up and show your face We only want the pretty ones Roll up for the ghost train We only want the pretty ones
Dr. Luther's Assistant Everything seems so tranquil Home movies with no subtitles Don't you wish you knew what they were sayin' When the film keeps playin', playin' ? Oh, he's Doctor Luther's assistant He'll close in when he seems so distant Doctor Luther's assistant He'll get on top of you when you lower your resistance Some say he is just a lackey Changing words while the ink is still tacky He's absolutely indispensable He keeps the other boys in suspense Oh, he's Doctor Luther's assistant He'll close in when he seems so distant Doctor Luther's assistant He'll get on top of you when you lower your resistance Luther is locked in a broken-down cinema Watches his wife with his video camera Sees his best boy makin' her grin Out of the kitchen, she's gone with the wind Oh, Doctor Luther's assistant He'll close in, when he seems so distant Doctor Luther's assistant He'll get on top of you when you lower your resistance