"Green Shirt" | ||||
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Single by Elvis Costello and the Attractions | ||||
from the album Armed Forces | ||||
B-side | "Beyond Belief" | |||
Released | April 1985 (single) January 1979 (album) | |||
Recorded | August - September 1978 | |||
Genre | New wave | |||
Label | F-Beat (single) Stiff (album) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Elvis Costello | |||
Producer(s) | Nick Lowe | |||
Elvis Costello and the Attractions singles chronology | ||||
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"Green Shirt" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and recorded by Costello with his backing band the Attractions. The song appeared on Costello's 1979 third album, Armed Forces . Lyrically inspired by the influence of the National Front and the Quisling Clinic in Wisconsin, "Green Shirt" features a vocal recorded by Costello after a "night of carousing".
"Green Shirt" was not released as a single at the time of its 1979 release, but in 1985 it saw single release to promote The Man: The Best of Elvis Costello . The single reached number 68 in Britain. Since its release, the song has been lauded by critics as one of Costello's best album tracks and has made several appearances in Costello's live setlist.
"Green Shirt" was described by Elvis Costello as "a paranoid song that I wrote ... about the simplification of seductive signals, the bedroom eyes that lead to tyranny". [1] The song was lyrically inspired by the Quisling Clinic, a building in Madison, Wisconsin that Costello reportedly saw and wrote down the name of while driving past. [2] Costello later wrote that, while he had only ever associated the name "Quisling" with Norwegian fascist Vidkun Quisling, the combination of "Quisling" and "Clinic" had "conjured up some kind of Boys from Brazil nightmare". [1] Costello also cited the rise of the National Front in Britain as inspiration. [1]
The first recording of "Green Shirt" was an acoustic demo with alternate lyrics that would appear on later editions of This Year's Model . [3] The final version of the song would ultimately appear on Costello's 1979 album Armed Forces . Costello recorded the vocals for "Green Shirt" after what he described as a "late night of carousing". This prevented him from raising his voice on the recording, much to the chagrin of producer Nick Lowe. [4] Costello recalled,
I got no sympathy from Nick Lowe. He just pushed me into the vocal booth with a carton of cold orange juice, which I held against my brow rather than risk drinking it. It was hard to keep my voice from shaking with my pulse racing at my temples. I asked the control room for that awful juddering Minimoog and the rat-a-tat-a-tat of the snare drum to be turned down in my headphones. I was almost afraid of my own breath, but fear, of course, was the quality that song most required. [4]
"Green Shirt" was first released on Costello's 1979 album Armed Forces . The song was not released as a single at the time. In 1985, the song was released as a single to promote the compilation album The Man: The Best of Elvis Costello . The B-side was "Beyond Belief", a song from Costello's 1982 album Imperial Bedroom . The single was a moderate success in the UK, reaching number 68 on the charts. [5] The release was accompanied by a newly created music video that featured clips from previous Elvis Costello music videos. [6]
"Green Shirt" has since been praised by critics as one of Costello's best album tracks. City Pages named the song one of Costello's 30 best deep cuts, praising the "buoyant bounce underpinning some of Costello's darkest lyrics" on the track. [7] Tony Clayton-Lea of the Irish Times described the song as one of Costello's "back-catalogue gems" and praised the "staccato backdrop" and "spooky vocal". [8] Paul Sexton of uDiscoverMusic called the track "brooding" and named it one of the highlights of Armed Forces, while Matt LeMay of Pitchfork called the song a "near-classic" that was "hindered" by the album's "smoother production". [9] [10]
"Green Shirt" has become a mainstay of Costello's live setlist in recent years. [7] Costello performed the song live at Heatwave in 1980, a performance which Paste Magazine described as "taken at a faster clip than the ... studio recording". [11] Jacob Pucci of The Post-Standard described a live performance of the song at the Turning Stone Resort Casino from 2016 as "energetic" and "synth-heavy". [12] Dave Mckenna of the Washington Post recalled that "'Green Shirt' ... had some of the harder core fans singing along while throwing their arms skyward in deliriousness" during a 2018 concert at the DAR Constitution Hall. [13] At a 2018 show in Vancouver, Costello sardonically described "Green Shirt" as "a song written last century". [14]
Chart (1985) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (OCC) [15] | 68 |
Declan Patrick MacManus, known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
This Year's Model is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17 March 1978 through Radar Records. After being backed by Clover for his debut album My Aim Is True (1977), Costello formed the Attractions – keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas – as his permanent backing band. Recording sessions took place at London's Eden Studios in eleven days between late 1977 and early 1978. Nick Lowe returned as producer, and Roger Béchirian acted as engineer. Most of the songs were written prior to the sessions, and debuted live during the latter half of 1977.
Armed Forces is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 5 January 1979 in the United Kingdom through Radar Records. It was his second album with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas —and the first to officially credit them on the cover. The album was recorded in six weeks from August to September 1978 at Eden Studios in London under the working title Emotional Fascism. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions saw Costello exert more control over production compared to This Year's Model (1978), while Nieve contributed more to song arrangements.
Get Happy!! is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his third with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas. It was released on 15 February 1980 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Following an incident on tour in March 1979 in which Costello drunkenly insulted several American artists, the artist took time off from the Attractions throughout the summer before rejoining them in October to record his next album. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions began in London but moved to the Netherlands after Costello found the material derivative of his previous album Armed Forces (1979). The sessions were marred with issues but amassed a large number of songs; the final album contains 20 tracks across a single LP.
Punch the Clock is the eighth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his seventh with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas. It was released on 5 August 1983 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, one of England's biggest pop production teams at the time, the album was Costello's attempt at making a commercial record following years of dwindling commercial success. It was recorded at London's AIR Studios in early 1983 and features contributions from a horn section, the TKO Horns, and backing vocalists, Afrodiziak.
Trust is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his fourth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas. It was released on 23 January 1981 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States six days later. His fifth consecutively produced album by Nick Lowe, who was assisted by engineer Roger Béchirian, the album was recorded from October to November 1980 between DJM and Eden Studios in London. The sessions were riddled with alcohol and drug issues and tensions were high between the band members. Squeeze vocalist Glenn Tilbrook and the Rumour guitarist Martin Belmont made guest appearances on "From a Whisper to a Scream".
The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, and Pete Thomas (drums). They also released one album as an independent entity, without Costello, in 1980.
"Oliver's Army" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Costello and the Attractions, from the former's third studio album Armed Forces (1979). The song is a new wave track that was lyrically inspired by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and includes lyrics critical of the socio-economic components of war. Costello had travelled to Northern Ireland and was influenced by sights of British soldiers patrolling Belfast. Musically, the song features a glossy production and a keyboard performance inspired by ABBA, creating a juxtaposition between the lyrics and music that both critics and Costello have pointed out.
"Radio Radio" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song originated as a Bruce Springsteen-inspired song called "Radio Soul" that Costello had written in 1974. In 1977, Costello reworked the song to feature a more aggressive arrangement and more direct, sarcastic lyrics that criticized the commercialism of English radio. Costello and the Attractions recorded the song around the time of his second album, This Year's Model.
"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is a 1974 song written by English singer/songwriter Nick Lowe. Initially released by Lowe with his band Brinsley Schwarz on their 1974 album The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz, the song was released as a single and did not chart.
The Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions is a 1985 compilation album by English musician Elvis Costello and his backing band the Attractions, the first of what would be many career-spanning compilation albums of previously released material for Costello.
"Pump It Up" is a 1978 song by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It originally appeared on Costello's second album This Year's Model, which was the first he recorded with the backing group the Attractions. Written as a sarcastic response to his time during the Stiffs Live Tour and inspired by "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan, "Pump It Up" features a stomping rhythm and sarcastic lyrics.
"Accidents Will Happen" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It first appeared on the 1979 album Armed Forces. Costello wrote the song about his many infidelities during this period of his life, including an encounter Costello had with a taxi driver in Tucson, Arizona. The song originally featured a piano-centered arrangement and was inspired by songs such as "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Walk Away Renée".
"Watching the Detectives" is a 1977 single by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. Inspired by the Clash and Bernard Herrmann, the song features a reggae beat and cynical lyrics.
"High Fidelity" is a song written and performed by new wave musician Elvis Costello on his 1980 album, Get Happy!! Written about an adulterous couple where one member still hopes for reconciliation, "High Fidelity" reflected the personal struggles that Costello had been suffering at the time as a result of increased fame and controversy. Musically, the song was influenced by Motown and was initially performed in a slower style inspired by David Bowie's Station to Station.
"Clubland" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and performed by Costello and the Attractions on their 1981 album, Trust. Written in 1980, the song was performed live in festivals before the album's release. The lyrics, inspired by the band's most recent tour, describe life in nightclubs, while the music includes inspiration from The Police.
"From a Whisper to a Scream" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and performed by Costello and the Attractions on their 1981 album, Trust. With lyrics referencing drinking, the song notably features a guest vocal from Squeeze frontman and songwriter Glenn Tilbrook as well as a guitar part from ex-Rumour guitarist Martin Belmont.
"Blue Chair" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and recorded by Costello with his backing band the Attractions. The song first appeared on Costello's 1986 album, Blood & Chocolate. First intended for Costello's previous album King of America, the song was scrapped during that session and reworked with the Attractions around Steve Nieve's piano part.
"Senior Service" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions for his 1979 album Armed Forces. Featuring a danceable arrangement inspired by David Bowie, the song includes punning lyrics referencing the cigarette brand of the same name and decrying the effects of the elderly on the British welfare system.
"Beyond Belief" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and recorded by Costello with his backing band the Attractions. The song appeared on Costello's 1982 album, Imperial Bedroom. With vague, hazy lyrics, "Beyond Belief" features an active drum line from a hungover Pete Thomas as well as a frantic vocal line Costello composed after the backing track was completed.
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