Elvis Costello quotes

I'd been to Memphis before, but we stayed out of Memphis early on in the late 70s for obvious reasons. People were very sensitive about Elvis Presley, and my stage name obviously would be provocative to some people in that area at that time. (Elvis Costello)
I used to be disgusted; now I try to be amused. View quote
Elvis Costello
Well, I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you. View quote
Elvis Costello
Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music. View quote
Elvis Costello
And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it. View quote
Elvis Costello
Now I just don't know who to tell to go to hell Who put the old devil in the distorted angel? View quote
Elvis Costello
Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect, even your mother won't detect it, no your father won't know. they think that I've got no respect but everything means less than zero. View quote
Elvis Costello
I'm a man with a mission in two or three editions And I'm giving you a longing look Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book. View quote
Elvis Costello
Well there's a line that you must toe and it'll soon be time to go but it's darker than you know in those Complicated Shadows. View quote
Elvis Costello
It's the damage that we do and never know. It's the words that we don't say that scare me so. View quote
Elvis Costello
Don't tell me you don't know what love is When you're old enough to know better. (Elvis Costello)
Clowntime is over Time to take over While others just talk and talk Somebody's watching where the others don't walk. View quote
Elvis Costello
The people with the most resources are the federal government. If you can invade a country halfway across the world in a matter of days, you can surely come to the aid of your own citizens in a shorter order of time. View quote
Elvis Costello
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me. I wanna bite that hand so badly. I want to make them wish they'd never seen me. View quote
Elvis Costello
Then I became an altar boy because of the solemn face, but I got thrown out at fourteen for laughing, because the priest used to mumble everything except the church plate takings. View quote
Elvis Costello
My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant, someone who disrupts the daily drag of life just enough to leave the victim thinking there's maybe more to it all than the mere hum-drum quality of existence. View quote
Elvis Costello
Theres so many fish in the sea That only rise up in the sweat and smoke like mercury. View quote
Elvis Costello
When the media attention switches away from this story onto the next thing that happens in the world, the circumstances will still be there. View quote
Elvis Costello
They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told. You better listen to the radio. View quote
Elvis Costello
Why can't a man stand alone? Must he be burdened by all that he's taught to consider his own? His skin and his station, his kin and his crown, his flag and his nation They just weigh him down. View quote
Elvis Costello
These are the sort of things that push you on in music - the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. It's important to keep restoring that, and at the same time, hold on to the core things about music that whenever you pick the simplest form of instrument; guitar or piano, you can find a song that's worthwhile. (Elvis Costello)
She said that's that. I don't wanna chitter-chat. Turn it down a little bit or turn it down flat. Pump it up when you don't really need it. Pump it up until you can feel it. View quote
Elvis Costello
Oliver's army is here to stay Oliver's army are on their way And I would rather be anywhere else But here today. View quote
Elvis Costello
Now Im dead, now Im dead, and you're all Going on to meet your reward. Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? You might have never heard, but God's comic. View quote
Elvis Costello
I believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies. View quote
Elvis Costello