Chords for Jonathan Ross: Elvis Costello: Alison

Shall we get our next guest out?
I think we should.
Okay, here he is, ladies and gentlemen.
He's one of the biggest talents I think this country's ever produced on the musical front.
It is, of course, Elvis Costello! _ _ _ _ _
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_ [E] _ I love the fact people are coming out here with guitars.
It's fantastic.
It's like a music show, isn't it?
It's brilliant.
Well, hey, really, so nice to meet you, to have you on the show.
I'm possibly one [Bb] of the biggest fans you have here in the United Kingdom.
Thank you.
I don't know if you know that.
You don't look as good as Cliff does for your age, though.
No, no.
[N] I've been knocking myself about a bit more.
Yeah, but I get the feeling it's not as kind of crucial to you.
Is that right?
No, I don't give a damn.
Well, you know what?
That's really heartening.
Because how old are you now, Elvis?
_ Um, I'll be, uh, I'm 47.
You haven't even had to think about that.
You weren't sure.
It's the old mind, you know.
But that's a lack of vanity.
You don't even know your age.
But you've dabbled in so many different_
Because you started off and it was kind of, what was it?
It was post-punk pop.
It was new wave stuff.
I don't know what you called it.
They stuck those labels all over it until you couldn't see it, you know.
So I never bothered any of the labels.
It's all just music to me.
Because then you went off and it was surprising.
Because you had a country album out that you did.
Um, and you've recently_
I mean, you worked with that string quartet.
Recently you wrote lyrics with Burt Bacharach, which must have been incredible.
I wrote music with Burt Bacharach.
You wrote the music, I'm sorry.
I had music and lyrics.
And how was that?
What was that like?
Oh, what a man, you know.
I mean, he's one of the great gents, you know.
He's kind of got blue eyes a little bit like Jonathan, you know.
Sort of like, yeah, look straight through you.
The bedroom look, you know.
Is he a sexy beast?
Well, not really in your league, obviously.
But, you know_
Do you think that_
He's a very charming gentleman and I learned a lot from working with him, obviously.
And that's a terrific album as well.
That's a fantastic album.
I think I made it from memory, yeah.
You worked with Paul McCartney as well.
Now, that means, for someone like yourself, I would have thought that would have been a high point.
Well, you know, they were two people whose records were just all over the radio when I was a child, you know.
So of course it was unbelievable.
But if I'd turned up round to their house in short pants, you know, with my homework,
like as a ten-year-old, they probably would have shown me the door, wouldn't they?
Or would have called the police maybe, you know.
They would have thought it was a very strange stripper grant.
Yeah, yeah.
So you have to kind of put all that fandom behind you and get on with the job in hand, you know.
Let me ask you about the Oscars.
You were out there in LA for the Oscars.
I was, yeah.
And I was out there and Andy was taking his cat to the vet.
Yeah, yeah.
[Gb] But you went to the big_
I didn't go to any parties afterwards.
You went to the big Vanity Fair party.
I'm afraid I did, yeah.
But what was it like?
Was it fun?
It was like you're taking some weird drug and you're only hallucinating famous people.
I mean, it was really_
It was like, there's Robert Duvall, there's David Lynch, and, you know, it was_
And, you know, you don't go around boring them all with, you know, how wonderful they are.
I'm sure they already know that.
But I met a lot of people.
It was a very unusual event.
And presumably, most of them, if not all of them, know who you are as well.
Well, some of the_
I met a couple of young actors who seemed as surprised that I knew their films as I was that they knew my records.
Like the young fella, Elijah, that's in Lord of the Rings.
He told me he had my records and he's only 21, so I don't know how that happened.
But that must be nice for you, knowing that the kids quite like your stuff as well.
That was great.
And Hobbits.
And, yeah, well, that's the audience I've been going for all along, as you can see.
That's the future.
Yeah.
No, I mean, it was, you know, it was just one of those very surrealistic events and lots of people, you know,
Joan Collins dancing and, you know, and it was just, you know, suddenly saw Nicole Kidman coming towards me.
So what are your chats?
When you see Nicole Kidman, what do you talk to Nicole Kidman about?
I_
We talked about Eric Sykes, actually.
You see, now you're just taking the piss.
No, [N] I'm not.
No, I really_
That's really true.
So I introduced myself and she said hello and I told her that I thought she should have been nominated for The Others.
You obviously know that film.
It's a wonderful film.
I thought it should have won the Music Oscar and I think her performance was really great in it as well.
And then I started talking about Eric Sykes because he's in it and what a great thing that he was in that movie.
So was she a fan of Eric Sykes back in the days when he worked with Hattie Jakes?
Probably not, I think, you know.
Just at a rough guess.
Because that was a great show.
But you know what I did tell her was that I saw this fantastic program about Eric Sykes that was on at Christmas time,
where they followed him around.
Did you see this program where they followed him around all day,
went to his office and he showed the, you know, the mementos of his career and his mother's picture.
And on his mantelpiece he has a picture of Hattie Jakes and a picture of Nicole Kidman.
So I told her that and she seemed quite surprised that she had meant that much to him.
And is that_
That's really lovely.
I thought it was really lovely.
I mean, he's a great, great man, you know.
Do you think he ever gets drunk and mixes the two pictures up?
I don't think so.
Because that would be quite hard to do, wouldn't it?
Probably.
If you had to go either way, which one would you go for?
No, seriously, this is in the interest of research.
I'd go Hattie any day.
I'm sorry, Jonathan, I'm just not going to go down that street with you.
_ Come on.
When was the last time you were in the saddle?
When was the last time you got any?
_ _ Is it only me?
Yes, you know, a gentleman never reveals himself.
OK.
Elvis, when Sir Cliff was out here earlier, and are you a Cliff fan?
I mean, you must have grown up listening to so many songs.
Yeah, well, obviously Cliff was, you know, a big pop star when I was, you know,
just starting to listen to music, so, yeah.
He made some good records.
He played a track for us.
He did a bit of rock and roll guitar there for us.
And, you know, you have the guitar.
Could you play one of your very early tracks for us?
Like [A] Less Than Zero or Alison or something like that?
I'd probably play Alison for you. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ Oh, it's so funny to be seeing you after [E] so long, girl
[A] With the way you look I understand [Abm]
that you were not impressed
[A] _ I heard you let [Eb] that little friend of [Dbm] mine
_ [Gbm] _
Take off your [E] party dress
[B] _
_ [Gb] _ [A] I'm not gonna [Abm] get too sentimental
[A] Like those others think of [E] [Abm] Valentine's
_ _ _ _ [A] _
I don't know if you [Abm] were loving [Dbm]
somebody
[D] I _ only know it [B] isn't mine
_ _ _ [G] _ [A] _ _
_ _ [E] Alison
_ _ I [A] know this world [Abm] is killing [Ab] you
[B] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
Alison
[E] _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ [Abm] My aim is [E] true
_ [A] _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [B] _ My aim is [E] true
_ _ _ _ [N] _
_ _ _ _ That was just fantastic. _
_ _ You must just sit around playing for yourself all day long.
Playing for myself.
If that was me I wouldn't be able to put it down.
Yes, that has been the problem.
No, you know what I'm saying.
That's fantastic.
Thank you.
Hey, you've got a new album out as well.
I have.
When is that due out?
It's not out just yet, is it?
18th of April.
A couple of weeks and we have a single coming out as well.
Well, the single we've already been playing on our Radio 2 show.
Yeah, I believe so.
Which is great.
And there's one track on it, track 4 on the album, which I'm addicted to.
Yeah, that's the title track, When I Was Cruel.
Some of the rest I can take or leave, but that track's fantastic. _ _
No, it's a great album.
Thank you.
And you know, you're back doing the kind of stuff that I always loved you doing best.
I like all the other bits and pieces of your number.
It's kind of like a traditional Elvis Costello album.
Well, we try to find a new way to play rock and roll
and I've got a couple of the guys you know, Pete Thomas and Steve Naive, playing on the record.
And a bunch of young guys from Dublin who produced it with me and all those combinations.
Now you're going to play for us, you're going to play the single live for us at the end of the show tonight.
Yeah.
I can't wait to hear it.
Ladies and gentlemen, will you please join me in saying thank you to Elvis Costello. _
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