[purchase (full album on vinyl?)]
Elvis
Costello has on more than one occasion worked Shakespeare into his music, in
fact, he did a whole album in 1993, named the Juliet Letters, whose concept
revolved around sending letters to Juliet (of R& J fame) to the sounds of
the Brodsky Quartet.
So
it was not much of a surprise to anyone when in 1997 he was featured in John
Harles album Terror and Magnificence
where Shakespeare is set to John Harles saxophone.
A
particular highlight for me When That I Was & A Little Tiny Boy, sung by
Costello, is a song taken from Twelfth Night in which the character Feste, the
fool of the household of Countess Olivia, reflects on the events that had
transpired throughout the play. In this retrospective Feste demostrates the
ability to correct foolish acts and times ability to temper things.
While
detractors of Costello don’t bother with his solo output, I think he did an
incredilble job with both the Juliet Letters, as well as, in Terror and
Magnificence.
Perhaps it’s because of the amount of Shapespeare
being crammed down my throat for three summers selling tickets to the theatre
or maybe it’s because I enjoy musicians being self-indulgent or just maybe it’s
because Costello’s delievery is so great but I enjoy the hearing Costello
literally play the fool and make me sing lyrics from the Twelfth Night on my
way to In-N-Out.
Guest post by Edgar