Re: Costello's Low Points

Gustavo Wombat wrote:

> PUNCH THE CLOCK: Oh, how I loathe this album. "The Element Within Her"
> is the standout bad song, but only because it is the only song I know
> that would be improved by having someone randomly shouting "Cesium!" or
> "Carbon!" Although, in a way, that makes me like it.

What makes me like it (although it belongs in the lowest quarter of
songs from PUNCH THE CLOCK) is those nose-on-your-face rhymes and tiny
verses that don't have much of any ***ulative effect. I have to believe
he was intentionally not trying very hard here, and that gives it a
peculiar charm ("like your fine tresses/you know what my guess is";
"let no one set asunder/sometimes I wonder"). And that one couplet
about the playboy is almost too good for this song; even when EC is on
autopilot, sometimes he can blindside you with a great, concise putdown
("Could charm the birds right out of the trees/Now he says 'What do I
do with these?'").

Todd K