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" It's a petty thing, but I wouldn't join the Scouts when I was a kid, 'cause you had to swear allegiance to the queen. I'm just not a royalist. I think it's idiotic, a hereditary principle. "

Elvis Costello

Think

Kid

Principle

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" Songs are more powerful than books. "

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" These are the sort of things that push you on in music - the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. "

" The Internet is overrated. It's much smaller an innovation than people think it is. I don't think it's changed the way anybody makes music. "

" But there are things in Il Sogno that the methods of The Delivery Man could never achieve. "

" Very similar experience happened last year when we released this album, North. It was on Deutsche Grammophon, it was very, very honest. It was the most honest record I've ever written. "

" I believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies. "

" I've worked hard, every single day since I left school. I think I have a Protestant work ethic. "

" Living a very long time would be a very scary thing. "

" And obviously, when I started out, I had a little bit more curiosity than some, and went seeking out the original artists, or in some cases searching up country music. "

Elvis Costello

Curiosity

Searching

" There was not a lot of rock n' roll in the house. Our parents didn't think it was very groovy, and I tend to agree with them. If you grew up with Charlie Parker, Bill Haley wasn't very hip. "

Elvis Costello

Rock

Think

" 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. "

" I've never felt British. I'm just not interested in national identity. I don't know why. "

" Mention Hubert Sumlin, as well, because Hubert's a great man, and again, you know, I don't play the guitar very good, but when I'm playing this kind of music, I always have him in my mind. I wish I could play like Hubert. "

" Smokey Robinson writes the heartfelt songs, whereas it was my job to write the songs about weakness and failure in love. "

" I'm a working travelling musician, but just on a bigger scale. "

" I don't think I was ever particularly mean. I can certainly think of some idiotic exchanges I've had. I was accused of destroying pop music, like Wagner destroyed opera - a guy in Germany started ranting that at me. "

" We're all just animals. That's all we are, and everything else is just an elaborate justification of our instincts. That's where music comes from. And romantic poetry. And bad novels. "

" Well, T Bone's had a remarkable career as a producer since the time that we first worked together. He was dividing his time between recording and producing when we first met, and touring. We toured together and we were great friends. "

" I know that when I make a record like The Delivery Man as a contrast to even Il Sogno, this is going to reach a wider audience, because it communicates in that very direct way. "

" You need a platform upon which to release an orchestral record, otherwise it's just going to be an obscurity. "

" I get very frustrated by this term 'genre exercise.' I mean, what exactly is that? Genre is not really relevant when you are writing a song; hopefully you are doing it to explore something, to create something, and I don't agree that any of my albums are genre exercises. "

" There are many critics who have an idealised version of where my strengths lie. "

" Obviously I got known for some other songs early on, and some of those were rock'n'roll songs. Some of them were melodic pop songs. And I've done lots of different things, as you know, but every so often I get drawn back. "

" My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant. "

" You do have to be a bit careful with your voice. It is an instrument. "

" I used to be disgusted; now I try to be amused. "

" I find humming is very useful. "

" Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing. "

" I think when I was younger I was not very good at writing love songs that didn't have a twist. "