Elvis Costello

“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.”

“I've always felt writing a song was a bit like going on location. That's true in an almost literal sense. Where you are seeps in somehow.”

“You have to face the fact that I have no reputation as a composer; I have my reputation as a songwriter and a performer-and that opportunity came this summer, when I was invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre festival in New York... three nights.”

“Strict TimeThere's a hand on a wire that leads to my mouth I can hear you knocking but I'm not coming out Don't want to be a puppet or a ventriloquist 'Cause there's no ventilation on a critical list Fingers creeping up my spine are not mine to resist Strict timeChorus: Toughen up, toughen up Keep your lip buttoned up Strict timeOh the muscles flex and the fingers curl And a cold sweat breaks out on the sweater girl Strict time Oh he's all hands, don't touch that dial The courting cold wars weekend witch trial Strict time All the boys are straight laced and the girls are frigid The talk is two-faced and the rules are rigid 'cause it's strict time Strict timeYou talk in hushed tones, I talk in lush tones Try to look Italian through the musical Valium Strict time Thinking of grand larceny Smoking the everlasting cigarette of chastity Cute assistants staying alive More like a hand job than the hand jive Strict time”

“Maybe I just never learned my harmony part, because what everybody says sounds odd to them sounds perfectly natural to me.”

“I found with this record I had to really be strong-willed, because in the past I've tended to tinker and add a thing or take a thing away, and nearly always been wrong.”

“My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant.”

“Happiness isn't a fortune in a cookie. It's deeper, wider, funnier, and more transporting than that.”

“The battle with the bottle is nothing so novel.”

“He's such a dragHe's not insaneIt's just that everybodyHas to feel his pain.”

“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.”

“People become so deeply attached to the sound of one period that they blow a fuse when you move on. I've heard people complain bitterly about recordings they haven't even heard.”

“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.”

“I've had an unusual life. A life far removed from most people's experience.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I used to be disgusted; now I try to be amused.”

“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's really a stupid thing to want to do.”

“Life for me is about movement.”

“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.”