Elvis Costello Mighty Like A Rose Lyrics

Early masterpieces such as This Year's Model posited Elvis Costello as the latest in a long line of great British "angry young men." But as Costello himself writes in the liner notes to this reissue, originally recorded closer to middle age: "If you really want to hear an angry record, then this is the [one]." It's probably his most misanthropic and bitter as well: "So Like Candy" and "Playboy to a Man," the final two songs in the series he cowrote with Paul McCartney, appear on an album that also features the line: "Was it a millionaire who said, 'Imagine no possessions'?" Mitchell Froom's production is purposely basic and crude, and some of the music is experimental (including brass, strings, and effects seemingly inspired by the Beatles' "Revolution No. 9"). The opening "The Other Side of Summer," an obvious Beach Boys parody, is the only real slice of pop to be found. But as a complex musical statement, the album more than delivers on the artist's stated intent: "This record says the world we are making is grim, and I believe that it is." --Bill Holdship