19. “Alison”
Videos by American Songwriter
Elvis Costello’s signature song? You could make good arguments for “Pump It Up,” “Radio, Radio,” “Veronica,” and “Everyday I Write The Book” along with maybe a few others. Yet “Alison,” released on his very first album (My Aim Is True) back in 1977, probably gets the call.
The good news is that Costello lucked out to have a song that’s an amazing piece of work be the one for which fans still clamor after more than 35 years. Then again, maybe it’s not luck so much, really, as it is that “Alison” is just one of those songs that resonates with a great amount of people. But why?
The song never reveals itself completely to the listener, and Costello has never stepped forward to explain it (and good for him for that.) That ambiguity allows for a great variety of emotional reactions to be projected from listeners on to the lyrics: Anger, disappointment, compassion, heartbreak, etc. It’s the rare song that works as a love song and a love-gone-wrong song, and that malleability is amazing considering that Elvis managed it within the framework of a relatively short song.
My interpretation has always been that the lyrics are what the narrator, having occurred upon this woman from his past by chance, wants to say to her. I’m not sure that he ever does; I always get the image of him seeing her from afar and having the words pass through his head as an imaginary conversation. If they actually did get to talk, it’s likely that banal pleasantries are all that would pass between them.
It’s interesting that a song that is so closely identified with Costello is one that carries little of the acidic edge so often attributed to him (even though that generalization about his music is only partly accurate at best anyway.) The narrator may be disgusted with this girl, but, ultimately, his intentions are pure. Where the heartbreak comes into play is when we realize, now that her life has taken a turn for the hopelessly domestic, that he might never get the chance to act on those intentions.
Or maybe he will. The chorus is as straightforward as the rest of the story is elusive, as the narrator makes his pledge: “Alison, I know this world is killing you/Oh, Alison, my aim is true.” Then there’s the subtle genius of the extended coda, Costello singing “My aim is true” over and over again as the music fades out around him.
It’s the kind of line with which one might serenade a girl, a pure promise devoid of ulterior motives and any semblance of selfishness. Even to those who may be wary of the complexity of Elvis Costello’s lyrics, it’s a line that speaks with absolute clarity. And it’s a line that resonates through years and generations, the kind of line that reaches the hearts and minds of audiences comfort year after year, generation after generation, when they hear it.
In short, it’s the kind of line of which enduring songs are made, and, even though it’s too modest in its ambitions to be his very best song, Elvis Costello should be proud that “Alison” unofficially wears that signature song crown in his catalog.
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