Declan Patrick MacManus was born August 25, 1954, in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, England, moving to Birkenhead (the birthplace of his father, musician Ronald "Russ" MacManus) with his widowed mother at age 16. He is better known by his stage name, Elvis Costello, a popular British musician, singer, and songwriter of Irish ancestry. Some sources list his full given name as Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus, however Aloysius was not one of his names at birth, being added years later. Costello was an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s, and alongside Nick Loweand Ian Durymade his first releases on the independant label Stiff, tailoring his work towards the punkand new wavescenes. From 1980's Armed Forcesonwards, however, other influences including soul, country, 60s pop and classical music began to re-emerge, and he soon became established as a unique and original voice.
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Charm School Lyrics
Elvis Costello
Men made out of monkeys
Men made into mice
Happy days are here again
And all the drinks half price
A girl with a trick and a man with a calling
Trying to make a living out of your downfalling
Trying to make a living out of anything at all
Didnt they teach you anything except how to be cruel
In that charm school
You and I as lovers
Were nothing but a farce
Trying to make a silk purse
Out of a sows arse
Saying why dont you watch me
Hardly speaking sotto voce
Ive got a notion
Ive got an angle
Take your dreams and promises
And put them through the mangle
They say its hell to finance too
And I just want to romance you
In this perpetual nightclub
Ill be yours eternal
Though the hours are long
And the noise infernal
Just one shameful act or sometimes two
We make believe were making do