(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes

(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes (The_Angels_Wanna_Wear_My)_Red_Shoes_-_Elvis_Costello.jpg single Elvis Costello My Aim Is True Mystery Dance 29 July 1977 1977 Power pop new wave Stiff Elvis Costello Nick Lowe Alison 1977 Watching the Detectives 1977 Official audio pS8oaMFsBEk "[The Angels Wanna Wear My] Red Shoes" "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" is a song written and recorded by Elvis Costello for his 1977 debut album My Aim Is True. Written by Costello on a train ride to Liverpool in 1976, the song features lyrics, according to Costello, about "romantic disappointment". The song features Byrds-inspired music with an intro contributed by John McFee of Costello's then-backing band Clover. "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" was released as the third single from My Aim Is True. Despite greater exposure than Costello's past singles, the song failed to chart in the UK. The song received positive reception from critics and remains a staple of Costello's live set. Background "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" was written by Costello on a train travelling from London to Liverpool in 1976.Fricke David Elvis Costello: My Life in 10 Songs https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/elvis-costello-my-life-in-10-songs-163162/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes-1977-156235/ Rolling Stone 12 October 2015 28 March 2019Myers Marc How Elvis Costello Created 'Red Shoes' https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-elvis-costello-created-red-shoes-1447782860 The Wall Street Journal 17 November 2015 News Corp 28 March 2019 Costello reportedly sketched out the song in the final ten minutes of the trip; he later described this sudden inspiration as "startling".Costello 2016 159 Costello recalled, I wrote it in 10 minutes on a train out of Liverpool — the whole song in one gulp. ... And then there was the whole comedic thing of getting it down. Nowadays you can demo things on your phone. I had to block it out in my mind. Then I had to get off the train, get to my mother's house, grab an old guitar I had there and play the song until I imprinted it in my memory. I had no tape recorder. I had no way other than repetition to drill it into my head so I wouldn't lose it. The Wall Street Journal described the song as "a surrealist tale about an imagined jilting and the appearance of earthbound angels offering the singer immortality—in exchange for his footwear". Costello explained, "I had the essential image, then I worked backward — a dancehall scene with the put-down lines. That kind of framed this other, weirder idea of 'I won't get any older' — I went, 'Why am I saying this when I'm 22? He later said of the lyrics, "The verses were a pretty standard tale of romantic disappointment. Okay, it had a couple of snappy put-down lines, but they were nothing so out of the ordinary".Costello 2016 159 He speculated that the lyric "Oh, I said, 'I'm so happy I could die' / She said, 'Drop dead' then left with another guy" may have been inspired by a "drunken journey home" in 1973.Costello 2016 160 The opening to the song was created by Clover guitarist John McFee, a member of Costello's backing band for My Aim Is True.Costello 2016 229 Bass player John Ciambotti of Clover reportedly called the song "that one that sounds like the Byrds".Costello 2016 229 Release and reception "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" was recorded a few months after it was written to appear on Costello's 1977 debut album, My Aim Is True. The song was later released as the third single from the album in July 1977. The B-side of the single was "Mystery Dance", another song from My Aim Is True. Preceding singles "Less Than Zero" and "Alison" were unsuccessful, but the popularity of My Aim Is True gave Costello hope for the single; Costello recalled, (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes' was my third Stiff Records single to be released. The first two ... had sunk without a trace, but after initially scant sales, all the publicity around the release of My Aim Is True had actually threatened to push 'Red Shoes' into the singles charts".Costello 2016 256 Despite the greater visibility, the single possibly failed to officially chart (Costello did appear on the UK music show 'Top of the Pops' with the newly assembled Attractions performing the song) .Thomson 2006 "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" received positive reception from music critics. Pitchfork praised the song as "the catchiest pop song on My Aim Is True" while Rolling Stone praised the song's "knowing arrogance".http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1617-my-aim-is-true/ Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True Pitchfork 5 May 2002 20 June 2005 LeMay Matthttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/my-aim-is-true-20010724 My Aim Is True Rolling Stone 875 16 August 2001 Bresnick Adam 105 25 April 2006 Posted on 24 July 2001. Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock named the song as the 9th best Elvis Costello song, stating, "Rejection doesn't come more pithy than 'I said 'I'm so happy I could die' / She said, 'Drop dead' then left with another guy.Lifton Dave Top 10 Elvis Costello Songs https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elvis-costello-songs/ Ultimate Classic Rock 12 October 2013 23 April 2020 The Daily Telegraphs Martin Chilton named the song Costello's 21st best.Chilton Martin Elvis Costello's 40 best songs https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/elvis-costello-40-best-songs/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes/ The Daily Telegraph 27 February 2019 James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders cited the song, alongside Nick Lowe's "So It Goes", as one of the inspirations for his jangly guitar sound. He explained, "They had this big, jangly guitar sound, which is what I'd been wanting to get into for a long while. All of a sudden the radio's on and there's this huge guitar sound coming out, like sending out a big Rickenbacker 12-string or something. And I thought, 'Ah, my time is here.' So that's what happened. And then I hooked up with the Pretenders."Simadis Valerie Pretenders Drummer Martin Chambers Remembers Guitarist James Honeyman-Scott https://pleasekillme.com/pretenders-drummer-remembers-james-honeyman-scott/ Please Kill Me 25 November 2020 17 October 2017 In 2011, Costello appeared on Sesame Street to perform a parody of "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes", entitled "(A Monster Went and) Ate My Red 2". As a ravenous Cookie Monster consumes the titular scarlet number, Costello sings with Elmo, who is dressed in Costello's style. The performance was described by Huffington Post as "awesome".'Sesame Street's' latest victim: Elvis Costello https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/10/sesame-streets-latest-victim-elvis-costello.html Los Angeles Times 18 October 2011 28 March 2019Elvis Costello Sings 'Sesame Street' Duet With Elmo (VIDEO) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elvis-costello-sings-elmo-on-sesame-street_n_1021085 Huffington Post 20 October 2011 28 March 2019 Live performances "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" has long been a favorite of Costello's live setlist. Costello performed the song live at solo shows before My Aim Is True was released.Thomson 2006 Costello performed the song with his new band the Attractions on Top of the Pops, miming to a specifically recorded performance that was "much faster" than the original. Costello notably wore his Musicians' Union card in his breast pocket during the segment.Costello 2016 256 Costello has since performed the song frequently, including at his set for Woodstock '99.Elvis Costello - (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/11/elvis-costello-the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes2.html Paste Magazine Wolfgang's Vault 28 March 2019 28 March 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190328231549/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/11/elvis-costello-the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-shoes2.html dead ReferencesCitationsSources' Costello Elvis Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink 2016 Blue Rider Press New York 978-0399185762 Thomson Graeme Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello 2006 Canongate U.S. 978-1841957968 External links _vJ0O408Rck (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - (BBC Radio 2 House Music), 15 November 2021 Category:Elvis Costello songs Category:1977 singles Category:1977 songs Category:Songs written by Elvis Costello Category:Song recordings produced by Nick Lowe