You Bowed Down

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"You Bowed Down"
Song by Roger McGuinn
from the album Back from Rio
ReleasedJanuary 8, 1991
GenreJangle pop
Length3:52
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)Elvis Costello
Producer(s)

"You Bowed Down" is a song written by Elvis Costello, first released by Roger McGuinn on his album Back from Rio. Costello recorded his own version of the song for his 1996 album All This Useless Beauty.

Having been acquaintances with Costello since the 1980s, McGuinn asked him to contribute a song to his next solo album. Costello then sent back "You Bowed Down" with detailed instructions on how McGuinn should perform the vocals. After McGuinn's version was released, Costello decided to revisit the song for a project originally intended to be a collection of songs Costello gave to other musicians. Costello's version, performed with the Attractions, reworked the middle-eight to more closely mirror Costello's original arrangement. It was released as a single in the US in 1996.

Both versions have attracted critical acclaim and Costello continues to perform the song intermittently live.

Background

After meeting at a show in

T-Bone Burnett. In 1989, Costello explained, "Roger McGuinn ... wasn't originally scheduled to be on the record, but we met him while we were recording—and T-Bone [Burnett, one of Costello's producers] had met him on Dylan's Rolling Thunder tour in the 70s."[2] McGuinn stated that he found Costello to be "amazingly intellectual", noting, "It's hard to follow him sometimes. He just pops around from one idea to another."[1]

When McGuinn set out to record his 1991 album

Positively Fourth Street.'"[3] McGuinn then recorded the song with Dylanesque vocals (with Costello contributing backing vocals)[4]
and presented the final version to Costello:

Later I played it for him at Tom Petty's house in Los Angeles and he just looked at the floor, kind of frowning, until it was over. Then he walked over and shook my hand -- like, 'Yeah, that's okay.'[1]

As of 2011, Costello and McGuinn remain acquaintances. The latter commented, "We had a period a couple of years ago when we kept bumping into each other as one of us was checking into and the other out of, hotels then we kept meeting in Airport lounges; no one else in the whole music industry, just Elvis Costello. I've known Elvis for a lot of years and we can talk for hours; or at least he can talk for hours and I listen."[5]

Critical reception

"You Bowed Down" saw positive reception from music writers of the period. The

New York Times dubbed it "psychologically knotty".[3]

Elvis Costello & The Attractions version

"You Bowed Down"
Single by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
from the album All This Useless Beauty
B-side"Almost Ideal Eyes"
ReleasedSeptember 17, 1996 (1996-09-17)
GenreJangle pop
Length4:55
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
  • Elvis Costello
Producer(s)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions singles chronology
"All This Useless Beauty"
(1996) 		"You Bowed Down"
(1996) 		"Toledo"
(1999)

"You Bowed Down" was recorded by Elvis Costello and the Attractions in 1996 for his seventeenth studio album All This Useless Beauty. It was released as a single in the US, reaching number eight on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.

Background

Costello chose to record his own version of "You Bowed Down" on All This Useless Beauty, as the album was originally intended to be a collection of Costello compositions recorded by other artists. For "You Bowed Down", Costello specifically wanted to restore his original arrangement for the song's middle-eight, which was altered in the McGuinn recording to be in 4/4 time alongside the rest of the song. He explained:

Roger McGuinn's producer prevailed on him to straighten out the middle of 'You Bowed Down' and make it into 4/4 time which, to my mind, completely negated the whole point of that section of that song. Even though I loved everything else about his version, and I even sang on it, that disappointed me. I wanted to do that myself, to go off into space and do a little solo like he did in 'Chestnut Mare' with The Byrds. I just wanted to hear that, selfish really.[4]

When Costello sought to record the song with the Attractions, he initially dabbled with a Sonic Youth-esque arrangement, but determined this style "didn't work" and that the song "wanted to have a 12-string on it."[7] Costello singled out "You Bowed Down" along with "It's Time" as songs where the Attractions are "most effective" on the album.[4]

Costello's original demo that he recorded for McGuinn later appeared as a bonus track on All This Useless Beauty.[8]

Critical reception

In a 1996 review,

The Other End of the Telescope,' and especially the Dylanesque 'You Bowed Down' rank with Costello’s finest put-down songs."[13]

Live history

"You Bowed Down" has appeared intermittently in Costello's live setlist since its release. A live version performed by Costello and Attractions keyboardist

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in August 1996; by this point, Costello, embittered by his disputes with bassist Bruce Thomas, changed the chorus lyric from "You bowed down" to "I should never have walked over that bridge I burned," referring to his reunion with the Attractions.[14]

Personnel

Elvis Costello & The Attractions[15]

Production

  • Geoff Emerick – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Elvis Costello – producer
  • Jon Jacobs – engineer, mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Dave Zamitt – recording and mixing on "Basement Kiss"

Charts

Chart (1996) Peak
position
US Billboard Adult Alternative Songs[16] 8

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Joyce, Mike (5 April 1991). "Byrds Man Soars Back". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Elvis Costello: Our 1989 Cover Story". SPIN. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b Holden, Stephen (9 January 1991). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Fay, Liam (July 24, 1996). "Eclectic warrior". Hot Press: 30–32.
  5. ^ "Roger McGuinn Interview October 2011". No Depression. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  6. ^ Willman, Chris (13 January 1991). "ROGER McGUINN "Back From Rio" Arista ***". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  7. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (June 1996). "The Elvis Costello Interview". Mojo. 31.
  8. Rhino Records. 1996. R2 74284.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  9. ^ Aizlewood, John (June 1996). "Lonesome". Q. 117.
  10. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (August 9, 1996). "Costello's Beauty, Naive's mood music". Washington Post.
  11. ^ Jaeger, Barbara (June 7, 1996). "This time, his songs are for himself". Bergen County Record. p. 8.
  12. ^ Morton, Roger (May 11, 1996). "Veiled frets". NME.
  13. ^ Willman, Chris (May 17, 1996). "'Beauty' mark Elvis Costello's newest is nearly unblemished". Entertainment Weekly. No. 327.
  14. ^ Thomson 2006.
  15. Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Warner Bros. Records. 1996. 9362-46198-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  16. ^ "Elvis Costello Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 21 October 2020.

Sources

  • Thomson, Graeme (2006). Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello. Canongate U.S.
    ISBN 978-1841957968
    .
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