Elvis Costello’s demos are often better pieces of music than the final recorded versions of songs they represent. Case in point: “The Invisible Man” from Punch the Clock (1983).
I’ve long had theories about why I find E.C.’s music so interesting in general. For me, much of the fascination has to do with Costello’s distinctive take(s) on the formal structure of a song.
If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, think of it this way: It’s arguably not that big a deal to create a catchy melody, hooky chorus, innovative chord progression, funky rhythm, or clever lyric. Jingle writers do it all the time. My kids can do it, given enough sugar.
We usually take for granted, however, how incredibly difficult it is to create a twenty or thirty minutes of musical time that holds together and gets us involved. Side two of the Beatles’ Abbey Road, for example, which pulls together several fragments of songs unused by Lennon and McCartney in an attempt to create a larger whole, holds my attention for twelve or so minutes, even after repeated listenings. For various reasons, it works, and I’m not alone in feeling that way. It presents a fairly innovative (for rock music) formal solution for how to create music longer than a single song that keeps one’s interest from flagging. Similarly, I could name dozens of similar-length pieces that do not.
Formal structure, then, is kind of like how chunks of music are put together to make a whole. Each chunk, in a way, comprises a “section.” When we talk about songs, the language we use varies, but we are all familiar with the terms intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro, and maybe a couple of others. I’m generalizing again, but standard pop song form tends to do something like this: intro – verse / chorus 1 – verse / chorus 2 – bridge/instrumental solo – verse / chorus 3 – outro. “Verse” means “same music, different words” each time through (1, 2, 3), while “chorus” simply means “same music, same words” (think, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind / the answer is blowin’ in the wind” … that’s a chorus).
A “bridge,” meanwhile, can be sung or instrumental, but the point is that it’s like a whole new (but not unrelated) musical idea is thrown in, to add a little contrast. What’s music without contrast? BORING.
I’d have to say that most rock music I grew up listening to employed very conventional formal structures, like the one I jotted down two paragraphs ago. Elvis Costello, I’ve noticed, especially in his earlier songs, doesn’t like to come off as dull. Formally, what this means is that he won’t just follow “verse / chorus 1” with “verse / chorus 2.” Oh, no. Why repeat yourself so soon? Throw a THIRD musical idea in there as fast as possible: hence, the Costello-ish formal structure, verse / chorus / bridge. Three, count ‘em, three musical sections in a row without repetition.
The demo of “The Invisible Man” uses this form (see lyrics below, and listen to the song). My comments are strewn about through the lyrics, but I’m sure you can tell which is which…
“The Invisible Man” (demo version)
Verse 1 (D Major)
First half: I was committed to life and then commuted to the outskirts / With all the love in the world / Living for thirty minutes at a time with a break in the middle for adverts
Second half: But it’s a wonderful world within these cinema walls / Where a shower of affection becomes Niagara Falls / And you wish she could step down from the screen to your seat in the stalls
Chorus 1 (for lack of a better term) (F# minor – G Major)
But if stars are only painted on the ceiling above / Then who can you turn to and who do you love / I want to get out while I still can / I want to be like Harry Houdini /Now I’m the invisible man (ends in D major)
BRIDGE (The THIRD consecutive section of music) (e minor – f minor – A-flat)
My head is spinning round faster and faster (I LOVE that it rests, with a riff, mind you, on the tritone-related tonal center here of A-flat (from D)…) / Here I stand on the edge of disaster (riff in A-flat) / I’m shattered like a piece of crystal porcelain or alabaster (weasels its way back to A, which gets you back to…)
Verse 2 (back to D Major!)
Crowds surround loudspeakers hanging from the lampposts / Listening to the murder mystery / Meanwhile someone’s hiding in the classroom / Forging books of history
Never mind there’s a good film showing tonight / Where they hang everybody who can read and write / Oh that could never happen here but then again it might
Chorus 2 (begins with F#-minor – G major, or iii – IV in D)
Cause if stars are only painted on the ceiling above / Then who can you turn to and who do you love / I want to get out while I still can / I want to be like Harry Houdini / Now I’m the invisible man (D Major; lots of VI / I alternation (B-flat – D))
The form of the demo version holds my interest. Yes, it’s short in a non-commercial sort of way, but so what?
When they recorded (butchered) the song for the Punch the Clock album, they smoothed out the quirks in the formal design in an attempt to make the song more commercially viable ($$$). I don’t like the results much, but I’m sure some people do. Here’s a breakdown:
“The Invisible Man” (from Punch the Clock)
Intro: The ‘riff’ from the Bridge! WHY? They blew the whole surprise of the distant A-flat!!
Verse 1 (D major; not too different from the demo)
First half: I was committed to life and then commuted to the outskirts / With all the love in the world / Living for thirty minutes at a time with a break in the middle for adverts
Second half: But it’s a wonderful world within these cinema walls / Where a shower of affection becomes Niagara Falls
And you wish she could step down from the screen to your seat in the stalls
Chorus 1 (again, not too different)
Cause if stars are only painted on the ceiling above / Then who can you turn to and who do you love / I want to get out while I still can / I want to be like Harry Houdini / Now I’m the invisible man
BRIDGE (Okay, they left this here as in the demo, but listen to how little significance it holds compared with what comes after…)
My head is spinning round faster and faster (A-flat) / Here I stand on the edge of disaster (A-flat) / I’m shattered like a piece of crystal porcelain or alabaster (A)
Verse 2 (INSTRUMENTAL) … This is NEW.
Chorus 2 (only half, though…) Again, NEW. Cause if stars are only painted on the ceiling above / Then who can you turn to and who do you love / I want to get out while I still can … (Why cut it off here so awkwardly?)
Verse 3 (D major)
Crowds surround loudspeakers hanging from the lampposts / Listening to the murder mystery / Meanwhile someone’s hiding in the classroom / Forging books of history
Never mind there’s a good film showing tonight / Where they hang everybody who can read and write / Oh That could never happen here, but then again it might
Chorus 3
Cause if stars are only painted on the ceiling above / Then who can you turn to and who do you love / I want to get out while I still can / I want to be like Harry Houdini / Now I’m the invisible man (extended)
OUTRO (NEW) … the “riff” brought back to D major.
Just to recap:
Verse / Chorus pairs: 2 in the demo, 3 in the final version.
Bridge: 1 in the demo, 1 in the final version, but both the intro and outro use the “riff” and at least the intro uses the tritone-related key.
The excess repetition in the final version kills the beauty of the song, for me anyway. But don’t take my word for it. Pick up the two-disc Rhino re-release of Punch the Clock. There are demo versions of all the songs that make the final cut, and nearly every one is similarly mangled.
