"Jack of All Parades" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

, which was released on his tenth studio album ''

King of America ''King of America'' is the tenth studio album by British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, credited to "The Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates" in the UK and Europe and to "The Costello Show featuring Elvis Costel ...

'' (1986). The song was written by Costello, credited under his real name Declan MacManus, and produced by

T Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in film ...

, Costello and Larry Kalman Hirsch. As a musician, Costello is credited on the track as "The Little Hands of Concrete". It is a love song, inspired by his new relationship with

Cait O'Riordan Caitlín O'Riordan (born 4 January 1965) is a British musician of Irish and Scottish descent. She played bass guitar for the Irish punk/folk band the Pogues from 1983 to 1986. She later played with Elvis Costello (her husband from 1986 to 2002) ...

the Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

, and is unusual in Costello's catalogue for being a positive love song. The song has been positively reviewed by critics, some of whom commented that the lyrics were straightforward and affecting. A

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

version was issued on the 2005

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re-release of ''King of America''.

Background and recording

After the release of his album '' Goodbye Cruel World'' (1984),

distanced himself from his long-term backing group the Attractions, and started touring with

. He also began a relationship with

. Recording for Costello's next studio album, ''

'', commenced in July 1985 in Los Angeles, with Burnett as producer, and musicians including members of the TCB Band and others. The Attractions joined some of the sessions in August, but Costello was unhappy with the outcome and did not invite them back. ''King of America'' was released in February 1986 on the F-Beat label in the United Kingdom. The authorship of "Jack of All Parades" was credited to Declan MacManus, Costello's real name. The musicians for the album are credited as a group as "The Costello Show Featuring The Attractions and The Confederates". On "Jack of All Parades", Costello is credited as the guitarist under the pseudonym "The Little Hands of Concrete", a nickname given to him by

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave, Costello's biographer Brian Hinton describes the music as "a shuffle beat, led by -BoneWolk's electric bass", and where Costello's vocals are "endlessly echoed on the chorus". The other musicians on the track are Steve Nieve of the Attractions on piano, Mitchell Froom playing

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, and drummer

Mickey Curry Michael Timothy Curry (born June 10, 1956) is an American musician. He has collaborated with singer-songwriter Bryan Adams since the early 1980s, but has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, ...

. In the liner notes for the 1995 reissue of the album, Costello wrote that "With the exception of some trickery on "Jack Of All Parades", there were few effects employed other than reverb." Costello commented that "Without the pressure to deliver a 'hit-sound' the band worked very well, with fine touches such as T-Bone's volume-control bass interlude before the coda. Steve Nieve added piano to this track, as we searched for the right combination of musicians to capture the last few elusive titles

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" On ''King of America'', the track ends with an interrupted cadence which sets up the next track, "

Suit of Lights Suit of Lights is a rock band. They have been described as an "indie rock manifestation" led by Joe Darone, whose noteworthy contributors include Trevor Dunn from Mr. Bungle, Steve Pedulla from Thursday, and Jamie Egan from Catch 22 and Stree ...

", but when issued on the

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version of the compilation '' Girls Girls Girls'' (1989), it was the last track on a side, meaning, according to music scholar Dai Griffiths, that "the cadence sleft to dangle in the silence". another music scholar, James Perone, wrote that the song, with its verses having different numbers of lines to each other, has the "most unconventional and complicated structure" of any track on ''King of America''. A

version was included on the 2005

re-release of ''King of America''.

Themes and reception

Costello biographer Graeme Thomson described both "Jack of All Parades" and "I'll Wear It Proudly" from ''King of America'' as transparently about Costello's love for O'Riordan. Costello had called "Jack of All Parades" "an unapologetic companion" to "I'll Wear It Proudly" in the 1995 album liner notes. Hinton considers "I'll Wear It Proudly", to be self-hating, while "Jack of All Parades" was about the start of an unanticipated love affair. Costello remarked in his 2015 autobiography that "'I'll Wear It Proudly' was an abject song about the fool that love makes of a man past his prime, and 'Jack of All Parades' mocked the philanderer in the moment of surrender." Mike Gardner of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' recognised that both were explicitly love songs, and ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

'' critic Jim Gough praised them as heartfelt in a way that Costello's earlier work had lacked. Biographer David Gouldstone wrote that the track referred to a narrator willingly giving up stardom for love. Gouldstone commented that the key part of the song was the final verse, where the straightforwardness of the lyrics "is convincing and somehow very touching". In '' Pitchfork'' in 2005,

Stephen Deusner Stephen M. Deusner is an American music critic and part-time record store clerk who lives in Bloomington, Indiana. A native of Tennessee, he has contributed to Pitchfork Media (including ''the Pitchfork 500''), ''Salon'', '' CMT'', ''American Songwr ...

opined that the dark humour found in songs such as "Jack of All Parades" on the album was a continuation from Costello's earlier work. John Griffin of ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'' felt that "gymnastic pop exercises" were another theme carried through from Costello's oeuvre, and mentioned "Jack of All Parades" as "a killer" that would have fit with the rest of Costello's ''

Imperial Bedroom ''Imperial Bedroom'' is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his sixth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was released on 2July 198 ...

'' (1982). Reviewing the 2005 reissue, Rob Sheffield of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' highlighted "Jack of All Parades", "I'll Wear It Proudly," and "Indoor Fireworks" as "twisted adult love ballads" songs that were more affecting than Costello's earlier recordings. Some critics remarked that it was unusual for Costello to write a positive love song. Joyce Millman of '' The Boston Phoenix'' remarked that in "Jack of All Parades", Costello "drops the security of circuitous wordplay for an achingly direct 'I loved you there and then/ It's as simple as that'". In ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Sean O'Hagan described it as intimate, and, being about "the redemptive power of romance", quite unlike Costello's earlier work. Author Larry David Smith called the song an "unprecedented statement of relational joy" for Costello,; and one of only three "songs of relational celebration" by Costello as of 2004. Music executive Gary Stewart wrote that the song encompasses "many moods, tempos, and textures that underpin its first-person confession" from a narrator seeking a fulfilling relationship. The song contains a mention of "the crimes of Paris", which Hinton thinks "could either refer to a dirty French weekend, or the classical hero of Troy"; "Crimes of Paris" was a song on Costello's next studio album, '' Blood & Chocolate'' (1986); this is one of several examples in Costello's catalogue of him re-using a title or phrase on a different one of his records. When Costello opened a concert in Nashville with the song in 2014, the reviewer for ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'' felt that his delivery of the chorus lines "To be the love of one true heart/ Or the jack of all parades" was "like a statement of long-tail career purpose."

Credits and personnel

Musicians The Costello Show: *The Little Hands Of Concrete – vocals, acoustic guitar *

T-Bone Wolk Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band. Life and career Wolk was born and raised in Yon ...

– electric bass *

– sticks & drums * Mitchell Froom – Hammond organ * Steve Nieve – piano Technical personnel Produced by J. Henry (T-Bone) Burnett & Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus with Larry Kalman Hirsch.

Notes

References

Books * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Elvis Costello songs 1986 songs Songs written by Elvis Costello Song recordings produced by T Bone Burnett