"The Other End (Of the Telescope)" is a song by American band
'Til Tuesday
Til Tuesday (often stylized as til tuesday) was an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann (lead vocals, bass), Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Haus ...
, which was released in 1988 on their third and final studio album ''
Everything's Different Now''. The song was written by
Aimee Mann
Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...
and
Elvis Costello. Costello recorded his own version of the song for his 1996 album ''
All This Useless Beauty
''All This Useless Beauty'' is the seventeenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1996 by Warner Brothers. It peaked at number 28 on the UK album chart, and at No. 53 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It is his ...
''.
Writing
"The Other End (Of the Telescope)" originated with Mann, who wrote the music and her own set of lyrics. She then sent the song to Costello and his main contribution was providing a new set of lyrics. He told ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in 1996, "
twas written with Aimee Mann, but we weren't in the room together. It's a bit like the song I wrote with
Burt Bacharach recently; what I call mail order songs. Your partner sends you whatever part of the composition you're not writing, in this case the music. Mostly, my contribution was the words. It was specifically written for her and the situation she was in at the time. I kept the intro and then wrote a whole other story."
He added in 1998, "Although it now seems a little presumptuous, I tried to find the right words for someone going through a rather unhappy time."
As with a number of tracks on ''Everything's Different Now'', "The Other End (Of the Telescope)" was influenced by the end of Mann's relationship with
Jules Shear
Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night" and The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants", and charted a hit as a performer with "Stead ...
. The song was one that initially bothered Shear when he first heard it. Mann revealed to ''
The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' in 1989, "He likes it now. It bothered him because it was sort of that harsh Elvis vibe. He's actually quite concerned what people think of him on one level."
In a 2018 interview with ''
Stereogum'', Mann recalled of her collaboration with Costello, "He's a legend and wildly talented, and I was over the moon to be able to write with him. I mean, I couldn't believe that he even paid me any attention." In addition to "The Other End (Of the Telescope)", Mann and Costello have collaborated on a number of other songs, although they remain unreleased.
An exception was "The Fall of The World's Own Optimist", a song written in 1994 and released by Mann on her 2000 album ''
Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo''.
Recording
The song was recorded for 'Til Tuesday's third album, ''Everything's Different Now'', with
Rhett Davies
Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer.
Davies' father was trumpet player Ray Davies (no relation to Ray Davies of The Kinks). Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records studios in the early 1970s, a ...
as the producer. Costello provided backing vocals on the recording.
In 1998, Costello said of his appearance on the track, "I'm not sure that it doesn't detract from Aimee's excellent performance."
Critical reception
In a review of ''Everything's Different Now'', Steve Pick of the ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
'' wrote, "
he songis the polished gem I expected, with a delightful tune and some great lyrics playing with the central image of ex-lovers observing each other through the two ends of a telescope, which changes the way each is seen by the other." Jim Bohen of the ''
Daily Record'' described the song as "a waltz on the order of Costello's 'New Amsterdam' - that is, lyrically intricate and musically lovely".
John Milward of ''
Newsday'' considered the song to "frame a stormy love affair in a stately, country-ish melody". Brett Milano of ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' felt the song was the album's "main disappointment". He wrote, "The tune is too easygoing, and Costello's voice sounds as if it wandered in from a different record."
Personnel
'Til Tuesday
*
Aimee Mann
Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...
– vocals, bass and acoustic guitar
*
Michael Hausman
Michael Hausman is an American musician and talent manager, known for his collaboration with former-girlfriend and bandmate Aimee Mann.
Hausman attended Berklee College of Music and played with a Boston band called The Dark before becoming the ...
– drums, percussion, programming
*
Robert Holmes – guitar
*
Michael Montes – keyboards
Additional personnel
*
Elvis Costello – backing vocals
Production
*
Rhett Davies
Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer.
Davies' father was trumpet player Ray Davies (no relation to Ray Davies of The Kinks). Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records studios in the early 1970s, a ...
– producer
*
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Elvis Costello & The Attractions version
"The Other End of the Telescope" was recorded by Elvis Costello and his band, the Attractions, in 1996 for his seventeenth studio album ''
All This Useless Beauty
''All This Useless Beauty'' is the seventeenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1996 by Warner Brothers. It peaked at number 28 on the UK album chart, and at No. 53 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It is his ...
''. It was released as the album's third single and reached No. 86 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in July 1996.
Background
Costello released his version of "The Other End of the Telescope" as the opening track on ''All This Useless Beauty''. His version features altered and additional lyrics, which Costello wrote "lying on the floor of the studio while the band sat impatiently in the control room". In the liner notes of the 2001 re-issue of the album, Costello said, "This song was co-written with Aimee Mann and it seemed to suit her entirely. The tune, which was Aimee's, was very lovely but I felt that the text needed to be more accusative before I could really make it my own." He added to ''The Guardian'' in 1996, "I've always loved the tune and I always wanted to record it."
Critical reception
In a review of ''All This Useless Beauty'', K. Zimmerman of ''
Gavin Report'' wrote, "So strong is this Costello/Mann collaboration, that it casts a long shadow across the rest of the album." Jeffrey Demerly of the ''
Journal & Courier
The Lafayette ''Journal & Courier'' is a daily newspaper owned by Gannett, serving Lafayette, Indiana, and the surrounding communities. It was established in 1920 through the merger of two local papers, the ''Journal and Free Press'' (establish ...
'' wrote, "Costello's voice and Nieve's fine piano playing are really the stars of this record, especially in numbers such as 'The Other End of the Telescope' and 'All This Useless Beauty'."
David Menconi of ''
The News & Observer
''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...
'' felt the song "would have sounded right at home" on Costello's "folksy" 1986 album ''
King of America''. Shane Danielsen of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' commented, "'The Other End of the Telescope' shows again just how far he's come as a vocalist: using his strengths (a sleek velveteen croon in the lower register; that deep, sudden tremolo) to their fullest, interpreting as well as delivering his convoluted lyrics."
In a 2014 feature on "the 20 best songs by Costello", Ryan J. Prado of ''
Paste'' picked "The Other End of the Telescope" as No. 8 on his list. He considered the song to "stand as one of the purest bridges between Costello's brief sojourn from bouncier, snottier pop toward the vestige of the soft serenader".
Track listing
;CD single
#"The Other End of the Telescope" – 4:06
#"Almost Ideal Eyes" – 4:21
#"Basement Kiss" (Live in Dublin) – 4:09
#"
Complicated Shadows" (Cashbox Version) – 2:27
Personnel
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
*
Elvis Costello – vocals, guitar
*
Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...
– piano, keyboards
*
Bruce Thomas
Bruce Thomas (born 14 August 1948 in Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English rock bass guitarist, best known as bassist for the Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record.
In addition to his work ...
– bass
*
Pete Thomas – drums
Production
*
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...
– producer, engineer, mixing
* Elvis Costello – producer
* Jon Jacobs – engineer, mixing
* Bob Ludwig – mastering
* Dave Zamitt – recording and mixing on "Basement Kiss"
Charts
Other versions
* In 1996, English rock band
Sleeper released their own version of the song, which appeared as a track on the UK CD #2 and Australian releases of their single "
Statuesque
"Statuesque" is a song by Britpop band Sleeper, written by the band's vocalist and guitarist Louise Wener. "Statuesque" was the fourth and final single to be released from Sleeper's second album '' The It Girl'' and became the group's last top tw ...
".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Other End of the Telescope
1988 songs
1996 singles
'Til Tuesday songs
Elvis Costello songs
Songs written by Aimee Mann
Songs written by Elvis Costello
Song recordings produced by Rhett Davies
Song recordings produced by Geoff Emerick
Warner Records singles