1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 427. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Armed Forces (1979)

 

And so on to 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. Elsewhere there are various conflicts, some of which continue to resonate today, not least the deposition of the Shah of Iran and his replacement by the Ayatollah Khomenei, while Saddam Hussein assumes power in Iraq, and Russia invades Afghanistan. 

Wars rumble on between Cambodia and Vietnam, and Uganda and Tanzania. The IRA carry out some high-profile assassinations including MP Airey Neave, and Lord Mountbatten, cousin of the Queen. Carter and Brezhnev sign SALT II.  

Voyager-1 passes by Jupiter, revealing volcanoes on Io and has a (spoiler alert) starring role in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Meanwhile, Philips reveal the Compact Disc. 

Which brings us back to the music. 

This, for me, is the best Elvis Costello album so far. The Attractions are in fine form, and it really feels like the group has gelled. Costello turns his acerbic gaze onto the armed forces of the title. Probably his biggest hit off the album is Oliver’s Army, driven by Steve Nieve’s distinctive piano riff (inspired by ABBA’s Dancing Queen), and it informs one of the themes of the album, that of the effect of armed conflict on people.  

The narrator is extolling the virtues of being in the army, mainly the opportunity to go places and to shoot people with impunity, “one more widow, one less white n****r” as it infamously says. Being an album that explores the effects of fascism, the album is laced through with some uncomfortable language, but never do you get the sense that Costello endorses any of it.  

A lot of the album mixes the political and the personal. Green Shirt, for example, is ostensibly about a woman getting dressed to go out, but the green shirt of the title is evidently a uniform for some kind of fascist regime – I guess “black shirt” would be too direct, perhaps. I wondered if it was simply army green, but the intent is pretty clear. Two Little Hitlers, meanwhile, explores the idea that people can be heartless and oppresive to each other in relationships. 

This is all couched on fairly poppy music, certainly less obviously “new wave” as his previous albums, and the expansion of his sphere of interest makes the cynicism more palatable. After all, you shouldn’t punch a girl, but it’s never morally wrong to punch a Nazi.