Each Friday I pick a song–new, old, borrowed, blue–that’s been on my mind and in my ears, and write a short post about it.
This is “Toledo” by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach:
My work colleague and friend Nick was talking to me about this version of “Toledo” the other day. Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach seem like an unlikely pairing on first thought, but I often think that Elvis Costello is a more varied or multifaceted musician than people sometimes think with that first thought. Anyway, that line, “But do people living in Toledo know that their name doesn’t travel very well,” comes close to perfection, opening up a line from two far away cities, and a huge space for your imagination in what you might be tempted to shrug off as a little easy listening love song ditty.
