THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

836-Elvis Costello and the Attractions-Oliver’s Army.

1979-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 1.54.A deceptively jolly ‘Abba’ type tune, that hides a sinister message.

Nick Lowe who was the songs producer has said that Costello was going to dump the song when they first started recording it,’We went through it all afternoon, and it just wasn’t happening at all.’ Then out of the blue Steve Nieve (who was one of the Attractions) said,’What about if I do a sort of Abba piano part on it?’ Lowe said,’We knew their records were good, but no one wanted to own up to it. Nieve did the piano part, and suddenly the thing went from black and white to fireworks.’ (see also best songs 44.)

Elvis Costello who was born Declan Patrick MacManus on 25th August, 1954, in Paddington, London, England, wrote the lyrics after visiting Belfast for the first time.He was shocked to see very young soldiers from the British Army walking around with machine guns.It was a time of great unemployment, especially in the North of England, and Costello is saying that the only real option that young men had to avoid unemployment was to join the army.The songs title is a reference to Oliver Cromwell who established the first professional, properly trained, fighting force, who were known as the ‘New Model Army,’ who fought the English Civil War against the Royalist army of Charles 1.

Elvis Costello has said,’Oliver’s Army became our biggest hit single, stalling at Number 2 on the charts, while records by Blondie, Boney M, and the Bee Gees all overtook us at the top of the hit parade. I thought briefly about changing my name again to something beginning with a ‘B.’

‘But there’s no danger, it’s a professional career, though it could be arranged with just a word in Mr Churchill’s ear.’