My Aim Is True

I found myself listening to Fi Glover's Saturday Live on the radio yesterday morning. I must admit, since Peel left us, Home Truths has proved a difficult act to follow but I guess Glover has persevered and made the Saturday slot her own. This week's Inheritance Tracks were chosen by author Tracy Chevalier; her first choice was Alison by Elvis Costello. Always one for a barbed lyric, what you hear with EC is not always what you get - a little like Paul Heaton, the aching melody and soft tempo belie what's really going on in there. Alright, I know this is meat and two veg to Costello acolytes, but what I wasn't expecting was Chevalier's take on the lyrics: she was reading the 'My aim is true' refrain as an implied death threat. Is she right? I'd not entertained the thought before, I must say, and wading through Costello quotes down the years he's always denied such an interpretation. Here Tracey Thorn all but improves on the original.

Everything but the Girl - Alison (1992)

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