Oliver's Army

"Oliver's Army" is a song written by Elvis Costello, originally performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and appearing on the album Armed Forces in 1979. It remains his most successful single, spending four weeks at Nº2 in the UK singles chart.^[2]

Overview

Music critics, such as Prof. Simon Frith ^[3] and others ^[4] have suggested that the title refers to Oliver Cromwell whose New Model Army was a forerunner to the modern British Army.

Of the song's meaning, Costello himself has stated: "I made my first trip to Belfast in 1978 and saw mere boys walking around in battle dress with automatic weapons. They were no longer just on the evening news. These snapshot experiences exploded into visions of mercenaries and imperial armies around the world. The song was based on the premise 'they always get a working class boy to do the killing'. I don't know who said that; maybe it was me, but it seems to be true nonetheless. I pretty much had the song sketched out on the plane back to London."^[5]

As well as The Troubles the song alludes to several other "trouble spots" around the world at the time including South Africa, Palestine, and "Checkpoint Charlie". It has been suggested that the events in Belfast prompted Costello to write this "anti-occupation anthem".^[6]

The music video for "Oliver's Army" was aired on MTV's first U.S. broadcast day, 1 August 1981 (1981-08-01).^{[citation needed]}

The song lyrics contain the phrase "white nigger", which usually remains uncensored on radio stations.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by a large number of artists, including Raimundos, [spunge], Belle & Sebastian, Blur, Peter Mulvey, OK Go, O'Malley's March, Dirty Pretty Things, and comedy duo Cannon and Ball.^[7][8] Comedian Frank Skinner performed the song when he impersonated Costello on an episode of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes.

Notes

External links

• Lyrics at the Elvis Costello Home Page