124 :: The Gaze That You Provoke :: A Slow Drag with "The Difference"

Today’s slow drag is with “The Difference,” from “The Boy Named If,” released in 2023. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello.

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Show Notes:

Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_remedy/

Bluesky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/slowdragwithremedy.com

Email: [email protected]  

“Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, Podcasts” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=Podcasts

Transcription: https://slowdragwithremedy.weebly.com

Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

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Slow Drag with Remedy on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1f521a34-2ed9-4bd4-a936-1ad107969046/slow-drag-with-remedy-an-elvis-costello-appreciation

 

References:

 

Elvis Costello Wiki Resource, “The Difference” https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php?title=The_Difference

 

“The Difference” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tvg-OfP1LA

 

Octameter: https://poemanalysis.com/poetic-meter/#:~:text=Octameter%20Octameter%20refers%20to%20a,patterns%20in%20English%20language%20verse.

 

The difference between undertone and overtone https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/undertone-and-overtone

 

What is an appositive: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appositive

 

Fiddlehead Reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYe6ZMs3K4

 

Fiddlehead: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiddlehead

 

The Male Gaze: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-male-gaze-5118422

 

Purchase “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday”

 

Listen to the audiobook of “The Most Terrible Time in My Life…Ends Thursday” for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7n1pN8D1Y

"The Difference" Lyrics

I pulled a petal from the flower to tell just where my fortune fell

About a boy beyond my caution before I lay beneath his spell

And he said, "Do you know, do you know, do you, by chance, know wrong from right?"

"Do you know, do you know, do you know what turns pleasure to plight?

If you trust me, I know it may seem strange 

I'll show you the way down into the underworld"

I did just what he asked me to

Lifted my skirt to show him my shoe

Upon a reel of the finest fiddlehead

Light as the dance around Milady's bed

The steps came faster at his insistence

'Til he showed me all about the difference

"It's not about the things I promised, it's not about the vow we broke

If I am faithless or dishonest it's just the gaze that you provoke"

And he said, "Do you know, do you know, do you, by chance, know wrong from right?"

"Do you know, do you know, do you know what turns pleasure to plight?

If you kiss me, at first it may seem strange

I'll show you the way into another world"

My father shamed me just like you

Buried my name in a glass or two

'Til he came to me in his darkest house

He mistook me, took me for his spouse

And my cries for a woman in the distance 

So, I took this knife to show him the difference

'Til he came to me in his darkest house

He mistook me, took me for his spouse

And my cries for the woman in the distance 

So, I used this knife to show him the difference