20. “Pump It Up”
Videos by American Songwriter
It’s common for critics and fans to praise the lyrics of Elvis Costello, but that only tells half the story really. It gives short shrift to the dynamic music he has produced throughout his career. That career has taken him through a variety of genres and has included numerous collaborators and accompanists, but his time with the Attractions blasting some out of the most colorful yet potent rock and roll of the late 70’s and early 80’s is most influential musical period.
“Pump It Up” is a track so propulsive that it has been a staple of PA systems at American sporting events for years (hence it’s inclusion on such collections as Jock Rock 2000 and ESPN Presents Slam Jam Volume 1.) Part of the reason for that is the “Pump it up” refrain, which is exactly what a home crowd is looking to do. But another part of it is the primal rock groove conjured by The Attractions on the song.
“Pump It Up,” one of the bombs dropped by Elvis and the boys on This Year’s Model, is a true tour de force for bassist Bruce Thomas, who gets the ball rolling with his funky rumble and then shows incredible nimbleness when he sprints up and down all over the chorus. When Thomas joins up with Costello on guitar and Steve Nieve on organ for that thundering riff, it’s one of those great rock moments, the power of which you can never properly explain to someone without saying, “Here, listen to this.”
E.C. then slyly uses the lyrics as a way of undercutting the machismo of the music. His words speak of futility, reeking of lascivious desire that goes frustratingly unfulfilled and style completely devoid of substance. Copping a verbal rhythm borrowed from Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” Elvis’ verbal spitfire sounds like it could fire you up as long as you can’t make out the words. If you can, the sarcasm comes at you even harder than that beat.
In the refrain, Costello makes it clear that where all the bluster leads: “Pump it up until you can feel it/Pump it up when you don’t really need it.” In the middle of a chanting crowd hoping for a basket coming out of the time out, the subtlety of those lines likely won’t hit home. Take a closer listen though, and you’ll hear “Pump It Up” as the most invigorating piece of subversion around rather than Gary Glitter redux.
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