Sometimes as a fan of a particular artist, there are things you know about them that are simply there and only come into full focus many years later. Among the most famous comments Costello ever put on record was in an early interview where he said main motivations were revenge and guilt.
Listening to the song God Give Me Strength today finally made that quote something more than an abstract fact of his biography. The key moment is the lyric, "Maybe I was washed out like a lip-print on a shirt. See I'm only human, I want him to hurt."
Hearing Costello sing those lines and the way his voice wrenches every bit of anger and pain out of those words, it's clear that he understands the darker sides of human feelings. As much as I admire his wordplay and the craft that enables him to go from torch-songs to rock to bluegrass, that understanding is where his true greatness lies.
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