49 years ago today, Elvis Costello quit his job at a cosmetics factory to pursue music full-time. Although he became a rock legend, none of his songs ever made it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. His 1989 song, “Veronica,” was his highest-charting song. It peaked at No. 19.
“Veronica” was co-written by Costello and Paul McCartney. The lyrics were inspired by Costello’s grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Her Catholic confirmation name, Veronica, inspired the title of the song.
During a BBC interview, Costello spoke about the creation of the song. He said, “I wanted to write a song about this old person sitting there and appearing to be completely gone, as we say, but really coming and going and sometimes being completely lucid—but not making it a sentimental song. I wanted it to be sort of defiant and happy, as if it was about a very young girl who was just starting out her life.”
He continued, “I really took a lot of it from when I was talking with my grandmother, when I went to visit her during the last few years of her life. It’s like a love song in a way for her, but written as if it’s about a young girl. The pop music thing bears that up—people will hear the song and maybe say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s about this young girl Veronica,’ and then maybe listen a little bit more. I’m not making any big point, it’s just a little bit of hope and a love song from me.”
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Costello also spoke about what it was like working with the iconic Beatle in an interview with The Current. “When you mentioned Paul—yes, it is really, really something to say that you wrote 15 songs for Paul McCartney because of all the other songs he wrote, and maybe even a few I wrote, but the thing I take to heart most of all is the starting point for that collaboration was ‘Veronica.’”
He continued, “The first song we wrote, ‘Veronica,’ is a song about my grandmother’s descent into Alzheimer’s dementia. And the fact that he had the heart to see what story I had brought into the room, and helped me make it into a coherent song, where the bright carriage of the music allowed people to hear the song as a pop music piece before they realized what it was about. So I don’t so much, you know, as you say, you heard the song before you realize it’s a collaboration. I think it’s possible to make music that’s about serious, even tragic subjects, and have people appreciate the music that carries them before the implication of the lyric arrives in their understanding. That’s very true.”
Costello is 71. He is still actively performing and is currently on his tour, Radio Soul!: The Songs of Elvis Costello From The Early Days to the Late Hours. He is set to perform on August 8 in Massachusetts.
