“There’s a Story in Your Voice” (2004) – Elvis Costello and the Imposters (with Lucinda Williams) * Written and produced by Elvis Costello * LP: The Delivery Man * Label: Lost Highway
Take a whole sack of one liners, equal parts chord changes, douse it in prepared angst, put a hat on it, and you’ve got yourself an Elvis Costello song circa 2004. The hookiest track on The Delivery Man is called “There’s a Story in Your Voice” and it’s also the most annoying, vying for a “love to hate” reaction in the listener. It’s that aforementioned prepared angst that’s the “story” in the voices of both Costello and guest Lucinda Williams, causing Williams to oversnarl. When cats do this outside your window, you throw things at them.