"Complicated Shadows" is a song written by new wave musician

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

and recorded by Costello with his backing band

the Attractions The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums ...

. The song appeared on Costello's 1996 album, '' All This Useless Beauty''. Costello originally wrote the song for

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

, but after Cash did not record the song, he chose to record a version with

in 1996. Though initially more country-influenced in arrangement, the song was reworked by the band to be more rock-oriented. The final studio recording on ''All This Useless Beauty'' edits together studio takes of the song with a live performance from a show at the Beacon Theatre in 1995. Though not released as a single, it appeared as a B-side to " The Other End of the Telescope" as well as on the soundtrack to the television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. Since its release, the song has been lauded by critics. Costello rerecorded the song in its original arrangement in 2009 for his album '' Secret, Profane & Sugarcane''.

Background

first wrote "Complicated Shadows" with the intention to give it to country musician

, who had previously recorded Costello songs such as "Hidden Shame". Ultimately, Cash never recorded the song. Costello reflected, "I sent it to him near the end of his life, and whether the song reached him or not or whether it didn't appeal to him, I hear it in his voice. I imagine John to be someone who could deliver the final lines of the song with authority, and it helped me write them to think of him singing them." Costello ultimately chose to record the song himself for '' All This Useless Beauty'', an album which was originally intended to be a collection of songs Costello wrote for others. Lyrically, the song tackles the subjects of vengeance and

vigilantism Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

. Costello explained in 1996, "If you go out there saying, 'I know what's right,' you'd better be right.

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

describes that dilemma of taking justice into your own hands. We see it in the people in the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

who kidnapped some local hooligan and beat him up, or in the

LA riots Los Angeles riots or protests may refer to: *1992 Los Angeles riots, following the acquittal of police officers accused of using excessive force against Rodney King *Watts riots, of 1965, following an arrest for drunk driving in the Watts neighborh ...

." Because the song was intended for Cash, Costello wrote the lyrics in "semi-Biblical language."

Recording

Originally, Costello had arranged the song in Cash's country style. Costello explained, "I think at first it probably sounded a little bit too much like a Johnny Cash song, and I didn't want to record it leaning that way with

." However, once Costello decided to revive the song for ''All This Useless Beauty'', he and the Attractions re-arranged the song to have a slower, more

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

-inflected style largely absent from the rest of the album. Costello commented on the new arrangement: When the band attempted to capture this style in the studio, however, they failed to capture a satisfactory recording. As such, producer

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road' ...

and engineer Jon Jacobs stitched together a studio recording with sections from a live recording performed by the band at the Beacon Theatre in 1995. Jacobs explained the process in an interview in 1996:

Release

"Complicated Shadows" was released on Costello's 1996 album '' All This Useless Beauty'' in May 1996. Although not released as a single, the song appeared on the B-side of " The Other End of the Telescope" in July 1996. In some jurisdictions, the version that appeared on the single was the so-called "Cashbox" version, which was Costello's country-influenced demo of the song. In other locations, the standard studio recording with the Attractions was used. "Complicated Shadows" appeared in season one of ''

'', giving it greater exposure.

Martin Bruestle Martin Bruestle is an American television producer best known for his work on ''Northern Exposure'' and ''The Sopranos''. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1987, Martin Bruestle was selected to participate in the Academy of Tel ...

, a producer on the show who helped Chase select the show's music, commented that creator

David Chase David Henry Chase (born August 22, 1945) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the HBO drama ''The Sopranos'', which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2 ...

was a "massive Elvis fan" and had previously used Costello's version of "

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is a 1974 song written by English singer/songwriter Nick Lowe. Initially released by Lowe with his band Brinsley Schwarz on their 1974 album ''The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz'', ...

" in his 1988 show '' Almost Grown''. The song then appeared on the soundtrack album '' The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series''. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' concluded of the song's inclusion, "If the show hired

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock, power pop and New wave music, new wave,The Beast in Me' or Costello's 'Complicated Shadows.

Critical reception

"Complicated Shadows" attracted positive critical reception from music writers upon its release. '' The London Telegraph'' wrote of the track, "The song mainlines into a world of

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

cowboys with a conviction that suggests the author really is some saddlesore ex-rodeo jock rather than a bespectacled post-punk." ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' praised how the song "opens quietly but literally builds to a scream", while the '' Bergen County Record'' commented, "The bluesy tune was originally written for Johnny Cash, but it's difficult to imagine the Man in Black doing it the kind of justice Costello and company do." '' Q'' wrote, "Why on earth Johnny Cash never bothered to record the brooding 'Complicated Shadows' is something only his doctors must know" in a 1996 review; in a review of the 2001 reissue of ''All This Useless Beauty'', meanwhile, ''Q'' named it a standout track from the album.

Personnel

Elvis Costello & The Attractions *

– vocals, guitar *

Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as w ...

– piano, keyboards * Bruce Thomas – bass * Pete Thomas – drums Production *

– producer, engineer, mixing * Elvis Costello – producer * Jon Jacobs – engineer, mixing * Bob Ludwig – mastering

2009 version

In 2009, Costello rerecorded "Complicated Shadows for his 2009 album, '' Secret, Profane & Sugarcane''. Though Costello was hesitant to rerecord a song, he determined, "About four people bought 'All this Useless Beauty'' The only people who remark on whether it's a good or a bad thing, or even whether I have recorded this song twice, are obviously people who are following my career very carefully." For this recording, Costello leaned closer to the country style that he originally wrote the song in, a style present on the "Cashbox" demo version. He explained, "The matters of the text needed to be held a little more closely to the chest than the rock 'n' roll version did." Elsewhere, he commented, "I always wanted to record the version I heard in my head." This version was then released as a single in April 2009, featuring the then-unreleased ''All This Useless Beauty'' reject "Dirty Rotten Shame" as the B-side. The song was a moderate Adult Alternative hit, reaching number 15 on the American Adult Alternative Songs chart. The rerecording of "Complicated Shadows" generally saw mixed critical reception, with reviewers often expressing a preference for the original recording. ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' wrote in a review of ''Secret, Profane & Sugarcane'', "The older Costello songs 'Hidden Shame' and 'Complicated Shadows' remain infectious, even in the staid acoustic versions presented here." In another review of the album ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' stated, "The best song here, "Complicated Shadows," already did come out on 1996's ''All This Useless Beauty'', in a more compelling rock form." More approvingly, '' Time Out Sydney'' wrote, "Certainly the rollicking country strum lifts the song compared with the leaden rock arrangement on 1996's ''All this Useless Beauty''."

Charts

References

{{Elvis Costello 1996 songs Elvis Costello songs Songs written by Elvis Costello Song recordings produced by Geoff Emerick