HomeElvis CostelloSong Meaning of "She" by Elvis Costello

Song Meaning of “She” by Elvis Costello

Song Details

  • Album Release Date: 2012
  • Genre: folk

Song Meaning of “She” by Elvis Costello

She by Elvis Costello is a powerful, melancholic song about devotion and loyalty. It paints an evocative picture of lost love and heartbreak, with Costello’s emotive lyrics alluding to a relationship gone awry.

The mournful tone of the song is established in the first verse with the lyrics ‘She may be the beauty or the beast, maybe the famine or the feast’. These words denote the ambiguity surrounding a deteriorating relationship, and refer to the difficult decision of whether to stay or turn away from it despite the uncomfortable feelings. The metaphor of ‘beast’ and ‘feast’ reflects the idea of the love or affection offered in the relationship being something that has the potential to be pleasurable yet painful at the same time.

The second verse draws attention to the ways in which the past can haunt a relationship, with the phrase ‘Adorned with scars and your badge of honour’ hinting to an individual that carries their scars and emotional baggage from prior relationships into their present one. The ‘decline and fall of your kingdom’ suggests that the intensity of the relationship has plummeted over time and collapsed.

The chorus then reveals a brief window of optimism in what is an otherwise emotionally turbulent song. Costello mentions the possibility of the relationship being ‘abiding’ – a sign of hope that the love will remain even if the feelings and emotions within the relationship slowly dissipate.

The song’s mourning notes sustain in the third verse, as ‘She’ takes on an abstract form, with Costello now appealing to a greater notion of love. Both ‘She’ and ‘He’ are described as ‘holding hands’ ‘in the mist’, which can be interpreted as the two characters in the songs unspoken bond transcending physicality and emotions and existing in a state of ethereal bliss.

In conclusion, ‘She’ is a mournful account of fading love and the struggle for hope and closeness within a relationship. Its sombre tones resonate far and wide in the emotiveness of Costello’s words and suggest a truly powerful and human approach to love.

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