Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army

About "Oliver's Army"

"Oliver's Army" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Costello and the Attractions, from the former's third studio album Armed Forces (1979). The song is a new wave track that was lyrically inspired by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and includes lyrics critical of the socio-economic components of war. Costello had travelled to Northern Ireland and was influenced by sights of British soldiers patrolling Belfast. Musically, the song features a glossy production and a keyboard performance inspired by ABBA, creating a juxtaposition between the lyrics and music that both critics and Costello have pointed out.

Released as the first single from Armed Forces, "Oliver's Army" was Costello's most successful single in the United Kingdom, spending three weeks at number two on the UK Singles Chart and remaining on the chart for 12 weeks. The song also charted in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland and Australia, and it spawned the successful follow-up single "Accidents Will Happen", which reached the top 30 in the UK.

"Oliver's Army" has since been recognised by writers as one of the highlights of Armed Forces and has received critical acclaim for its melody, production, and lyrics. The song has appeared on numerous rankings of Costello's great songs as well as on multiple compilation albums. It has been covered by multiple artists, including Blur.

Top songs by Elvis Costello

More about Elvis Costello music

INFO BIO DISCOGRAPHY

"Oliver's Army" video by Elvis Costello is property and copyright of its owners and it's embedded from Youtube.
Information about the song "Oliver's Army" is automatically taken from Wikipedia. It may happen that this information does not match with "Oliver's Army".
SONGSTUBE is against piracy and promotes safe and legal music downloading. Music on this site is for the sole use of educational reference and is the property of respective authors, artists and labels. If you like Elvis Costello songs on this site, please buy them on Itunes, Amazon and other online stores. All other uses are in violation of international copyright laws. This use for educational reference, falls under the "fair use" sections of U.S. copyright law.