Less Than Zero (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Less Than Zero
[

Artist = Elvis Costello
from Album = My Aim is True
Released = 25th March 1977
Format =
Recorded = 1977
Genre = New Wave
Length = 3:13
Label = Stiff Records
Writer = Elvis Costello
Producer = Nick Lowe
Chart position =
Last single = N/A
This single = "Less Than Zero"
(1977)
Next single = "Alison"
(1977)

"Less Than Zero" is the eighth track on Elvis Costello's debut album "My Aim Is True", and the first Costello single that Stiff Records released.

In the liner notes to the Rhino edition of the album, Costello writes:

:"Less Than Zero" was a song I had written after seeing the despicable Oswald Mosley being interviewed on BBC television. The former leader of the British Union of Fascists seemed unrepentant about his poisonous actions of the 1930s. The song was more of a slandering fantasy than a reasoned argument." [cite album-notes | title = My Aim Is True | year = 2001 | bandname = Elvis Costello | format = Inset | publisher = Rhino Entertainment | location = USA | publisherid = R2 74285]

The song therefore fits in with a number of anti-fascist protest songs on early Costello albums, which also include "Night Rally" from "This Year's Model" and "Goon Squad" from "Armed Forces". In this case, a racist and totalitarian movement is seen in terms of sub rosa teenage sex: "Turn up the TV... Even your mother won't detect it/ So your father won't know."

On his first visit to the United States, Costello substantially rewrote the lyrics to refer to Lee Harvey Oswald. This was a reference to the common misconception among American fans that this was the "Mr Oswald" referred to in the original lyrics. This version is usually referred to as the "Dallas version" and is available as a bonus track on the "My Aim is True" reissue, and a live version can be found on Live at the El Mocambo.

The song later provided US author Bret Easton Ellis with the title of his debut novel.

References