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Elvis Costello always wanted to write songs like his hero. In 1983, he ended up ripping him off
Elvis Costello has said that Nick Lowe was the songwriter he most wanted to emulate, and that his 1983 song ‘Everyday I Write the Book’ was directly modelled on Lowe’s ‘When I Write the Book’. The admission shows how a long-standing influence became a deliberate tribute, shaped by the friendship and working relationship between the two musicians.
Costello said he had wanted to write songs as good as Lowe’s since he was 17. He added that Rodgers and Hart also influenced the song; Lowe had produced Costello’s first six albums, though they had parted ways by the time of *Punch the Clock*, which included the track.
In short
- Costello called ‘Everyday I Write the Book’ a knockoff of a Nick Lowe song.
- Lowe had been his songwriting hero since he was 17.
- Lowe produced Costello’s first six albums.
Explained simply
Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe are British musicians who became prominent during the late 1970s, when Costello’s band, the Attractions, made sharp, melodic rock songs. Lowe was both a songwriter and a record producer, and produced Costello’s first six albums. Their professional partnership had ended by the time Costello recorded his 1983 album Punch the Clock.
Costello has described Lowe as a major songwriting influence, alongside the American songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. The connection matters because it shows how one musician’s influence can shape another’s work, within a close creative relationship that also involved producing records together.