Elvis Costello – (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea

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  General Comment:Too bad Mr Moderator - someone else liked it ! (they rated me back up !)
  
  The PEOPLE have spoken. !Viva la lucha¡ We will CRUSH you...

  Flag NomadMonadon January 28, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:It's obvious that Elvis Costello is comparing the Chelsea NY scene with one of the insane asylums in Chelsea, England.
  
  Come on, guys, this isn't difficult.

  Flag bmo311on January 08, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:Edie Sedgwick, Twiggy, Warhol and his dissident-queer entourage, the cult of decadence and bohemian posers, models, shallow shock-tactics that are mistaken for daring art, speed freaks and platinum blondes in black leather hanging out with sick shemales, plotless pointless film experiments hailed as cutting edge cinema, addicts and self-promoting sociopaths celebrated by the high priests of urban nihilist obfuscation as the next big thing, being intentionally cryptic as a substitute for actual creative talent. Chelsea Hotel. Ciao Manhattan. Dr. Robert. Velvet Underground (man - do they get boring after a while...)
  
  Makes me love Norman Rockwell paintings. To hell with nihilism. Elvis is King!

  Flag NomadMonadon May 16, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:I think a lot of people here have made the assumption that Elvis is referring to the Chelsea district of New York rather than the one in London. Of course, Elvis must have been aware of them both, so we can assume that he wrote the lyrics in such a multi-layered way that as many targets as possible could be assassinated in relatively few words.
  
  The pun 'capital' in capital punishment suggests the song is more about London as a capital city, as well as affluence as ThunderCow pointed out; Chelsea notably being a well-to-do area of West London.
  
  Whilst all the theories above (knowing EC's knack for lyrical intricacy) probably hit the nail on the head, it should also noted that the punk scene was centered around Chelsea (Malcolm McClaren and Vivienne Westwood's SEX boutique was situated on the King's Road) so that aspect shouldn't be ignored. Could Elvis be distancing himself from the punk bracket he found himself forced into with this tirade?
  
  

  Flag tc149on August 12, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:This song is pretty clearly Elvis' slap in the face to the art/fashion/modeling scene:
  
  Fancy tricks = models, last year's model = last season's "it girl", chelsea hotel reference = slap at the famous and fabulous exemplified by Warhol's gang, etc.
  
  The line that gets misunderstood, I think, is "they call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie." Elsie is a typical rural, girl-next-door, wholesome beauty's name (think the publican's daughter) -- the American equivalent might be Becky Sue (or Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island). So the rural natural beauty can't cut it in the fashion world, which has to make her into an "exotic" manufactured product -- "Natasha" -- to make its money.

  Flag ditkoquestionon December 28, 2010   Link

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    oh, and re: questions about whether or not the song refers to the chelsea hotel directly, of course it does..."even though I've seen the movie" refers to Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls" set there.

    Flag ditkoquestionon December 28, 2010  

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    pps... for an equally good slap at "scenes and scenesters" everywhere, try "First We Take Manhattan" by Leonard Cohen!

    Flag ditkoquestionon December 28, 2010  
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  General Comment:Costello's clearly a genius and one of the most gifted lyricists of all of pop and rock. The first three records blazed a trail in three intense years '77, '78 and 79 that in my opinion has never been equalled by any other artist in terms of intensity.
  
  To me 'Chelsea is two stories in one. One is about the decadent lifestyle of the typical London, Chelsea rich upper class population, as lived by the likes of Max Mosley, witnessed thirty years later. Older men with younger girls, turning "fancy tricks." Girls who do not matter as individuals "you call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie" and this clearly is a life that repels the storyteller, as it's emotionally dead and degrading. In parallel there's the story about ending up at the Chelsea asylum and it's similarily repelling. The comparison between the rich, emotionally dead Chelsea life style and asylum life metaphorically connects the two worlds.

  Flag Gadgetyon December 25, 2010   Link

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    I agree with all you say here. Well said... but
    
    Why are there so few commentaries on the songs of one of the most gifted lyricists in rock music?

    Flag NomadMonadon May 16, 2012  
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  General Comment:i don't think this is a reference to the chelsea hotel.. i believe the title is a pun on the old UK national service song 'i don't want to go to china' (sung by servicemen who were being sent to, surprise surprise, china). so the choice of location is fairly random and by way of a joke. it's chelsea in london though, there are no references to the chelsea hotel elsewhere in it, and surely, anyway, being quite a grammarian, he would have called the song 'i don't want to go to THE chelsea' otherwise?

  Flag djewesburyon February 01, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:Most of you are on the right track, however, the man is referring to the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan.

  Flag SiriusInSFon January 15, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:I think that Elvis was involved with Bebe Buell (the model) at this time so was probably involved heavilyin the life she lived which would have been quite alien to him at that time. He probably considered it a mad lifestyle. Chelsea is associated with high end fashion so this ties in with the modelling ( the album this is from is called 'this years model') but chelsea has also historically been linked with asylums - I believe bedlam was situated there in 18th & 19th century. It seems to me that he is trying to link madness and modelling/fashion ( see Bruno- the movie!!)

  Flag redmeloneateron July 22, 2009   Link

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  Song Meaning:In part I think there's an element of the women (fashion models, or prostitutes, or?) being quickly discarded as 'yesterday's'. The lyrics "she's last year's model / They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie" I think refer to Elsie the cow, the symbol for Borden milk, which is or was the biggest milk brand in the US--in other words, Natasha is so last-year, she looks like a cow (too fat).
  
  Could it be that the men in white coats are at an institution dealing with eating disorders (reportedly common in fashion models) on an in-patient basis? Be anexoric or be discarded like Natasha! But don't let anyone SEE your disorder (finger down your throat privately, please).
  
  Could the he, at sixty-six, be a photographer (like EC on the cover) or a fashion designer? Is EC saying such men use models like prostitutes?
  

  Flag NAwlinsContrarianon May 17, 2009   Link

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    I agree about the models/Chelsea girls connection. I've always thought that the song was about the manufactured "superstars" of the art scene, the self and other deception, and the pretentiousness of the "scene". To me, "call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie" always meant taking an ordinary girl (Elsie is a pretty common old-fashioned rural English name) and trying to "reinvent her" as an exotic model (Natasha). TO me, this song has always been a warning about getting involved in and an indictment of the "art scene."

    Flag ditkoquestionon May 22, 2009  

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