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“Only takes one itchy trigger / One more widow, one less white n*****,” says Elvis Costello’s “Oliver’s Army.” As early as 2022, the singer asked some radio stations in his homeland to stop playing the song because it contains the N-word.
The satirical song is about how governments and militaries are using young working-class people as soldiers, with the use of the N-word a reference to how Catholics were once referred to in Northern Ireland.
As early as 2025, Costello sang the protest song live again, but deliberately refrained from using the word on stage in order to make a statement. Instead, he now sings the line “one more widow, another pallbearer.” In a new interview with the Times, the 71-year-old took up the topic again.
You should know the background
“I no longer use words that sound like red flags because the outrage over that word prevents people from hearing what the song is actually about,” he said. “That’s my attitude. People now react: ‘That’s woke.’ Well, f*** you then.”
Costello once again explained the important context of “Oliver’s Army”: “That’s what my grandfather was called in the British Army – that’s a historical fact – but people hear that word ringing like a bell and so they accuse me of something I didn’t intend.”
This also means that the British musician has no desire to be called a racist just because he uses the word in a song. Woke thoughts force woke actions? Of course, Costello doesn’t make it that easy. After all, it is his work and he can do whatever he wants with it on stage. The song continues to be played in the original version on the radio, if it is played at all, only then, at least on the island, a beeping can be heard. This is exactly what annoys Costello. “They definitely make it worse when they beep it. Because then they emphasize it even more. Just don’t play the number!”
Elvis Costello is currently on tour with The Imposters and Charlie Sexton. He will be playing in Hamburg at the Laeiszhalle on Wednesday (June 10th) and at the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt on July 9th. “Oliver’s Army” is also on the program.