Hallelujah
Revisionist History
Pushkin Industries
4.8 • 61.5K Ratings
🗓️ 28 July 2016
⏱️ 37 minutes
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Summary
How does genius emerge? An exploration of different types of innovation—through the lens of Elvis Costello’s extraordinary song “Deportee,” once utterly forgettable and then, through time and iteration, a work of beauty and genius.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 1984, Alvis Costello released his ninth album, Good By Crow World. |
| 0:15.8 | I bought it the week it came out because I bought every Alvis Costello album back then |
| 0:19.6 | the week it came out. |
| 0:21.0 | There's a theory in psychology. |
| 0:22.8 | The music you listen to at ages 19 and 20 is the music that imprints itself most deeply |
| 0:27.7 | on your consciousness. |
| 0:29.6 | If you make a list of your favorite songs, you'll see what I mean. |
| 0:33.1 | Anyway, I was 20 in 1984, so I remember Good By Crow World. |
| 0:37.9 | I listened to it right away. |
| 0:39.9 | And this episode is about one song on that album. |
| 0:43.8 | It's called The Deportees Club. |
| 0:46.2 | I still have it on vinyl. |
| 0:47.8 | It goes like this. |
| 1:00.7 | Oh God, it's awful. |
| 1:07.0 | My name is Malcolm Gladwell. |
| 1:09.1 | Welcome to Revisionist History. |
| 1:10.8 | My podcast about things forgotten are misunderstood. |
| 1:21.1 | This week, I want to go back to Alvis Costello in 1984. |
| 1:25.7 | I should say you don't have to know anything about Alvis Costello or even like his music |
| 1:30.7 | to be interested in this story. |
| 1:33.2 | I'm not talking about The Deportees Club as a song, but as a symbol. |
| 1:38.2 | I'm interested in understanding how creativity works. |
... |
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