‘Pump It Up’ is a 1978 song by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It originally appeared on Costello's second album This Year's Model, which was the first he recorded with the backing group the Attractions. Written as an ironic response to his time during the Stiffs Live Tour and inspired by ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ by Bob Dylan, ‘Pump It Up’ features a stomping rhythm and ironic lyrics. Released as a single, the track reached number 24 in the UK. It has since become one of Costello's most well-known songs, appearing on several compilation albums and being listed by critics as one of Costello's greatest songs. The song was also accompanied by an iconic video featuring Costello dancing on the sides of his feet.
The song was intended as a commentary on the Stiffs Live Tour, which Costello had participated in. The tour had been notable for its debauchery; Ian Dury's ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ served as the setlist's official closing song. Costello later said of the lyrics, "It was a satire. If you listen to the lyrics, it kind of goes against the grain of hedonism". He later said, "Well, just how much can you fuck, how many drugs can you do before you get so numb you can't really feel anything?"
Musically, the song was inspired by Bob Dylan's ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’; in his 2015 autobiography Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink, Costello explained, “'Pump It Up' obviously took more than a little bit from 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'. One night, many years later, Bob Dylan said to me: 'U2! How could they do that to you? How could they take your song like that?' It took me a moment to know what he was talking about, and a moment more to realize that he was putting me on. But then, U2's 'Get On Your Boots' was probably to 'Pump It Up' what 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' is to Chuck Berry's 'Too Much Monkey Business'.”
The music video for ‘Pump It Up’ was directed by Paul Flattery. Costello recalled the video as "cheaply produced" and noted the director's use of a fisheye lens that made him look "bug-eyed". The video features Costello's signature jerky dancing. Costello explained, “The director quickly found out that I could walk on the sides of my ankles. That was a trick that I'd learned, not in vaudeville school, but at the hands of a vaguely sadistic doctor. When it was determined that I had flat feet as a child, I was first told I would never make it in the army, then I was taught to pick up a ball of socks with my feet like a monkey and do that trick with my ankles, in an attempt to strengthen my arches. ... My bizarre attempts at rug-cutting in the "Pump It Up" video were becoming as much a calling card as a comedian's catchphrase, and I could sense myself being vacuumed up into the dust bag of light entertainment.”
Since its release, ‘Pump It Up’ has seen positive reception from critics. AllMusic's Deming calls the song "as exciting, insistent, and physically powerful as anything Costello might have been railing against" and noted that the track "perfectly captures the giddy but terrifying feeling of a wild, adrenaline-fueled all-night party that's dangling on the verge of collapse". Amy Poulter of The Virginian Pilot writes, "Even if you're not a fan, you've most likely heard the song and gotten caught up in its infectiously-peppy rhythm and melody". Matt LeMay of Pitchfork praised Pete Thomas' drumming on the song as "nothing short of perfect", while Jeremy Allen of the Guardian described the song as a "classic". Bob Dylan has called the song "...intense and as well groomed as can be. With tender hooks and dirty looks." but then goes on to say that it has "Too many thoughts, way too wordy. Too many ideas that just hang up against themselves."
Label – Radar
Songwriter – Elvis Costello
Producer – Nick Lowe
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I've been on tenterhooks, ending in dirty looks
Listening to the Muzak, thinking 'bout this 'n' that
She said that's that, I don't wanna chitter-chat
Turn it down a little bit or turn it down flat
[Chorus]
Pump it up when you don't really need it
Pump it up until you can feel it
[Verse 2]
Down in the pleasure center, hell-bent or heaven sent
Listen to the propaganda, listen to the latest slander
There's nothing underhand that she wouldn't understand
[Chorus]
Pump it up until you can feel it
Pump it up when you don't really need it
Hey!
[Verse 3]
She's been a bad girl, she's like a chemical
Though you try to stop it, she's like a narcotic
You wanna torture her, you wanna talk to her
All the things you bought for her, could not get a temperature
[Chorus]
Pump it up until you can feel it
Pump it up when you don't really need it
[Verse 4]
Out in the fashion show, down in the bargain bin
You put your passion out under the pressure pin
Fall into submission, hit-and-run transmission
No use wishing now for any other sin
[Chorus]
Pump it up until you can feel it
Pump it up when you don't really need it
Pump it up until you can feel it
Pump it up when you don't really need it
Pump it up until you can feel it
Pump it up when you don't really need it
Don't really need it
Don't really need it
Don't really need it