“(A) song I wrote in ten minutes almost as a challenge to myself. I thought, maybe I could write just a simple, almost formula song and make it mean something…”

That was how Elvis Costello described Everyday I Write The Book in an 1998 interview.  The song went on to become one of Costello’s best-known compositions and the subsequent music video was a hit during the early days of MTV.  Directed by Don Letts, the video features Elvis performing while Prince Charles haplessly attempts to woo Princess Diana (both of whom are played by celebrity lookalikes).  Released just two years after their royal wedding and at a time when the story of Diana and Charles were still being held up as the ideal romantic fairy tale, this video proved to be prophetic in its portrayal of Charles and Diana’s marriage.

According to Costello, director Don Letts was solely responsible for the idea of using the royal lookalikes in the video.  Letts is best known for his collaborations with The Clash.  Not only did he direct several music videos for that group but he and Mick Jones later co-founded Big Audio Dynamite.

Yesterday, Elvis Costello announced that he would be cancelling the last six performances of his current tour because his battling what has been described as being “very aggressive cancer.”  I know that I speak for a lot of music fans when I say that we’re all keeping Elvis in our thoughts and that we hope he makes a full recovery.