"Alison" is the fifth track on Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

's first album, My Aim Is True

My Aim Is True

My Aim Is True is the debut album by Elvis Costello.The album was recorded at Pathway Studios in Holloway, London Borough of Islington, over the course of 1976 during late-night studio sessions, in a total of twenty-four hours...

, released in 1977. Because "Alison" was recorded before Elvis Costello and the Attractions formed, his backing band was Clover

Clover (band)

Clover was an American country rock band formed in Mill Valley, California in 1967. They are best known as the backup band for Elvis Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True , and for members later forming or joining more successful acts, including Huey Lewis and the News, The Doobie Brothers,...

. In 2004, Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

ranked it #318 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

voted it as one of Costello's top 10 greatest tunes.
The song features in the film Adaptation.

Adaptation.

Adaptation. is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is based on Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief through self-referential events...

(2002). The line "my aim is true" gives the album its title.

Background

Costello has divulged little on the meaning of the song other than to say that it is about "disappointing somebody" and to deny suggestions that the lines "somebody better put out the big light" and "my aim is true" refer to murder. He has also declined to reveal who the song is about, writing in the liner notes for Girls Girls Girls, "Much could be undone by saying more."

The chorus is based on "Ghetto Child" by The Detroit Spinners

The Spinners (U.S. band)

The Spinners is a soul music vocal group, active for over 50 years, and with a long run of pop and R&B hits especially during the 1970s. The group, originating from Detroit, still tours regularly ....

.

Release

"Alison" was released as a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 with a B-side of "Welcome to the Working Week" and as two singles in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

; one with a mono

Monaural

Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...

 version of the same song on the B-side, the other with "Miracle Man".

The US (and Canadian) single versions of "Alison" are unique in that someone at CBS in the US decided to add synth-strings, background singers and echo to the song.

Covers

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...

 recorded a version of "Alison" on her album Living In The USA

Living in the USA

Living In The USA is a 1978 album by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. The album was Ronstadt's third No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and was the first album in history to ship Double Platinum...

, in 1978, which sold over 2 million copies. Years later, Costello joked that he might have been publicly derisive of Ronstadt's version, "but I didn’t mind spending the money that she earned me".

Everything but the Girl

Everything but the Girl

Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...

 recorded an acoustic version on their Covers E.P.

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, which was also included on their album Acoustic

Acoustic (Everything but the Girl album)

- Track listing :# "Love Is Strange" # "Tougher Than the Rest" # "Time After Time" # "Alison" # "Downtown Train" # "Driving"...

. The song also played a role in the movie Get Over It

Get Over It (film)

Get Over It is a 2001 American romantic comedy film about a teenage boy whose girlfriend ends their relationship. The film was directed by Tommy O'Haver for Miramax Films. The film stars Ben Foster, Kirsten Dunst, Melissa Sagemiller, Sisqó, Colin Hanks, Shane West, and Martin Short. R. Lee Fleming,...

.

Butch Walker

Butch Walker

Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...

 recorded a live version on his EP Cover Me Badd

Cover Me Badd

Cover Me Badd is an EP by Butch Walker, available as a digital download from the iTunes Music Store since October 11, 2005 and on CD since December 13, 2005. It contains six cover versions of songs originally performed by Kelly Clarkson, George Jones, Elvis Costello, Wings, Queen and Sandie Shaw...

(2005) during his acoustic solo tour 2004.

Brandon Boyd

Brandon Boyd

Brandon Charles Boyd is an American musician, author, and visual artist. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the American rock band Incubus.-Early Life and Incubus:...

 (the lead singer of Incubus) covered the song for GAP's Favorite Songs album (2005).

Costello and Billie Joe Armstrong

Billie Joe Armstrong

Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...

, of Green Day

Green Day

Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...

, played the song live together on VH1 Classic

VH1 Classic

VH1 Classic is a television network, launched on May 8, 2000. It is operated as part of MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom and primarily features music videos and concert footage from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, though it formerly included a wider range of genres and time periods...

's "Decades Rock Live

Decades Rock Live

Decades Rock Live! was a TV series of live concerts. The program premiered on VH1 Classic in the Winter of 2006.It "featured performances by celebrated artists from rock to soul who have influenced popular music over the last 50 years, as well as performances from some of today’s hottest recording...

". The performance originally aired on May 19, 2006.