Goodbye Cruel World (1984)

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Jun 19, 2025

Title: Goodbye Cruel World
Artist: Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Genre: New Age
Released: 1984

Tracks:
1 - The Only Flame in Town - 4:02
2 - Home Truth - 3:13
3 - Room With No Number - 4:13
4 - Inch by Inch - 2:29
5 - Worthless Thing - 3:04
6 - Love Field - 3:28
7 - I Wanna Be Loved - 4:47
8 - The Comedians - 2:35
9 - Joe Porterhouse - 3:29
10 - Sour Milk-cow Blues - 2:50
11 - The Great Unknown - 3:00
12 - The Deportees Club - 2:54
13 - Peace in Our Time - 4:07

Overview:

Goodbye Cruel World was Elvis Costello's ninth album overall and the eighth with his backing band the Attractions. It was released in 1984 by F-Beat Records in the UK and Columbia in the US.

Tensions within the band—notably between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas—were beginning to tell, and Costello announced his retirement and the break-up of the group shortly before they were to record Goodbye Cruel World. Costello later said that in making it, they had "got it as wrong as you can in terms of the execution".

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