Imperial Bedroom

Album: Imperial Bedroom (1994)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song did not appear on the original 1982 Elvis Costello album, despite it sharing a title with the record. However, it does appear on as a bonus track on the 1994 CD re-issue.
  • The song inspired the title of Bret Easton Ellis' novel Imperial Bedrooms, a sequel to Ellis' earlier novel Less Than Zero, whose title was borrowed from Costello's song "Less Than Zero." The author told the NME August 7, 2010: "Once I figured what (main character) Clay would be doing and realised it was a Hollywood novel, the main myth of Hollywood and how it runs on exploitation and that then I was going to delve into sexual exploitation, it was a no-brainer. I wanted to use an Elvis Costello song and boom - it was 'Imperial Bedroom,' I added the 's'. It was the perfect title."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."

Bible Lyrics

Bible LyricsMusic Quiz

Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.