Costello has been coy in explaining who "Allison" is about. In the liner notes to his Girls Girls Girls compilation album, he wrote, "Much could be undone by saying more." He did say more in his 2015 autobiography, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, where he wrote: "I've always told people that I wrote the song 'Alison' after seeing a beautiful checkout girl at the local supermarket. She had a face for which a ship might have once been named. Scoundrels might once have fought mist-swathed duels to defend her honor. Now she was punching in the prices on cans of beans at a cash register and looking as if all the hopes and dreams of her youth were draining away. All that were left would soon be squandered to a ruffian who told her convenient lies and trapped her still further."
As is usually the case in Elvis Costello lyrics, the protagonist is sexually frustrated (see "Watching the Detectives") and mad at the guy who always gets the girl. In this tale of unrequited love, "My aim is true" does not imply pure intentions; it means he wants to kill her.
The chorus is based on a song by The Detroit Spinners called "Ghetto Child."
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