This song is an example of the "noir thing" Costello says runs through much of his material. Inspired by American detective shows, the lyric is filled with images of detective, dames, guns and cigarettes - all the film noir tropes. The story is rather opaque, but the wordplay is quite compelling.
Elvis Costello wrote "Watching the Detectives" after an all-night bout of listening to The Clash's debut album, The Clash, on headphones, which explains the reggae influence. Fortified by drinking an entire jar of instant coffee, he stayed awake for 36 hours. Costello told Q magazine August 2013: "Why do you think that song is so jerky? I drank a lot of coffee."
Costello justifies his later performance of this song as a big-band number, saying that it should be realized as an orchestral piece using the film music feeling and the swing rhythms of 1950s detective shows.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.