Elvis Costello has responded to critics who accused him of being woke after he removed a racial slur from his 1979 song Oliver's Army.
In a new interview the singer explained his decision to replace the original line with the words one more widow another pallbearer. He said he no longer uses words that go off like alarm clocks because indignation about that word stops people hearing what the song is about. Costello first stopped performing the track live in 2022 and asked radio stations not to play it. He resumed playing the song in 2025 with the revised lyric. The musician described the original word as a reference to how Catholics were historically referred to in Northern Ireland and noted that it was what his grandfather was called in the British Army. Costello is currently touring with The Imposters and Charlie Sexton. Dates in Birmingham London Portsmouth and Newcastle are scheduled for the end of June and the start of July. He is also set to support Neil Young And The Chrome Hearts on UK and European dates beginning June 19 in Manchester.