Elvis Costello's 1979 single Oliver's Army, a UK number two single for the singer-songwriter, is, by some distance, his second-most streamed song on Spotify, bettered only by Pump It Up, from 1978's This Year Model. It is also arguably his best-known and most-loved song worldwide. But in 2022, Costello announced that he would no longer be playing the song at his gigs, a decision he talks about in a new [paywalled] interview with The Times.
Costello's most successful UK single, Oliver's Army was written as a commentary on 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland, following the musician's first trip to Belfast in 1978. In sleevenotes written for a 2002 reissue of Armed Forces, its parent album, Costello recalled being taken aback by the sight of “mere boys walking around in battle dress with automatic weapons”, adding “They were no longer just on the evening news.”
