Man Out of Time
original song written, composed, and performed by Elvis Costello
"Man Out of Time" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions on their 1982 album, Imperial Bedroom. With lyrics detailing a political scandal, "Man Out of Time" features a lush arrangement that was a conscious departure from the aggressive style of Costello's previous work.
The song was released as the second single from Imperial Bedroom, reaching number 58 in the United Kingdom. The song has since been lauded by critics, some of whom name the track as Costello's greatest song.
Background
Costello thought of the song's central lyric, "But will you still love a man out of time?", while on a tour bus in Sweden in 1981, writing the rest of the song in a Scottish hotel during the same tour. At a lyrical level, "Man Out of Time" features lyrics about what the Guardian describes as a "cabinet minister hiding out from a sex scandal". Elvis Costello wrote "Man Out of Time" as a synthesis of his personal ambition and contemporary political developments. He explained,
A lot of songs are about the sort of disgust with your own self. There were a lot of things that I wasn’t very happy with during that time. I wanted songs to blow up the world.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Man Out of Time” as original song written, composed, and performed by Elvis Costello. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as original song written, composed, and performed by Elvis Costello. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q96391731. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1982 and 1981.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Man Out of Time” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.