Veronica (song)
"Veronica" is a song by Elvis Costello, released in 1989 as the lead single from his album Spike. The song was co-written by Costello with Paul McCartney, was co-produced with T-Bone Burnett and Kevin Killen, and features McCartney on his iconic Höfner bass. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly voted it one of Costello's "10 Greatest Tunes".
"Veronica" was also Costello's highest-charting top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, No. 1 on its Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 10 on its Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Background
The song focuses on an older woman who has experienced severe memory loss. Costello's inspiration for this song was his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's. When talking about the song on a VH1 interview, Costello reminisced about his grandmother having "terrifying moments of lucidity" and how this was the inspiration for "Veronica". In his 2015 autobiography, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello wrote of his collaboration with McCartney, "I'd brought an early version of 'Veronica' that you would have recognized.... All the words I'd already written were about my paternal grandmother, Molly, or more formally, Mabel Josephine Jackson. In fact, her Catholic confirmation name, Veronica, provided the very title of the song."Non-album B-sides
The single featured multiple covers as B-sides, both of which were later released on the 2001 bonus disc to Spike.- "You're No Good" - 7"
- "The Room Nobody Lives In" - 12"