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That awkward space between reality and reality television.
Thursday, January 08, 2004
As a tribute to what would have been Elvis' 69th birthday, I would like to offer a poem written by U2's Bono entitled, An American David.
Elvis son of Tupelo
Elvis mama's boy
Elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box
Elvis drove a truck
Elvis was recorded at Sun Studios by the musical diviner Sam Phillips
Elvis was managed by Colonel Tom Parker, an ex-carnie barker whose last act was a singing canary
Elvis was the most famous singer in the world since King David
Elvis lived on his own street
Elvis liked to play speedcop
Elvis had a monkey named bubbles before anyone
Elvis wore a cape at the White House when he was presenting Nixon with two silver pistols
Elvis was a member of the Drug Squad
Elvis wore eye make up, just hangin' out
Elvis wore a gold nudie suit and trained his lip to curl
Elvis was macho, but could sing like a girl
Elvis was not a big talker
Elvis was articulate in every other way
Elvis dyed his hair black to look like Valentino
Elvis held a microphone the way Valentino held Nita Naldi in blood and sand
Elvis dressed black long before he dressed in black
Elvis sang black except in lower registers where he was a student of Dean Martin
Elvis admired Mario Lanza
Elvis delivered the world from crooning
Elvis was a great crooner
Elvis had a voice that could explain the sexuality of america
Elvis was influenced by Jim Morrison in his choice of black leather for the '68 comeback special
Elvis invented the Beatles
Elvis achieved world domination from a small town
Elvis was conscious of myth
Elvis had pharoah-like potential
Elvis was made by america, so america could remake itself
Elvis had good manners
Elvis was a bass, a baritone, and a tenor
Elvis sang his heart out at the end
Elvis the opera
Elvis the soap opera
Elvis loved America, God, the Bible, firearms, the movies, the office of presidency, junk food, drugs, cars, family, television, jewellery, straight talkin', dirty talkin' game shows, uniforms, and self-help books
Elvis, like America, wanted to improve himself
Elvis, like America, started out loving but later turned on himself
Elvis, body could not stop moving
Elvis is alive, we're dead
Elvis, the charismatic
Elvis, the ecstatic
Elvis, the plastic
Elvis, the elastic with a spastic dance that might explain the energy of America
Elvis, fusion and confusion
Elvis, earth rod in a southern dorm
Elvis shaking up an electrical storm
Elvis in Hollywood, his voice gone to ground
Elvis in Las Vegas with a big brassy sound
Elvis the first rock'n'roll star with scotty moore, bill black, and d.j. fontana
Elvis with James Burton and Ronny Tutt
Elvis the movie star made three good films: Viva Las Vegas, Flaming Star, and Jailhouse Rock
Elvis the hillbilly brought rhythm to the white race, blues to pop, and rock'n'roll to whereever rock'n'roll is
Elvis the pelvis, swung from Africa to Europe, which is the idea of America
Elvis liberation
Elvis the kung fu would come later
Elvis hibernation
Elvis built a theme park he later called Graceland
Elvis woke up to whispers
Elvis thought of himself as a backslider
Elvis knew guilt like a twin brother
Elvis called God every morning then left the phone off the hook
Elvis turned Las Vegas into a church when he sang "Love Me Tender"
Elvis turned America into a church when he sang "The Trilogy"
Elvis was harangued by choice; flesh vs. spirit, God vs. rock'n'roll, mother vs. lover, father vs. the Colonel
Elvis grew sideburns as a protest against Tom Jones' hairy chest
Elvis would have a president named after him
Elvis was one of the boys
Elvis was not one of the boys
Elvis had an acute intelligence disguised as talent
Elvis broke Priscilla's heart
Elvis broke Lisa Marie's heart
Elvis woke up my heart
Elvis, white trash
Elvis, the Memphis Flash
Elvis didn't smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without Johnny Cash
Elvis didn't dodge the draft
Elvis had his own aircraft
Elvis having a laugh on the Lisa Marie in a colour photograph
Elvis under the hood
Elvis, cadillac blood
Elvis, darling bud flowered and returned to the mississippi mud
Elvis ain't gonna rot
Elvis in a memphis plot
Elvis didn't hear the shot but the king died just across the lot from
Elvis, vanilla ice cream
Elvis, girls of 14
Elvis, Memphis spleen shooting at the TV, reading Corinthians 13
Elvis with God on his knees
Elvis on three TVs
Elvis here come the killer bees head full of honey, potato chips, and cheese
Elvis, the bumper stickers
Elvis, the white knickers
Elvis, the white nigger ate at Burger King and just kept getting bigger
Elvis sang to win
Elvis, the battle to be slim
Elvis ate America before America ate him
Elvis stamps
Elvis necromance
Elvis fans
Elvis psychophants
Elvis the public enemy
Elvis don't mean shit to chuck d
Elvis changed the centre of gravity
Elvis made it slippy
Elvis Hitler
Elvis Nixon
Elvis Christ
Elvis Mishima
Elvis Marcus
Elvis Jackson
Elvis the pelvis
Elvis the psalmist
Elvis the genius
Elvis the generous
Elvis forgive us
Elvis pray for us
Elvis Aaron Presley (1935-1977)
Elvis son of Tupelo
Elvis mama's boy
Elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box
Elvis drove a truck
Elvis was recorded at Sun Studios by the musical diviner Sam Phillips
Elvis was managed by Colonel Tom Parker, an ex-carnie barker whose last act was a singing canary
Elvis was the most famous singer in the world since King David
Elvis lived on his own street
Elvis liked to play speedcop
Elvis had a monkey named bubbles before anyone
Elvis wore a cape at the White House when he was presenting Nixon with two silver pistols
Elvis was a member of the Drug Squad
Elvis wore eye make up, just hangin' out
Elvis wore a gold nudie suit and trained his lip to curl
Elvis was macho, but could sing like a girl
Elvis was not a big talker
Elvis was articulate in every other way
Elvis dyed his hair black to look like Valentino
Elvis held a microphone the way Valentino held Nita Naldi in blood and sand
Elvis dressed black long before he dressed in black
Elvis sang black except in lower registers where he was a student of Dean Martin
Elvis admired Mario Lanza
Elvis delivered the world from crooning
Elvis was a great crooner
Elvis had a voice that could explain the sexuality of america
Elvis was influenced by Jim Morrison in his choice of black leather for the '68 comeback special
Elvis invented the Beatles
Elvis achieved world domination from a small town
Elvis was conscious of myth
Elvis had pharoah-like potential
Elvis was made by america, so america could remake itself
Elvis had good manners
Elvis was a bass, a baritone, and a tenor
Elvis sang his heart out at the end
Elvis the opera
Elvis the soap opera
Elvis loved America, God, the Bible, firearms, the movies, the office of presidency, junk food, drugs, cars, family, television, jewellery, straight talkin', dirty talkin' game shows, uniforms, and self-help books
Elvis, like America, wanted to improve himself
Elvis, like America, started out loving but later turned on himself
Elvis, body could not stop moving
Elvis is alive, we're dead
Elvis, the charismatic
Elvis, the ecstatic
Elvis, the plastic
Elvis, the elastic with a spastic dance that might explain the energy of America
Elvis, fusion and confusion
Elvis, earth rod in a southern dorm
Elvis shaking up an electrical storm
Elvis in Hollywood, his voice gone to ground
Elvis in Las Vegas with a big brassy sound
Elvis the first rock'n'roll star with scotty moore, bill black, and d.j. fontana
Elvis with James Burton and Ronny Tutt
Elvis the movie star made three good films: Viva Las Vegas, Flaming Star, and Jailhouse Rock
Elvis the hillbilly brought rhythm to the white race, blues to pop, and rock'n'roll to whereever rock'n'roll is
Elvis the pelvis, swung from Africa to Europe, which is the idea of America
Elvis liberation
Elvis the kung fu would come later
Elvis hibernation
Elvis built a theme park he later called Graceland
Elvis woke up to whispers
Elvis thought of himself as a backslider
Elvis knew guilt like a twin brother
Elvis called God every morning then left the phone off the hook
Elvis turned Las Vegas into a church when he sang "Love Me Tender"
Elvis turned America into a church when he sang "The Trilogy"
Elvis was harangued by choice; flesh vs. spirit, God vs. rock'n'roll, mother vs. lover, father vs. the Colonel
Elvis grew sideburns as a protest against Tom Jones' hairy chest
Elvis would have a president named after him
Elvis was one of the boys
Elvis was not one of the boys
Elvis had an acute intelligence disguised as talent
Elvis broke Priscilla's heart
Elvis broke Lisa Marie's heart
Elvis woke up my heart
Elvis, white trash
Elvis, the Memphis Flash
Elvis didn't smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without Johnny Cash
Elvis didn't dodge the draft
Elvis had his own aircraft
Elvis having a laugh on the Lisa Marie in a colour photograph
Elvis under the hood
Elvis, cadillac blood
Elvis, darling bud flowered and returned to the mississippi mud
Elvis ain't gonna rot
Elvis in a memphis plot
Elvis didn't hear the shot but the king died just across the lot from
Elvis, vanilla ice cream
Elvis, girls of 14
Elvis, Memphis spleen shooting at the TV, reading Corinthians 13
Elvis with God on his knees
Elvis on three TVs
Elvis here come the killer bees head full of honey, potato chips, and cheese
Elvis, the bumper stickers
Elvis, the white knickers
Elvis, the white nigger ate at Burger King and just kept getting bigger
Elvis sang to win
Elvis, the battle to be slim
Elvis ate America before America ate him
Elvis stamps
Elvis necromance
Elvis fans
Elvis psychophants
Elvis the public enemy
Elvis don't mean shit to chuck d
Elvis changed the centre of gravity
Elvis made it slippy
Elvis Hitler
Elvis Nixon
Elvis Christ
Elvis Mishima
Elvis Marcus
Elvis Jackson
Elvis the pelvis
Elvis the psalmist
Elvis the genius
Elvis the generous
Elvis forgive us
Elvis pray for us
Elvis Aaron Presley (1935-1977)
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