For me, Elvis’ devotional lullaby walks the line between dreamy and dreary a little too finely. The arrangement is immaculate – lulling harmonies; carefully-placed twangs – but the melody and performance are a little too sedate. Perhaps I’d prefer it if the hints of abjection in the lyrics were more than that – for someone pledging his whole life and talking of sin, Presley never sounds like there’s much at stake.
Score: 5
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Clem Burke's finest five minutes seem like the right place to mark his passing, from cancer aged 70. RIP.
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Another double A-side – ‘Rock-A-Hula Baby’ was on here too. It’s rubbish. I really like ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ though, definitely one of the better Elvis records from this period.
Rock A Hula Baby is the number one. Can’t Help Falling In Love was the Brown Girl In The Ring of 1962, and similarly much better than the initial hit side. But maybe this was all laid bare before the original comments were wiped out by technology.
Both sides were listed in the NME chart
Critic watch:
Bruce Pollock (USA) – The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 (2005)
Dave Marsh (USA) – The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (1989) 766
Rolling Stone (USA) – The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004) 394
Rolling Stone (USA) – The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (Updated 2010) 403
Q (UK) – The 1001 Best Songs Ever (2003) 306
Q (UK) – The 1010 Songs You Must Own (2004)
The Guardian (UK) – 1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear (2009)
Giannis Petridis (Greece) – 2004 of the Best Songs of the Century (2003)
according to wiki the stately melody of this song owes a lot to “”Plaisir d’amour” -“a classical French love song written in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini” and having checked out several versions on youtube – including several by Nana Mouskouri – I can definitely hear the connection. With the Italian original of ‘It’s now or never’, the German melody for ‘Wooden Heart’ and now this song, Elvis seemed willing to explore a range of styles perhaps because his management thought it might expand his fanbase in Europe or among the various immigrant diasporas in the USA. The hushed tones and solemn choir give the record a sacred quality which is a little stifling but it’s Elvis’ intense sincerity that sell the song for me.
Have to disagree on this one. One of his finest ballads, possibly the finest. Though it might have been nice to hear a version with a little more urgency, like you say, something in between this and the over the top version he ended most of his concerts with.
So it’s farewell Hal Blaine, who played drums on many Number Ones but as far as I know this was the first. I’m sure somebody will be along who knows different.
One of the great unsung heroes of this project.
Lovely song from the King here imho. 7/10.