#elvis thoughts

for me, it’s not even just him as the man, it’s the idea of elvis, it’s the legacy and what he represents and the culture he’s built.

for me, elvis is the embodiment of everything that we see today in popular culture, celebrity, the themes that lana del rey sings about, the coquette style, the easy 70s style, elvis has influenced EVERYTHING. and that adds to the attraction, for a single man to have that much power on culture, over half a century after the peak of his fame.

when i think of elvis, i think of shining las vegas lights, 50s diners, frank sinatra and the rat pack, heart shaped sunglasses, the daddy dynamic, power, flamboyance, masculinity.

no man in recent history has shifted popular culture and still has such a grip on it than elvis presley. he’s in everything, and just imagine being the doll on his arm. everyone wants his attention but you’ve got all of it. UGH.

Sometimes I feel Ike he's still with us. I know he is. Death doesn't stop a presence, a love and magic like his🩷

"I guess I haven't met the girl yet, but I will, and I hope it won't be too long because I get lonesome sometimes. I get lonesome right in the middle of a crowd. I've got a feeling that with her, whoever she may be, I won't be lonesome no matter where I am." - Elvis Interview (August 22nd, 1956)

I was in the car recently with my mother, and we were listening to Elvis radio when this little interview came on. I said to her, "Even in a room full of people, even with so many friends and family around him, he always felt so alone."

And she asked me, "You don't feel that way, do you?"

To which I said, "Sometimes I do."

And how true that is. Words can't truly describe the intense loneliness that one can feel deep within their heart even when by all logic, they shouldn't feel lonely at all.

You can't explain to someone why your heart aches, why your soul feels empty, why you stand surrounded by friends and family and yet feel like you are completely alone in the world without a single person around to fill the deep void and abyss.

Because loneliness is not measured by how many people you have in your life. It is not measured by the friends and family that come and go. You can have all those things and still...

You feel empty.

You feel unseen.

You feel unheard.

You feel like just another leaf blowing in the wind, floating through life without any real direction, without really knowing how much people care or who is really there to love you when it truly matters.

The loneliness, the ache, is constantly perpetuated by doubt and uncertainty. Despite the affirmations, despite the declarations of love, none of it eases the skepticism you feel deep within you.

Nothing can erase the fear that beats at the back of your mind, constantly haunting your thoughts that maybe, just maybe you might feel like this forever.

And feeling alone is just that. A feeling. A deeply insecure feeling that leaves you questioning your own reality and place in this big wide world.

So how does a man like Elvis, with everything he could ever want or dream of, feel such intense loneliness?

That is the deeper question, and yet an answer, I can not find. Not even for myself. </3

*~*~*

Side note: This photo really spoke to me the other day. It's almost as if I can feel the emotion pouring from the image, connecting to my soul all these years later. ♡

I've been at my new job for almost two months now and for the first time ever, I suddenly hear Suspicious Minds playing in the background. The standard playlist tends to be much older and gentler music but I have never heard Elvis here before. I didn't actually think he'd be included as his music doesn't usually bring "soft and chill" to an atmosphere.

It caught me off guard too; I wasn't aware until I heard the part used for the musical intro to the 2022 film and kind of stopped in my tracks. Almost teared up a bit, truly.

Elvis felt so intensely all the time; it’s kind of wild he can have the same effect on fans—especially now, as we approach the half a century mark since his death.