Something Uplifting

I mentioned in a series of earlier posts my love of music, mostly from all sources. As i aged, that appreciation expanded. I still am not all that keen on ‘Musicals’ per se even though some of the music and the songs have translated well to popular music, and some have been covered by big names.

I never was all that keen on rap, excepting for that wonderful crossover from rap into pop by Debbie Harry and Blondie with their song ‘Rapture’.

Techno is okay and again I like the early crossover from the German band Kraftwerk at the dawn of Techno with ‘Autobahn’.

Luciano Pavarotti made me actually like even some form of Opera because the song of the 20th Century would have to his version of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, and even Opera has gained popular airplay, soprano Sarah Brightman also crossing over.

I started to really appreciate music in the early and mid sixties. At that time, especially here in Australia, the English music scene was King, and my love of music started with that era. The artists and the bands are too numerous to mention, suffice to say they would be all the usual suspects.

Then came Dylan, and Neil Young among many, but Young still far and away my favourite artist of all time, covering the whole body of his work, an immense talent with an even larger body of work, still contemporary even now in his early sixties. I have a huge collection of music, so the names are just too numerous to mention. Pink Floyd would be my favourite Band, but the list could be just endless.

So coming to that appreciation in the early 60’s I was never really a great fan of Elvis Presley, because this was when he was having his hiatus between his first career and his second career. Had I been older, then I feel sure Elvis would have been a big influence in that love of music. So, when he came back in 1968, the time had passed. I really liked his ‘Suspicious Minds’, but the rest was just okay as far as I was concerned.

His comeback concert did not receive all that much airplay here in Australia at the time that I can remember, and the album sold well, but not being that much of a fan, I paid little attention to the album and the songs from it. I first saw the full concert I would guess almost twenty years later, and I guess it was good, but I was still not much of a fan, just waiting for the ‘Suspicious Minds’ song, which I don’t think he even sang in that concert, because it didn’t come to popularity until 1969, when he also had ‘In The Ghetto’.

However, that concert was notable for one song for me. Here was a man who had nothing to prove. He could have retired comfortably on the royalties of his his first career, and the gamble coming back in the midst of the band era when so many other names were well established was a big ask. He had the strength to carry it, and the rest is history.

However, that one song from the concert was the last one.

‘If I Can Dream.’

When I saw that, it made me sit up, not because of the song itself, but the passion and feeling he put into it. Here was a man who was singing not just the words, but from his heart. That song was never big here in Australia, but now, every time I hear it, I stop what I am doing and just listen.

In these times when there is so much happening that might seem troubling, it’s often a good thing to sit back, and just listen to this song. The music accompanying Elvis is great but the words of the song, and just the way he sings it, are what is most stirring of all with this song.

I found a copy on ‘youtube’, and believe me there are many copies. Some are remixes, but this original in one complete take would have to be the best.

So take some time and play the song, turn up your speakers, and listen to an American who was proud to be an American.

This version was posted by madmin22, so there’s a hat tip to him for this.