One of the Most Significant Cultural Icons of the Twentieth Century
A snapshot of the life of the king
A musician, singer, actor, and movie star, he was one of the most significant cultural icons of the twentieth century, often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll”. Although he was born in poverty, he rose to great heights of fame and fortune.
During his short life he became and remains one of the most famous people in the world. If the old saying is true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no one has been more imitated than the King. In fact, he is the most imitated person in the world with more than 400,000 impersonators worldwide!
The King of Rock and Roll was born Elvis Aron Presley in 1935. He died at only 42 years old in 1977. It is said his death was a heart attack with complications from years of prescription drug abuse.
Elvis was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. This “prestigious award is the Nation’s highest civilian honor. It is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Let’s look at a few favorite quotes from the King himself, and the snapshot they present of his life. I have arranged them by a variety of subjects you will find of interest.
Performing
“The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death. I really didn’t know what all the yelling was about. I didn’t realize that my body was moving. It’s a natural thing to me. So to the manager backstage I said, ‘What’d I do? What’d I do?’ And he said ‘Whatever it is, go back and do it again.’”
“Since the beginning, it was just the same. The only difference, the crowds are bigger now.”
“We do two shows a night for five weeks. A lotta times we’ll go upstairs and sing until daylight — gospel songs.”
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“A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It’s my favorite part of the business, live concerts.”
“I’ve never gotten over what they call stagefright. I go through it every show. I’m pretty concerned, I’m pretty much thinking about the show. I never get completely comfortable with it, and I don’t let the people around me get comfortable with it, in that I remind them that it’s a new crowd out there, it’s a new audience, and they haven’t seen us before. So it’s got to be like the first time we go on.”
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“Ma’am, I’m not tryin’ to be sexy. Ah didn’t have any clear idea of trying to sell sex. It’s just my way of expressin’ how I feel when I move around. It’s all leg movement. I don’t do nothin’ with my body.”
“Rhythm is something you either have or don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over.”
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“Take care of the fans and they will sure as hell take care of you.”
“Teenagers are my life and my triumph. I’d be nowhere without them.”
“My fans want my shirt. They can have my shirt. They put it on my back.
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I get tired of playing a guy who gets into a fight, then starts singing to the guy he’s just beat up.
“It’s all a big hoax, honey. I never wrote a song in my life. I get one-third of the credit for recording it. It makes me look smarter than I am. I’ve never even had an idea for a song. Just once, maybe.”
Rock and Roll
“A lot of people seem to think I started this business. But rock ’n’ roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let’s face it: I can’t sing like Fats Domino can. I know that.”
“Nuthin’ more fun than Rock n’ Roll!”
“Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.”
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“Rock and roll is a music, and why should a music contribute to … juvenile delinquency? If people are going to be juvenile delinquents, they’re going to be delinquents if they hear … Mother Goose rhymes.”
“I don’t like to be called Elvis the Pelvis. It’s one of the most childish expressions I’ve ever heard coming from an adult. But if they wanna call me that, there’s nothin’ I can do about it, so I just have to accept it.”
Wisdom
“The image is one thing and the human being is another. It’s very hard to live up to an image, put it that way.”
“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.”
“Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.”
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“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same, but you leave ’em all over everything you do.”
“To judge a man by his weakest link or deed is like judging the power of the ocean by one wave.”
“It’s not how much you have that makes people look up to you, it’s who you are.“
“When things go wrong, don’t go with them.”
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“Happiness is knowin’ you’ve done a good job, whether it’s professional or for another person.”
“Do something worth remembering.”
“Sharing money is what gives it its value.”
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“It’s funny how things have a way of looking so much brighter in the daytime.”
“Envy someone an’ it pulls you down. Admire them and it builds you up. Which makes more sense?”
“What’s the good of reaching 90, if you waste 89?”
Humor
“If you let your head get too big, it’ll break your neck.”
“When things go wrong, don’t go with them.”
“Too much TV hurts movies.”
“I have no use for bodyguards, but I have very specific use for two highly trained certified public accountants.”
“Those people in New York are not gonna change me none.”
Faith
“Whatever I will become will be what God has chosen for me.“
“The Lord can give, and the Lord can take away. I might be herding sheep next year.”
“Until we meet again, may God bless you as he has blessed me.”
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“I am not the King. Jesus Christ is the King. I’m just an entertainer.”
“I ain’t no saint, but I’ve tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God…I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world.”
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“All I want is to know the truth, to know and experience God. I’m a searcher, that’s what I’m all about.”
“I don’t mind being controversial. Even Jesus wasn’t loved in his day.”
“I believe in the Bible. I believe that all good things come from God. I don’t believe I’d sing the way I do if God hadn’t wanted me to.”
“Gospel music is the purest thing there is on this earth.”
Life
“After a hard day of basic training, you could eat a rattlesnake.”
“The army teaches boys to think like men.”
“It’s human nature to gripe, but I’m going ahead and doing the best I can.”
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“I’m trying to keep a level head. You have to be careful out in the world. It’s so easy to get turned.”
“I was an only child, and Mother was always right with me all my life. I used to get very angry at her when I was growing up-it’s a natural thing.”
“I’ll never feel comfortable taking a strong drink, and I’ll never feel easy smoking a cigarette. I just don’t think those things are right for me.”
“Every time I think that I’m getting old, and gradually going to the grave, something else happens.”
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“I never expected to be anybody important.”
“When I got outta High School I was driving a truck. I was just a poor boy from Memphis, Memphis.”
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“Animals don’t hate and we’re supposed to be better than them.”
“The first car I bought was the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen. It was secondhand, but I parked it outside of my hotel the day I got it. I sat up all night, just lookin’ at it.”
His life ended far too soon, yet as he sang in his old song “You are always on my mind.” Yes, he will always be on our mind.”
I leave you with one final quote from Elvis:
“When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. “I read comic books and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times… I learned very early in life that: ‘Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend — without a song.’ So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.”
I wish you all the best — go forward in your life as the dreamer, the hero, and keep on singing a song!
Elvis has left the building!
Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION.
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