Day #117 – Elvis Presley – “In The Ghetto”

What A Songs Beat or Unwritten Lyrical Words Do & Say To Me… Is This

Part #1 – “Elvis Presley – “In The Ghetto”

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Sometimes I see my life written in the lyrics of the songs that I play & hear, sometimes the lyrics of songs show a clear outline of the story that the lyrical verses are singing , speaking and saying in and throughout their words but there are time when the words are more hidden and more obscure than the words that I actually read and hear.

Sometimes its the tune that plays that spurs the heart strings into a flutter and at other times the written words are right for my moments mood; & then the are times when the lyrics that have been written find a need for me to rewrite them so that they fit my life’s story & my life’s events … re-written with my thoughts and feelings verbalised in my own worded prose.

Whilst these re-written lyrics take on a totally different direction, meaning or tone to what the song writer authored them to be… for me the few moments of stolen and solitary time that I find myself lost in the tune where I am spurred on by the thoughts that bring forth moments in my past, moments in my here and now’s or even moments that even I have long since forgotten is the very thing, the connection that I look for when falling for the movement that a song brings to my hearing ears and tune loving heart.

I look for an emotional or memory spurred on moment, a connection with a song, it’s lyrics or its tune. These are the very things that I look for and want to hear in the made up parts of a song. When I do have and or find these connections with a song; I often hear what isn’t written… I see a vivid memory’s flashes through the strumming or drumming sounds that keep the tempo of the playing songs meaning. The words that I hear in the words of another’s lyrics flood me with emotion and beckon me to sit for awhile to play out my story in and throughout their lyrical words.

When this connection with a piece of music comes across me… I instantly become a record player playing over and over the tune in my head… sometimes its the actual lyrical words that the song writer actually wrote that I play & sing reading the lyrical words over and over… and at other times I am the dreamer, the writer taking the song on snd into another written worded journey all together.

Whether its the lyrical words that I change or the unspoken journey in the beat of the unknown energy is always an unknown factor until I actually sit to listen over and over again to what I hear in the tune and what I read in both written and unspoken meaning of each and every word.

There is also times when I find myself lost in the lyrical words of a song that have been re-recorded by another artist… the original not resonating with me… but some how the tune and beat of the same song gives me a connection or a feeling that I may or may not at the time understand what or why it means something to me when another artist sings its words and verses.

Sometimes the cover is the thing that helps bring me a different perspective and on other occasions I feel that what was written should be left alone to grow old – to grow it’s own meaning through the years of time… meaning that sometimes it upsets me that another artist works to put their spin on a song and takes away the meaning and the feelings of the song.

Sometimes what is beautiful about a song is neither the original take or version… and sometimes it is the interpretation of another artists way… sometimes it is what isn’t written in a songs written words or the tone that places a tune into my heart… what ever way a song finds a meaning or thoughts within in is a song and a moment dependant thing…  when the tune, the mood, the lyrics or the unwritten hidden thoughts and feelings come across me I know that my connection with a song has moved me in some kind unexplored way.

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The song “In The Ghetto – By Elvis Presley” is for me one of the many songs that have touched my heart, my mind and my thoughts over my life time.

But just recently I saw an Elvis Tribute Artist “Gordon Hendricks.”

(Gordon Hendricks is an award winning Elvis Presley tribute artist. Constantly on the move, Gordon is selling out theatres and sharing his talent throughout the world. Gordon continues to entertain people all over the World with his shows which keeps the memory of Elvis very much alive. He has received accolade after accolade for his performances and concerts – it’s as if Elvis himself is on that stage – maybe, just maybe he is.

http://www.gordon-hendricks.com  … singing his version – his interpretation of
Elvis Presley Famous Song “In The Ghetto.”

I so loved Gordon’s interpretation… after listening to him sing “In The Ghetto” I got to writing about what was brought through to me whilst listening to Gordon sing.

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Background To Elvis’s Song ” In The Ghetto”

“In The Ghetto” was written by Mac Davis and was originally titled “The Vicious Circle”. In The Ghetto was made popular by Elvis Presley in 1969 when it was released as a 45 rpm single.

“In The Ghetto was Elvis Presley’s first Top 10 hit in the US in four years, peaking at number 3, and his first UK Top 10 hit in three years.

The song tells the story of a young boy who grows up in the ghetto, to a mother who really didn’t need another baby to care for, and in a world where nobody else seems to care either. As the boy gets older, he starts wandering the streets, learning how to steal and fight. And he’s hungry… he’s so hungry.

It often happens, petty crimes turn into more serious offenses. Before long, the young man has bought a gun, stolen a car, and been caught in the process – sadly, with fatal consequences and the cycle begins again… It may be another ghetto, in another neighborhood, but as it’s told in the story, somewhere out there – at this very moment – is another young mother giving birth to her child – a child that she won’t be able to care for, and that the world still isn’t going to want.

As her young man dies,
On a cold and grey Chicago mornin’, another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries.

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This song is about poverty, describing a child who can’t overcome his surroundings and turns to crime, which leads to his death. It was the first song Elvis recorded with a socially conscious message. He was reluctant to do it for that reason, but knew it would be a hit.

“Elvis was hesitant to do ‘In The Ghetto,'” Lacker told Goldmine magazine. “Colonel Parker had always drilled into his head, ‘Don’t do message songs. If you do message song it’s just like taking a political side. Whatever side you’re gonna take is gonna offend the others’. I was in the control room after Elvis and the musicians had been working on ‘In The Ghetto’ a little bit. He said, ‘Look, I don’t think I should do this song’. I said, ‘Elvis, if you’re ever gonna do a song like this, this is the one’. He looked over at Chips and Chips said, ‘This is a hit record. But I’ll tell you what, if you don’t want it, can I have the song?’ Elvis didn’t blink. He said, ‘No, I’m gonna do it.”

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Here are the words to Elvis Presley’s Song “In The Ghetto”

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his mama cries
‘Cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need
It’s another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

People, don’t you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day?
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see Do we simply turn our heads, and look the other way?

Well, the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal, and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away He buys a gun, steals a car
Tries to run, but he don’t get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers ’round an angry young man
Face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And as her young man dies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his mama cries
(in the ghetto)
(In the ghetto)
(Aah-aah)

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In the ghetto is about poverty, describing a child who can’t overcome his surroundings and turns to crime, which leads to his death. It was the first song Elvis recorded with a socially conscious message. He was reluctant to do it for that reason, but knew it would be a hit.

“Elvis was hesitant to do ‘In The Ghetto,'” Lacker told Goldmine magazine. “Colonel Parker had always drilled into his head, ‘Don’t do message songs. If you do message song it’s just like taking a political side. Whatever side you’re gonna take is gonna offend the others’. I was in the control room after Elvis and the musicians had been working on ‘In The Ghetto’ a little bit. He said, ‘Look, I don’t think I should do this song’. I said, ‘Elvis, if you’re ever gonna do a song like this, this is the one’. He looked over at Chips and Chips said, ‘This is a hit record. But I’ll tell you what, if you don’t want it, can I have the song?’ Elvis didn’t blink. He said, ‘No, I’m gonna do it.”

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In tomorrow’s post I will tell you how & why Elvis Presley’s Song
” In The Ghetto ” resinates with me.

Signed
Author. Tanya Kelly
365daysomethings.wordpress.com