Comments on: One Night http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 27 May 2012 00:43:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Rob http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-188004 Rob Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:11:52 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-188004 Perhaps the changes to the lyrics weren't to make it less dirty but to make it less religious, more secular, at a time when Christianity was perhpas less ecumenical. It's "cleaned up" also in the sense that anticipation is more marketable than repentance. Perhaps the changes to the lyrics weren’t to make it less dirty but to make it less religious, more secular, at a time when Christianity was perhpas less ecumenical. It’s “cleaned up” also in the sense that anticipation is more marketable than repentance.

]]> By: dave heasman http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187720 dave heasman Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:47:55 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187720 I was 12 when it came out. jr is right, in my case anyway, no thought of filth. Lyrics then didn't mean anything anyway, it was the overall sound that counted. It was and is a magnificent record, one to play to anyone who disparages Elvis. And I didn't notice the homoerotic lyrics of the b-side either - "I Got Stung by a sweet honey-bee.." I was 12 when it came out. jr is right, in my case anyway, no thought of filth. Lyrics then didn’t mean anything anyway, it was the overall sound that counted. It was and is a magnificent record, one to play to anyone who disparages Elvis. And I didn’t notice the homoerotic lyrics of the b-side either – “I Got Stung by a sweet honey-bee..”

]]> By: cs http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187692 cs Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:01:55 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187692 Perhaps, yet I don't think it is clear what the motivation is for changing the lyrics. "cleaned-up" is Guralnick's word, not Elvis', and may be merely descriptive, not implying causation. The obvious (to me, anyway) alternative interpretation is that Elvis loved to sing songs that teased his audience, especially live - just loved it (the list is long, but I'd give the gong to the awesome "Just Pretend"). It is obviously more difficult for the girls to imagine Elvis was singing about having been with them last night, yet they could easily join, for the moment anyhow, in the prospective fantasy. The way Elvis performs the song tends to support this interpretation. Perhaps, yet I don’t think it is clear what the motivation is for changing the lyrics. “cleaned-up” is Guralnick’s word, not Elvis’, and may be merely descriptive, not implying causation. The obvious (to me, anyway) alternative interpretation is that Elvis loved to sing songs that teased his audience, especially live – just loved it (the list is long, but I’d give the gong to the awesome “Just Pretend”). It is obviously more difficult for the girls to imagine Elvis was singing about having been with them last night, yet they could easily join, for the moment anyhow, in the prospective fantasy. The way Elvis performs the song tends to support this interpretation.

]]> By: Rasselas http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187679 Rasselas Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:44:54 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187679 Countdown to apposite Greil Marcus citation starting now... Countdown to apposite Greil Marcus citation starting now…

]]> By: JR http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187659 JR Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:11:28 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187659 It was always okay to talk about sex if you did it so that the very young wouldn't quite understand. In 1925 Eddie Cantor sang, "If you knew Susie like I know Susie," and no one over 18 had to guess how he knew Susie. There's a whole pop lyrics vocabulary of ways to say things without actually saying them. "One night with you" passed muster because to a 15-year old in 1957 it could have meant a date. But a "night of sin" leaves no room for ambiguity, so it isn't in the phrase book. It was always okay to talk about sex if you did it so that the very young wouldn’t quite understand. In 1925 Eddie Cantor sang, “If you knew Susie like I know Susie,” and no one over 18 had to guess how he knew Susie. There’s a whole pop lyrics vocabulary of ways to say things without actually saying them. “One night with you” passed muster because to a 15-year old in 1957 it could have meant a date. But a “night of sin” leaves no room for ambiguity, so it isn’t in the phrase book.

]]> By: benton http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187657 benton Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:52:48 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187657 Could it be the idea of actual infidelity that was the problem rather than the idea of sex? In this case I suspect that Elvis singing about cheating on you -- which is how I take it -- might not have been the message they wanted. Could it be the idea of actual infidelity that was the problem rather than the idea of sex? In this case I suspect that Elvis singing about cheating on you—which is how I take it—might not have been the message they wanted.

]]> By: Russell Arben Fox http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187656 Russell Arben Fox Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:50:19 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187656 This is fascinating, Jon; thanks for writing it up. And, like Gene, I completely agree with what you're saying. It is an odd but undeniable reality that when most people choose to or are obliged to take on censorious responsibilities, the first instinct is to shy away from a subject entirely, even if the original treatment of said subject actually makes a worthier message than what is come up with in its place. And really, I shouldn't say "most people": I can look at how my wife and I sometimes try to manage things in accordance with what we think our oldest daughter (now ten years old) is ready to see or read, and I realize that sometimes we do the exact same thing. This is fascinating, Jon; thanks for writing it up. And, like Gene, I completely agree with what you’re saying. It is an odd but undeniable reality that when most people choose to or are obliged to take on censorious responsibilities, the first instinct is to shy away from a subject entirely, even if the original treatment of said subject actually makes a worthier message than what is come up with in its place. And really, I shouldn’t say “most people”: I can look at how my wife and I sometimes try to manage things in accordance with what we think our oldest daughter (now ten years old) is ready to see or read, and I realize that sometimes we do the exact same thing.

]]> By: Gene O'Grady http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/comment-page-1/#comment-187655 Gene O'Grady Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:37:56 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/21/one-night/#comment-187655 I couldn't agree more, but I'm all too familiar with the mentality that would consider the second version cleaned-up -- rather like when preparing the scripture readings for my father's funeral I was asked to exclude any of the Pauline passages saying that Jesus had freed us from our sins on the grounds that it would imply that the deceased had sinned (as he himself would only have been too aware!) However, what I'm really curious about is whether anyone else finds the old "my love's too strong to hide" blatantly indecent, or if I'm just still suffering from an unredeemed adolescent mentality after all these years. I couldn’t agree more, but I’m all too familiar with the mentality that would consider the second version cleaned-up—rather like when preparing the scripture readings for my father’s funeral I was asked to exclude any of the Pauline passages saying that Jesus had freed us from our sins on the grounds that it would imply that the deceased had sinned (as he himself would only have been too aware!)

However, what I’m really curious about is whether anyone else finds the old “my love’s too strong to hide” blatantly indecent, or if I’m just still suffering from an unredeemed adolescent mentality after all these years.

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