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Ten Thousand Motels
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From The Sunday Times -May 2, 2009
Elvis: American David. A poem by Bono
The following tribute to Elvis Presley was written by Bono in 1995. It will form part of a 15-minute feature interwoven with specially composed music and archive material to be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on May 13 2009
elvis son of tupelo.
elvis mama's boy.
elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box.
elvis drove a truck.
elvis was recorded at sun studios by the musical diviner sam phillips.
elvis was managed by colonel tom parker, an ex-carnie barker whose last act was a singing canary.
elvis was the most famous singer in the world since king david.
elvis lived on his own street.
elvis liked to play speed cop.
elvis had a monkey named scatter before anyone.
elvis wore a cape at the white house when he was presenting nixon with two silver pistols.
elvis was a member of the drug squad.
elvis wore eye make up, just hangin' out.
elvis wore a gold nudie suit and trained his lip to curl.
elvis was macho, but could sing like a girl.
elvis was not a big talker.
elvis was articulate in every other way.
elvis dyed his hair black to look like valentino.
elvis held a microphone the way valentino held nitanaldi in blood and sand.
elvis dressed black long before he dressed in black.
elvis sang black except in lower registers where he was a student of dean martin.
elvis admired mario lanza.
elvis delivered the world from crooning.
elvis was a great crooner.
elvis had a voice that could explain the sexuality of america.
elvis was influenced by jim morrison in his choice of black leather for the '68 comeback special.
elvis invented the beatles.
elvis achieved world domination from a small town.
elvis was conscious of myth.
elvis had pharoah-like potential.
elvis was made by america, so america could remake itself.
elvis had good manners.
elvis was a bass, a baritone, and a tenor.
elvis sang his heart out at the end.
elvis the opera singer.
elvis the soap opera.
elvis loved america, God, the bible, firearms, the movies, the office of presidency, junk food, drugs, cars, family,television, jewellery, straight talkin', dirty talkin' gameshows, uniforms, and self-help books.
elvis like america, wanted to improve himself.
elvis like america, started out loving but later turned on himself.
elvis body could not stop moving.
elvis is alive, we're dead.
elvis the charismatic.
elvis the ecstatic.
elvis the plastic, elvis the elastic with a spastic dance that might explain the energy of america.
elvis fusion and confusion.
elvis earth rod in a southern dorm.
elvis shaking up an electrical storm.
elvis in hollywood his voice gone to ground.
elvis in las vegas with a big brassy sound.
elvis the first rock'n'roll star with scotty moore, bill black, and d.j. fontana.
elvis with james burton and ronny tutt.
elvis the movie star made three good films : viva las vegas,flaming star, and jailhouse rock.
elvis the hillbilly brought rhythm to the white race,blues to pop, and rock'n'roll to where ever rock'n'roll is.
elvis the pelvis, swung from africa to europe, which is the idea of america.
elvis liberation.
elvis the kung fu would come later.
elvis hibernation.
elvis built a theme park he later called Graceland.
elvis woke up to whispers.
elvis thought of himself as a backslider.
elvis knew guilt like a twin brother.
elvis called God every morning then left the phone off the hook.
elvis turned las vegas into a church when he sang "love me tender".
elvis turned america into a church when he sang "the trilogy".
elvis was harangued by choice;flesh vs. spirit, God vs. rock'n'roll mother vs. lover,father vs. the colonel.
elvis grew sideburns as a protest against tom jones'hairy chest.
elvis would have a president named after him.
elvis was one of the boys.
elvis was not one of the boys.
elvis had an acute intelligence disguised as talent.
elvis broke pirscilla's heart.
elvis broke lisa marie's heart.
elvis woke up my heart.
elvis white trash.
elvis the memphis flash.
elvis didn't smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without johnny cash.
elvis didn't dodge the draft.
elvis had his own aircraft.
elvis having a laugh on the lisa marie in a colour photograph.
elvis under the hood.
elvis cadillac blood.
elvis darling bud flowered and returned to the mississippi mud.
elvis ain't gonna rot.
elvis in a memphis plot.
elvis didn't hear the shot but the king died just across the lot from.
elvis vanilla ice cream.
elvis girls of 14.
elvis memphis spleen shooting at the tv reading corinthians 13.
elvis with God on his knees.
elvis on three tvs.
elvis here come the killer bees head full of honey,potato chips and cheese.
elvis the bumper stickers.
elvis the white knickers.
elvis the white nigger ate at burger king and just kept getting bigger.
elvis sang to win.
elvis the battle to be slim.
elvis ate america before america ate him.
elvis stamps,elvis necromance.
elvis fans,elvisp sychphants.
elvis the public enemy.
elvis don't mean shit to chucked.
elvis changed the centre of gravity.
elvis made it slippy.
elvis hitler,elvis nixon,elvis christ, elvis mishima.
elvis marcus, elvis jackson, elvis the pelvis.
elvis the psalmist,elvis the genius, elvis the generous.
elvis forgive us.
elvis pray for us
elvis aaron presley(1935-1977)
C Bono 1995
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The Sunday Times
May 2, 2009
BBC falls for Bono’s ‘poetry’
U2 singer's six-minute Elvis Pressley tribute underlines his apparent 'love-in' with the UK's state broadcaster
Jan Battles
Just weeks after the BBC was labelled the Bono Broadasting Corporation because of its extensive coverage of U2’s new album, it is about to give the singer yet more access to the airways by broadcasting a lengthy poem he has written about Elvis Presley.
On May 13, BBC Radio 4 listeners will be treated to a “plain but intense” Bono recital of the 850-word verse, entitled American David. It will be part of a 15-minute feature interwoven with specially composed music and archive material, which the BBC insists will be “atmospheric and artistic”.
The poem was written in 1995 by the U2 singer who has a long-term fascination with the King of Rock’n’Roll. It opens with the lines: “Elvis son of Tupelo/ Elvis mama’s boy/ Elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box.”
The BBC said: “Some lines are purposefully quintessential Elvis clichés while others make listeners view Elvis in a new light.”
Yet many may regard the broadcast as further proof of the BBC’s love affair with U2. The broadcaster was criticised earlier this year over the amount of coverage it gave to the release of No Line on the Horizon. This included a day of programming across BBC1, BBC2, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4 culminating in a “surprise” gig by the band on the roof of Broadcasting House.
Using the slogan U2=BBC, the broadcaster even dedicated part of its website to the band, offering tickets and providing links to u2.com. The page remains, with links to the various programmes featuring the band. Nigel Evans, a Tory MP who sits on the culture, media and sport select committee in the House of Commons, said it was “the sort of publicity money can’t buy”.
The BBC may have a defence this time. The Elvis by Bono project began before the recent album coverage and originated with independent producers.
Laura Parfitt of White Pebble Media, who pitched the idea to the broadcaster, said: “Bono did an interview about two years ago with Des Shaw for a series for BBC radio about Sun Studios [in Memphis where Elvis recorded]. At the end of the interview he said he had written a poem about Elvis and asked if Des wanted to hear it. So he pulled out the poem and just read it and recorded it. At the end he said, ‘Do whatever you want with it’. It was never broadcast.”
When Parfitt, a U2 fan, heard the recording she said she could immediately imagine sounds and music to accompany it. “It’s a very evocative poem that brings sounds into your head. I immediately heard a soundscape. I could hear the sounds of America, I could hear Elvis’s voice and the music.”
While pitching other ideas to Radio Four she mentioned the Bono poem and decided she and Shaw would make it into a 15-minute arty, musical composition. “When we got the commission, we contacted Bono’s office and they said, ‘Great’.”
The feature was produced by Chris O’Shaughnessy, who has composed music for film and television. He won a radio award for a similar programme entitled Malcolm McLaren’s Musical Map of London. “He’s taken the poem, cut it up and in the gaps he’s got Elvis archive, Elvis music, other people talking about Elvis and about America, news conference footage and he’s joined it all together with his own musical composition,” said Parfitt.
Bono’s text contains references to Presley’s films as well as his music and covers all stages of his career, including his fall from grace. “Elvis the bumper stickers/ Elvis the white knickers/ Elvis the white nigger ate at Burger King and just kept getting bigger.”
Another section reads: “Elvis white trash/ Elvis the Memphis flash/ Elvis didn’t smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without Johnny Cash.”
In 2004, Bono selected Elvis as his choice for The Greatest Artists of all Time issue of Rolling Stone magazine. “Elvis changed everything — musically, sexually, politically,” he said. “In Elvis, you had the whole lot; it’s all there in that elastic voice and body.”
For the band’s film Rattle and Hum, U2 went to Graceland and Sun Studios where they worked with Cowboy Jack Clement, Presley’s engineer. The studio was reopened specially so the band could record some tracks in the same place where Presley recorded Mystery Train. The tracks included Angel of Harlem with BB King. An earlier album, The Unforgettable Fire, featured a track entitled Elvis Presley and America.
Parfitt described Bono’s style as “a bit like the Liverpool beat poets. I think it’s interesting because obviously he’s a lyricist and this is a totally different approach to writing words. It sounds like a prayer at the end.
“The programme takes you on a journey through Elvis’s life and career but also through America of that era, all told through this incredible poem that Bono wrote,” she said.
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