There is now what amounts to an island of street food vendors who park down the middle of the strip but back in the early two thousands it was much more open for the hundreds of people in the area. It was a chance to see all kinds of travellers, from crunchy granola backpackers to the sleaziest sex tourists and everything in between. (I was once gawked at by seemingly everyone on Khao San the night I went to meet a friend for dinner not long after being released from the hospital after a serious accident. You don't see many white guys who are just shy of two meters with bandages on their heads and casts on their arms) It was during one of my sojourns that I noticed a young couple: he was a fair haired westerner who was about my height and wore glasses, while she was a petite Thai girl. Nothing special there but for one thing: he had his hand around her neck.
It is this anecdote which comes to mind whenever I listen to Elvis Presley's fifth Canadian number one single "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck". I'm prepared to believe that both incident and song were not intended to have any ill feeling but that's still not the impression I get. The gentleman on Khao San looked to be holding his girlfriend's neck gently but the act still seemed violent. Same goes for a song about keeping an engagement ring around a girl's neck rather than on the left hand where it belongs. If we're being charitable, maybe it could be about having the ring on a necklace but is pulling a Frodo much of a statement?
"Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" broke a string of ten straight number ones in the US. It also missed the top spot in Britain, ensuring that it wouldn't be one of the better remembered Elvis numbers of the era. It didn't help that the overall quality of his work had been trending down even though it was a recovery of sorts from the ordinariness of the double A-side "I Beg of You" / "Don't". The band sound in good form with D.J. Fontana's drumming a particular high spot. Despite the brisk pace, it still doesn't quite measure up to the standards of even a year earlier. Still, a tip of the hat for Elvis managing to hold off the quality bottoming out — at least for now anyway.
Elvis seemed to have a knack for making problematic material just a little less uncomfortable. His masterpiece L.P., From Elvis in Memphis, contains a deep cut called "Power of My Love", an aggressive bar band blues with references to having to "punch it", "pound it" and "drag it all around". It gets especially tense in the chorus with his warning that "every minute, every hour, you'll be shaken by the strength and mighty power of my love". Not nice imagery but I'm not quite sure he's advocating for violence against women so I'll let it slide. (A couple of points in its favour: (a) it's followed on the album by the lovely "Gentle on My Mind" which offers some redemption and (b) it's an absolute banger; a good song can cover up many sins) Same goes in this instance: the wording isn't great, it's controlling not unlike putting a leash on a dog but I might give Elvis the benefit of the doubt because he's an insecure guy who's going to be away for some time.
Sgt Elvis Presley was by now stationed in Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), Texas where he put on a brave face about life as a soldier but longed for Memphis and feared for his career. If his previous hit could be interpreted as a message from his fans to him, this one could be seen as reciprocal: keep the faith, stay committed to The King, don't forget about him and he'll be back before you know it. I'd keep that ring on my finger or put away someplace special but you do you.
Score: 6
No comments:
Post a Comment