One Night - Elvis Presley

One Night - Elvis Presley

2:32

single, 1958

Written by Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steinman

Apparently Elvis was unhappy with having to bowdlerize the lyrics as originally sung by Smiley Lewis ("One night of sin / Is what I'm now payin' for") into the much tamer "One night with you / Is what I'm now praying for."  Lewis' reflection on the night, which has already happened, is that it shook him to the core.  The things he has seen and done!  Elvis' night, on the other hand, is still safely hypothetical: "The things that we two could plan / Would make my dreams come true."  It's an interesting distinction.  But over a driving piano, Elvis gives a fierce, almost growling vocal, giving passion to the comparatively insipid lyric.

If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley

If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley
3:09
Elvis, 1968
Written by Walter Earl Brown

This song was based on Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech and its passionate rendition by Elvis was partly inspired by King's assassination just two months earlier.  "If I can dream of a better land, where all my brothers walk hand in hand / Tell me why, oh why, oh why can't my dream come true?"  Presley delivers it like a man singing for redemption, his voice straining against the lush orchestration and gospel-style backing vocals.   The arrangement swells from quiet reflection — it bemoans a world "troubled by pain," shadowed by dark clouds — to an impassioned crescendo, mirroring the ache and aspiration in the lyrics.  It is said that Elvis never channeled so much grief and yearning into a song, and that after he recorded it, vowed he would never again sing a song he didn't believe in.

Something [live] - Elvis Presley

Something [live] - Elvis Presley

3:40

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters, 1995 (recorded 1970)

Written by George Harrison

From a concert in August 1970 (not the 1973 version from Aloha From Hawaii), this cover showcases the King's blend of reverence and theatricality. The ballad begins with his signature croon, starting tender and sincere, but gradually leaning into his Vegas-era drama—adding swelling strings, lush backing vocals, and a grandiose arrangement. His vocal delivery moves from soulful and intimate to full-throated passion, almost gospel-like by the climax. While it loses some of the Beatles' quiet subtlety, Elvis makes it unmistakably his own, turning the song into a sweeping declaration of love and longing.

When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Elvis Presley

When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Elvis Presley

2:22

Elvis, 1956

Written by Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan, 1940

A toe-tapping, catchy song of lost love and hope ("When my blue moon turns to gold again / You’ll be back within my arms to stay"), showing the King's early mastery of blending country, gospel, and rockabilly into something unmistakably his own.  Elvis electrifies the song with his smooth, yearning vocals and a light, swinging rhythm, not quite honky-tonk nor full-blown rock swagger, but definitely devlivered with confidence and talent.