Famous and making his mark all over the world with his vibrant rock’n’roll, but Elvis Presley’s most covered song is “Can’t help falling in love” – a slow, sad, deep ballad
In June 1977, in Indianapolis, USA, tens of thousands of audiences went from extreme excitement to emotional numbness when the melodies of the classic ballad Can’t help falling in love rang out. Elvis Presley in a white suit, his voice somewhat tired and sweat on his temples, stepped onto the stage with all the last burst of energy thanks to painkillers and sedatives. No one, not even Elvis, knew that it was the last time he would sing in front of a large audience of fans.
Two months later, the world was shocked to hear that the greatest rock’n’roll king of the century had passed away, ending a musical career that had a strong influence on American and world popular culture.
Elvis Presley’s mark
Famous and making a mark all over the world with his vibrant rock’n’roll, Elvis Presley’s most covered song is Can’t help falling in love – a slow, sad, profound ballad written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George David Weiss based on the famous 18th-century French love song Plaisir d’amour by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini.
The song first appeared in Blue Hawaii, an American musical and romantic comedy film (released in 1961) directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley in the male lead role. During the filming of the film, Presley received the song. He quickly decided to record this song as the main song for Blue Hawaii. It was also the first time Can’t help falling in love was recorded in its entirety.
The singer’s decision was met with opposition from many people, even the song’s authors themselves, who believed that Elvis was more suited to fast and vibrant melodies. The slow tempo of Can’t help falling in love could have caused Elvis a lot of trouble. The strongest opposition came from his close manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who believed that releasing the song as a single would greatly affect the film’s sales.
Elvis Presley created a musical revolution, becoming the greatest cultural icon of the 20th century
Even in 1971, Alan Fortas – a music expert close to Elvis – said in the radio documentary The Elvis Presley Story: “At that time, people only liked it half-heartedly. It was just an average song, people sat around and talked about it and judged it as a weird song for a movie.” However, contrary to the doubts of almost the entire crew and producer, Elvis worked very seriously on Can’t Help Falling in Love. The initial rehearsals were off-beat, even constantly running out of breath between the song’s slow verses, but Elvis was not discouraged. The famous singer, who was very famous at that time, did not hesitate to record the song up to the 29th time to have the perfect final recording that satisfied everyone. “He worked very seriously to have such a beautiful and intimate ballad. When the song was finished, everyone seemed to realize that Elvis had created a classic,” said Ernst Jorgensen, Elvis’ recording artist.
The song quickly became a phenomenon when the movie was released in 1962. The image of Elvis in the movie with a wreath around his neck, sparkling eyes and a curved mouth singing the melodies of Can’t help falling in love on a Hawaiian beach, so sweet and calm, it melted the hearts of the audience.
Over the years, dozens of artists from many genres have covered the song, the most notable of which is probably the reggae fusion and synthpop version by UB40 (with the new title (I can’t help) Falling in love with you), the pop group A-Teens, or a series of covers by famous artists such as Keely Smith, Andy Williams, Al Martino, Bob Dylan, The Stylistics, Shirley Bassey, Andrea Bocelli…
However, among those many versions, the first version by Elvis Presley still occupies an irreplaceable position. Going beyond the film version, the song’s single was certified Platinum by the RIAA, with sales exceeding 1 million copies. The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks, as well as topping the UK charts in 1962.
Can’t Help Falling in Love became the final tunes of Presley’s life, a deep pause in the brilliant and vibrant medley called Elvis PresleyCan’t Help Falling in Love became the final tunes of Presley’s life, a deep pause in the brilliant and vibrant medley called Elvis Presley
On October 30, 2015, a memorial album on the occasion of Presley’s 80th birthday was released, featuring Can’t Help Falling in Love. According to a 2020 survey conducted by Onbuy, Can’t Help Falling in Love was also the song chosen to appear most often at weddings.
In addition to Blue Hawaii, the song has also appeared in many other films, such as the horror film Silver starring Sharon Stone (1993), the romantic comedy Fools Rush In (1997), Coyote Ugly (2000), Lilo & Stitch (2002). Most recently, the song was once again emotionally heard in the biographical film about Elvis Presley directed by Baz Luhrmann, with a recording by American country singer Kacey Musgraves.
A white man with the style of a black man
In the late 1940s, the famous music producer in the US at that time, Sam Phillips, was looking for a new musical portrait: “It had to be a white man with the voice and style of a black man. If I could find that person, I could make a billion dollars” and Elvis Presley was found with his deep, sophisticated, passionate and free singing style, eager to express himself.
The appearance of Elvis breathed into American music at the end of the 20th century a new energy that was seductive, vibrant and masculine. Girls were crazy about Elvis’s dance moves. Boys wore wide-legged pants and combed their hair in the famous “pompadour” hairstyle. Elvis, with his significant innovations in rock & roll, opened the door for African-American music to reach the mass audience.
In fact, before Elvis appeared, most American music was performed by African-American black artists, with elegant, polite blue jazz melodies and many reservations due to racial discrimination. Elvis broke all the previous rules. With undisguised admiration, Elvis did not hesitate to show the influence of the singing style of previous African artists such as B.B. King or Fats Domino, Nat King Cole… and Elvis’s free-spirited recordings made people think of a black man singing in a more modern, lively and seductive version.
Elvis Presley – Can’t Help Falling in Love (film “Blue Hawaii”):
From that spirit, Elvis created a beautiful Can’t help falling in love with a charm that transcends time, space and gender. The calm low notes like a gentleman, the graceful dropped notes, so that the whole ending pushes to a climax with a series of brilliant high notes to perfection. Elvis’s entire performance is a smooth combination of the skillful singing and accents of black African Americans with the fresh and vibrant energy of a “stage king” and more or less influenced by the market and commercial factors. Elvis made Can’t help falling in love an icon, far beyond the original stature and value of the song.
With Can’t help falling in love and a series of famous hits before, Elvis Presley created a musical revolution, becoming the greatest cultural icon of the 20th century – a person that John Lennon once exclaimed: “Before Elvis, everything was nothing”.
