Are You Lonesome Tonight

Welcome to Ken’s Psychic Jukebox.

I’m treading very lightly into this arena, as I am still, at heart, a skeptic (despite growing evidence to the contrary).

But I get songs in my head, and Teresa is convinced that, because of my love for music, this is the way I receive messages.

It’s tricky.  The message could be for me, or for someone else.  And the message itself could be in the song lyrics, or it could be the title.  It could even be the artist, or the overall subject matter of the song.

Or it could just be a good song that someone somewhere thought I should remember and enjoy.

I thought I’d share some of these, sort of like our Crystal Wisdom of the Day.

My goal here is two-fold. 

First, using this as a forum, I can convey the message, or at least the song, to a lot of people.  Music is very powerful, and means so much to so many.  Maybe the song will give you inspiration, or spark a happy memory.

The other thing I hope to do is keep the music, and the artists, alive.  I don’t pretend to have all the answers, or understand how (or why) Teresa and others are able to communicate with spirits, but I can’t help but believe that sharing their music and making sure they are remembered is a good thing.  That’s why most if not all of the songs posted here will be from singers and musicians who are no longer with us.

I won’t be attempting any kinds of readings here, and I won’t pretend that I can get your message to Elvis.  Or vice versa.

I’ll simply share the song, what I think it means that is important, or something significant about the performer.

And I feel that a blog like this would have to begin with Elvis.

I’m sure we all know the hits.  Or we all SHOULD know the hits.  And we know at least some of the Christmas songs and some of the gospel tracks.

He had seventeen number one albums and thirty number one singles before his death in 1977.  As great as those numbers are, he actually recorded around 700 songs!

The song I wanted to kick things off with is “Are You Lonesome Tonight” – a number one single for Elvis in 1960.

“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” was recorded by others before Elvis. In fact, it goes back to the 1920’s (and has a spoken part that was based on lines from Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”).  Al Jolson and Jaye P. Morgan are among those who recorded it before the King.

It’s a song about heartbreak and hope, and that’s part of why I chose it for this first blog.

But I also wanted to share something about Elvis.

Elvis had a great sense of humor.  When he would perform this song live, he would (sometimes) change the words to the spoken part to have some fun with the crowd. 

He also loved to laugh.

I think that’s really important.  Sometimes, we get so caught up in our day-to-day tasks that we don’t allow ourselves to see the humor in things.  We’re too serious.

In 1969, at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley was performing to a sold-out crowd.  Arguably the most popular performer of the time (and probably of all-time), this concert was being recorded.

So you have the number one performer in America, singing to a sold-out crowd in a show that was being recorded.  A serious situation.

But something happened during that show, and the specifics vary depending on who’s telling the story.  There’s no video of this event, just the audio recording.  But legend has it that a fan tried to reach for Elvis, or possibly one of his scarves, and knocked off or at least bumped the toupee of a man in the audience, moving the fake hair to a ridiculous angle.

And Elvis laughed.  He laughed a lot.  It’s infectious.  And try as he might, he just couldn’t stop, even though the band and his back-up singers kept going.

While this video isn’t much to look at, give yourself a few minutes, and close your eyes as you play it, and listen to the music.  And remember to laugh.

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