In the Ghetto

January 21, 1969

In the Ghetto is one of the most famous songs of Elvis Presley. The piece was published in April 1969 as a single and reached in many countries top rankings in the charts. He is the only song by Presley, who was a number -one hit in Germany.

Genesis

In the Ghetto in 1968 by 26 -year-old Texan country singer and songwriter Mac Davis was written, the song Memories and A Little Less Conversation also been successes for Presley. In the Ghetto was the twelfth and final piece of Presley 's comeback LP From Elvis in Memphis, was released by RCA Records. The single was released in April 1969 with the Any Day Now B- side and in the U.S. reached # 3 on the charts in the UK and number 2 in Germany, where it stayed 13 weeks in the top 10, Place 1

Topic

The song deals with the short life of a child who comes on a snowy day in the ghetto of Chicago to the world, inevitably end up on the wrong path and finds his young life on a gray day just as a violent end. The song begins with the weeping mother, who still can not feed another child, and at the end of the cycle begins anew - a child is born in the ghetto again. The song appeals to the audience, not to look away and help to ensure that the vicious circle can be broken.

Presley's interpretation

The special feature of Presley's interpretation of the song, which describes the inevitable consequences of ghetto poverty and societal indifference ( the piece had originally subtitled The Vicious Circle ) ask, and to sympathy for the situation of black youth - has the well-known music journalist and author Peter Guralnick formulated as follows:

" If you had never heard of Elvis Presley and would only get the 23 meticulous takes of the piece, which he has taken out in the night presented, then it would be virtually impossible to be captured immediately by storm. The song is from such a humble, almost translucent eloquence, it is in its simplicity as unobtrusive self-confident, so perfect of the kind worn elegant, understated support from the small group that was the hallmark of American - style - he makes a statement, which can be almost impossible to deny. [ ...] One can hear a kind of tenderness that recalls the Elvis who has entered for the first time Sam Phillips' Sun Studio, and an equal desire and social compassion offered. "

Far less lyrical, but still revealing is Elvis Presley 's own statement to In the Ghetto, which he in 1969 on the question of a journalist admitted his motivation to take just these socially critical song:

"Ghetto what such a great song. I just could not pass it up after I heard it. There are a lot of new records out now thathave the same sound I started But They are better. I mean, you can not compare a song like " Yesterday" [by the Beatles ] with " Hound Dog" [by Leiber & Stoller ], can you? "

Fischer / Prescher write in the " Encyclopedia of famous pop songs " on Page 132/ 133: " ... You can clearly hear the influence Elvis has in the success of the piece: the risk that the song sounds corny and sentimental, is great, but Presley's warm, soulful voice is full of empathy, she shows affection for the inevitably criminal expectant, angry young man ' who dies with his face down on the street. "

Cover versions

After Elvis Presley song have covered many other artists such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cranberries, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton and Natalie Merchant. In August 2007, Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley has released a version in which she sings a duet with her father.