Today is the Solemn Feast of St Elvis, the anniversary of The King's birth. Besides being a genuine rawk gawd, Elvis ascended to the broader pantheon of deified culture heroes... kinda like a Southern-fried Gilgamesh. Elvis has inspired a vast array of songs, films, books, and an 'impersonator' industrial complex. Among all of the Elvis tributes and shout-outs, perhaps my favorite is Kirsty MacColl's There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis :
This song belongs to a musical tradition that I particularly like- a jaunty, funny number about a sad topic:
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you’d be true
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
But he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you
Speaking of sad topics, Kirsty MacColl and Elvis share a tragic distinction- both died in their early forties, altogether too young. I'd like to think there's a kinder, better alternate universe in which they both lived long, productive lives, a universe in which they sang a duet of There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis in a Las Vegas nightclub.
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