Genius and Madness

From Elvis to Picasso and the thorny intersection of "madness" and creativity.

William Todd Schultz is Professor of Psychology at Pacific University in Oregon and edited the Handbook of Psychobiography (Oxford University Press 2005). See full bio

April 18, 2008, Personality

Elvis Was Too Lonesome to Sing "Lonesome"

Lonesome Elvis Screws Up "Lonesome"

Alan Elms & Bruce Heller have written an interesting essay on Elvis Presley and his performances of the song "Are You Lonesome Tonight." You can read the essay by getting this book. You can watch a number of the performances by going here and typing in the song's title. I assume most of you know the song, with its sung beginning, its tediously long and corny spoken bridge ("you seemed to change, you acted strange..."), and its sung conclusion. Elvis's manager, the gambling-addicted ex-carny "Colonel," brought him the piece, mainly because it was one of his wife's favorites. Not one to question authority, Elvis dutifully recorded it.

But what's interesting is this: Elvis tended to butcher "Lonesome" during performances, either deliberately or not-so-deliberately. And in his final version ever of "Lonesome," he almost breaks down entirely, though he does manage to reach the song's end.

What Elms & Heller discovered is that, when the song's lyrics connote loss of control and vulnerabilty--things Elvis feared throughout his life--performance errors are many; but when the song's lyrics imply control and power, errors markedly diminish. In other words, the mistakes Elvis made were psychologically-motivated. They weren't random or the simple result of being "gorked" on sedatives. Because Elvis feared being alone, he had a hard time singing "Lonesome."