Elvis gets a home perm
distanced by demeanour and attire
his Curtis curls his face of intense desire
this is what the proprietors of Lansky Bros
noticed he wanted to be somebody
reach higher and lower express the architectural design
base floor and falsetto
be a spiritual holy roller
encouraging screaming and swooning as we know.
The individual pushed by precedent
to make of oneself what others want
a crossover record that sells
a really wild sound That's alright Mama
a drumming from Africa the country rhythm and blues
communicating a desire for response
Eivis in shaking insecurity
up on his toes cuts loose
he was Memphis and the plantations
he was juke joints and white whiskey
he was the river and the smell of water
he was the soil and the hope of the people
A music of the people that is what he wanted to record
the ungrooved furrow of a Whitmanesque belief
a smell of plantation a breath of power
and a breath of frailty.
How else but walking the track
of faith and vision need and despair
standing on the corner and singing out
will people hear
the black music of the south.