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So i thought i should listen to: Elvis

31.8.17

 So I thought I should listen to some music. So I heard 'Lonesome Cowboy' by Elvis. It evokes this image of a wild west cowboy man who does good deeds on his own, travelling afar in search of cowboyness.

I don't think it's done ironically, but I hear all sorts of man-man ideas of isolation and independence. I don't know what Elvis was really going for here, but the thick waves of romantic manliness suggest he is trying to, sincerely, create the cowboy-man ideal he sings about.

I also don't see Elvis as a particularly manly type. I'm sure he intended to be, but he wore colourful clothes and does singing. Men aren't supposed to do either of those things- singing is a pretty thing (and 'pretty' is a word most men can't pronounce properly 'cos we say it so rarely) and colourful clothes are pretty as well.

So I thought I should put Elvis in the soundtrack 'cos he somehow messes up in the man-man picture. But not like the artists who traditionally did that deliberately. Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Prince etc, despite being groundbreaking in their way, were dressing their way in a very deliberate, conscious style. Part of this is, I think, his appropriation of black blues singer, in style and sound. Listeners to his first record- 'That's Alright' at Sun Studios thought he was black. He wore typical satin lace jackets, more commonly seen on the backs of the jazz and blues singers he stole from. His style was colourful and tight, more traditionally feminine than masculine. Maybe it's because the white image of masculinity doesn't sing or wear colourful clothes. So his appropriation of black musical culture means that he doesn't fit our/my idea of white masculinity.

So Elvis wore someone else's shoes in many ways. He doesn't evoke the lonesome cowboy man image successfully. So I thought I should put him in the soundtrack


(Admin note- I think this should be open to comment/criticise/add. So please do. If you can't, let me know and I'll see if I can change it

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