‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’: the last song Elvis Presley sang before he died

When Elvis Presley burst into the studio, onto the stage, and into the world in 1954 with his cover of the Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup song, ‘That’s All Right’, he seemed like a comet come to Earth, a supernatural talent beamed in from the future, from another universe entirely.

Many considered Elvis, with his outlandish and colourful clothes, slicked back hair, face made up, and gyrating hips—not to mention his God-like talent, charisma and magnetism—would live forever. And, in many ways, he does, though he has now spent far longer under the ground at his beloved Graceland than he ever did walking on it. It certainly wouldn’t have seemed to anyone in 1954 when he first wrote his name as a legend that he’d ever do anything as mundane and every day as dying or that there would come a time when this singer would stop singing.

Even when his powers were blunted and his talents long-wasted by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker – who was always more interested in making money than art but made an art out of making money – Elvis continued to sing. From each and every movie that he was contracted to appear in against his will to almost every day at home, either alone at his piano in Graceland or with close friends and family always at hand, who came to be known as his Memphis Mafia.

Raised on the music and the word of the Church, Elvis spent his whole life examining his spirituality and trying to better understand his relationship with his religion. His personal relationships, too, were often fractured by his fame—his better nature being exploited—as well as his unpredictability and insecurity. His strong and innate desire to help, nurture, support and encourage anyone he cared about was occasionally replaced with feelings of paranoia, loneliness and despair. Through all the uncertainties in his life and career, and through all the ups and downs that came with being ‘The King’, the only thing in his life that remained constant was the music.

When accepting a 1971 award from The Jaycees as one of the ‘Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation’, Elvis said, “I learned very early in life that without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend. Without a song, the road would never bend—without a song. So I keep singing a song”.

And that’s precisely what he did. Having been kept off the stage for almost a decade by ‘The Colonel’, Elvis returned to performing in 1969 with a vengeance, playing almost 1,100 concerts between his comeback and his final farewell, often playing two shows a day.

Though his fans and audiences were the most important people in his life, Elvis needed to sing for himself as well as for them. He could be found before and after each show singing spiritual songs and gospel numbers with his backing singers, The Jordanaires and The Sweet Inspirations. When he was not on the road, he could be found at home, reading, riding horses, racing cars, watching movies and, of course, singing songs.

It was at such an out-of-hours and impromptu singing session at Graceland where Elvis sang his final notes. Though he didn’t know it, he had already made his final recording (‘He’ll Have to Go’ in 1976) and performed his finale to an adoring audience (‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ in 1977). On August 16th, 1977, he phoned his cousin Billy Smith at around 3:00 and asked him to come over with his wife Jo to spend some time together with him and his girlfriend, Ginger Alden.

When they arrived, the group played racquetball for a while before Elvis retired to the piano and treated the three onlookers to a private, solo run through two songs that he had been singing alone for years. First, ‘Unchained Melody’, and then, ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’.

None of the four could know how prescient the lyrics “when we kissed goodbye and parted, I knew we’d never meet again” would turn out to be, as Elvis died of a heart attack a few short hours later. He was just 42. Elvis had recorded a version of the song in his Graceland Jungle room a year previously but had sung the Fred Rose-written song privately and alone at his home piano for years, and where, fatefully, it became the last song he would ever sing in his life.

Though all that remains of Elvis on Earth is his memory, up in the land that knows no parting, he will live forever.