“Heartbreak Hotel” is a good song, not great. It’s a change from earlier music. It didn’t define Elvis the way “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” did by the end of ‘56. “Heartbreak Hotel” is about the things the song didn’t have. It didn’t have a lush arrangement. It didn’t have lyrics that made any sense. (‘The bellhop’s tears keep flowing’… what?) It didn’t even have well-played instruments or a tuneful melodic singer. And yet… eight weeks at number one. Rock and roll would be hard to put to sleep after this one. Very hard.
Comments