I wouldn't normally do this,

... but I feel like talking Elvis today.

Yes, Presley.  Elvis Costello must always be "Elvis Costello," while Presley gets to be "Elvis."  Sorry, that's how it is.

Thirty-three years ago today, when I was just 7, I remember getting the news that the legend had died.  I remember turning around, away from the TV, on my parents' couch and bawling over it.  At 7.  I grew up on Elvis.  My dad was singing along to Elvis in Israel, before he could even speak English and had no idea what he was singing.  Elvis was that big.

Funny thing?  Even with that, I never really understood the women who went absolutely bonkers over him, tearing at his clothes... heck, at his person.  I never understood fans crying at a concert.  At his death, yes.  At a concert, no.  And that's even taking into account the fact that I will cry at any strong emotion.  Sure, I'll cry when I'm sad, but all also cry when extremely angry, or even happy.  That explains this rather ugly face I'm wearing just after Eric proposed to me.

I was crying.  A lot.

Know when I understood it, though?  When I finally saw my favorite band after they'd regrouped in 1991, Styx.  13th row at the Garden State Arts Center, and when the curtain lifted and they started to play, I started to cry.  So now yeah, I get it.

But back to Elvis, who though I feel a pang when I think of his death, always makes me smile.  Even when I still razz my dad for failing to take me to the Elvis concert he attended at Madison Square Garden (it was 1972, and I was 2), I can smile about it.

In fact, Elvis Presley's The Wonder of You was the song I chose as the father/daughter dance at my wedding.  I'd also told the DJ that at some point during the night, he had to play Jailhouse Rock, since my dad is a kickin' jitterbugger.  Well, our DJ, bright guy that he is, morphed the first song directly into the second, so our dance ended up two songs long.  As a result, we got two very different sorts of photos during that dance.

So... in honor Elvis Presley, who shaped a lot of my life growing up, enough that he needed to be part of my wedding, here's my favorite Elvis song...