Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Moody Blue (1977) 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song was recorded in the special studio Elvis had built in the Jungle Room of Graceland. During the pandemic, have you made like Elvis and worked from home? We quit working onsite in March 2020, and here we are, almost two full years later, still working from home. We began going in one day/week in November, but omicron squashed that. I kinda miss the city, but frankly in this cold (the mercury dipped to 17º in the afternoon this past week) I don't miss the commute.

The New Yorker created this reasonable facsimile of my dining room, where I WFH

2) Elvis sings that his girl is completely unpredictable. Which quality to you find more attractive: spontaneity or dependability? In my 20s, I would have said spontaneity. I thought wild and unpredictable men were sexy and exciting. With time I see the other side. Wild and unpredictable men may also be childish and disappointing. I would have done better with dependable.

3) He only performed the song once in concert. In February 1977, shortly after the record was released, Elvis sang "Moody Blue" live in Charlotte, NC, but had to rely on lyric sheet. Crazy Sam can sympathize because she seems to forget passwords as soon as she sets them. Do you often struggle with your memory? I'm noticing typical -- but frustrating -- old age stuff. Like the other night, neither my oldest friend nor I could remember the word "malingerer." We were all, "The military word for 'lazy!'" "Frank used to say it on MASH!" "When you're in the Army and pretend to be sick!" I finally Googled it. Otherwise we'd still be shouting definitions to one another.

4) "Moody Blue" was the final hit of Elvis' lifetime, only getting to #31 in the US but reaching #3 in the UK. What's your favorite Elvis song? I have many. This is the first one that popped into my head. (He had me at "Lord Almighty!")

I saw Aloha from Hawaii when it was first broadcast. I was in high school, and I watched it live in the livingroom with my mom. We were having a great time, especially after she reminded me she and Elvis were less than a year apart in age. When he'd swivel, bump or grind, I'd tease her and ask, "Why don't you do that?" My dad grumbled, "I hate Presley," got out of his recliner and left the room. I thought, "Good for Elvis! Still pissing parents off after all these years." 

5) We're focusing on Elvis this week because January 8 would be his 87th birthday. He enjoyed celebrating his birthday by renting the Memphis movie theater and watching the latest movie with an invited group of friends. What's your favorite way to celebrate your birthday? Dinner with a friend. Free grub and good conversation! What could be better?

6) For his 11th birthday, young Elvis asked for a rifle or a bicycle. His mother deemed the gun too dangerous and the bike too expensive and instead gave her son his first guitar. Tell us about a memorable birthday from your youth. The year I turned 8, my mom called the mother of a classmate who had recently moved and invited Janet to my party. She now lived only a town or two over, but when you're 8, that might as well be Siberia. My friends and I were so excited to see Janet again! She brought an Addams Family card game as my birthday present.

7) Elvis loved horses and kept them in the stable at Graceland. His favorite was a palomino named Rising Sun. To honor both horse and rider, Elvis' daughter has always kept a palomino in the stable whose name includes "sun." The current resident is Tuscan Sun. Known as "Tucky," he's lived at Graceland for more than 20 years now and is a favorite of Alene Alexander, who maintains the stable and reports he has "attitude and knows he's prettier than everybody else." Tell us about an animal who holds a place in your heart. Reynaldo died in September, and I still miss him every day. He could be a monster, but he was also very affectionate and fully engaged in life.

My little man, looking deceptively angelic

8) Throughout his life, Elvis had trouble sleeping. As a preteen, he was a sleepwalker. As an adult, he battled insomnia. Is sleep an issue for you? Well, I wake up in the middle of the night for about an hour every night. I get something to drink or go to the bathroom, watch a little TV, and doze off again. I don't know that it's an issue, since I'm used to it.

9) Random question: Do you wear your shoes in the house? Seldom. Usually slippers.