2. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (#1; 2:37) - The tempo is slow and in 12/8 time. The attention-getter here is the shaking effects in Elvis' voice on a few words (e.g. "uh-uh-until). The narrator thought he could make it alone until he met the girl; now that he's met her, he asks her to hold him tight and stay with him forever.
3. Hound Dog (#1; 2:15) - This moderately fast song features drum rolls at the end of each verse, and hand-clapping. The backup singers sing "ahs" during the two instrumentals. This song has only two different verses, each sung several times. The narrator was led to believe that the man to whom he is singing was reputable, but the narrator now knows otherwise and curses the other man as "nothin' but a hound dog / Cryin' all the time."
4. Don't Be Cruel (#1; 2:02) - What I like best about this song, also moderately fast, is the opening low-pitch guitar licks. The narrator begs his girlfriend to come to his house often, or at least call him. If he did or said anything to offend her, he apologizes and begs her for forgiveness. He then proposes to her. Above all, he begs her, "Don't be cruel / To a heart that's true."
5. Love Me Tender (#1; 2:45) - This soft, slow ballad is quite simple--just Elvis' voice and a guitar. To hear the guitar well, you need to turn the volume a bit higher than you would for the rest of the songs. The girl has filled the empty space in the narrator's life; he will love her forever, and he asks her to do the same. (Note: once you click on the title and see the resulting page, you'll need to scroll down to see the tab for this song.)
6. Love Me (#2; 2:43) - This and the previous song are one pair of hits with similar titles. The drums in this slow song accent every second and fourth beat. The narrator will let the girl treat him badly, break his heart, anything; all he asks is that she love him.
7. Too Much (#1; 2:31) - This moderate-tempoed song features cymbal drums and horns. The narrator begs the girl to love him, hug him, etc., because he needs her and loves her "too much" to live without her.
8. All Shook Up (#1; 1:57) - The tempo is moderately fast. The narrator is "all shook up" after he met a girl and she touched his hand. His legs shake, his heart beats fast, and he is at a loss for words.
9. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear (#1; 1:48) - This song is slightly faster than the previous one. Like the previous song, this song has a simple arrangement--a piano, drums, and backup vocals. The narrator doesn't want to be the girl's tiger or lion because those animals aren't very gentle. A teddy bear more closely fits a lover's personality, so the narrator uses that animal as a metaphor for himself.
10. Jailhouse Rock (#1; 2:28) - The drums play loudly and clearly on this fast song, and Elvis sings almost at the top of his voice. I like how the piano plays during the chorus. A guitar plays lead during the instrumental between the third and fourth verses. A jail is supposed to be a place of punishment, but the warden of this one throws a party and encourages the inmates to dance. Anyone who can't find someone to dance with can dance with a chair instead.
11. Don't (#1; 2:48) - This slow, 12/8 song and "Don't Be Cruel" are the other pair of hits with similar titles. The narrator begs the girl not to say "Don't" when he embraces her; he tries to convince her that his love is for real, not a game.
12. I Beg Of You (#8; 1:53) - The tempo is fast. I like the opening "bomp a bomp bomps" by the backup singers. The narrator pleads that the girl love him like he loves her; he begs her not to break his only heart or take advantage of his true love.
13. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck (#2; 2:13) - This song is even faster than the previous one. The "doo doo doos" by the backup singers get my attention. Actually, the narrator's ring is much too small by itself to fit around the girl's neck; instead, she would put a piece of string through it and tie the ends together, to form a necklace. In any case, the narrator asks the girl to wear this necklace to tell the world she is his exclusive girlfriend, despite other people's objections that the couple are too young to be in love, much less engaged.
14. Hard Headed Woman (#1; 1:52) - This fast song features horns. During the verses, Elvis' voice is alone, except when the drums and horns play on the first beat of all measures except the last. A guitar plays in the two short instrumentals. This song uses Biblical characters as examples of "hard-headed women" and "soft-hearted men."
15. One Night (#4; 2:31) - Here's a 12/8 song that is moderately fast. The narrator has "been too lonely too long," so he asks the girl to love him for just one night.
16. I Got Stung (#8; 1:48) - This fast song is catchy, with Elvis' bass voice and "yeahs." The narrator uses a honeybee as a metaphor for the girl with whom he has fallen in love.
17. (Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I (#2; 2:29) - Grammatically speaking, it would be "a fool such as me" because the narrator is the object of a preposition. Anyway, the song has a moderate tempo. I like the bass voice of a backup singer I hear a couple of times. The narrator was a fool to believe that his relationship with the girl would last forever. Even though she has called it off, he will still love her for the rest of his life.
18. I Need Your Love Tonight (#4; 2:02) - The narrator of this fast song begs his girlfriend not to refuse to spend the evening with him. This song contains one of my favorite sentences: "I've got the hi-fi high and the lights down low."
19. A Big Hunk O' Love (#1; 2:14) - This song has the same tempo as the previous one, except that here the drums are more on the bass side. The narrator has "a wishbone in [his] pocket" and "a rabbit's foot around [his] wrist"; all he needs now to make his good luck complete is "a big hunk o' love" from the girl.
2. It's Now Or Never (#1; 3:14) - This moderate-tempoed song features drums that sound similar to finger-snapping. I like how the piano plays between the lines of the verses. This song was originally from an opera, probably Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata. The narrator asks the girl to hold him tight and kiss him right now, not tomorrow. He has spent his whole life waiting for this moment, and they may never meet like this again.
3. Are You Lonesome Tonight (#1; 3:06) - The narrator of this slow, 3/4 song asks his former girlfriend, does she regret the moment she ended their relationship. Does she look out her front door and picture him standing outside? Does she want him back? I like the part that Elvis speaks, in which the narrator compares his and the girl's relationship to a play. It was William Shakespeare who said, "All the world's a stage..."
4. Surrender (#1; 1:52) - This moderately fast song features either a tambourine or bells. When the narrator and the girlfriend kiss, both their hearts burn. So he asks her to surrender all her love to him.
5. I Feel So Bad (#5; 2:50) - This song is a tiny bit faster than the previous one, and regular drums are more audible here than in the previous song. A sax plays lead during the middle instrumental. I have no idea what the narrator is feeling bad about, but he compares his mood to "a ball game on a rainy day." He wavers between wanting to leave his hometown and wanting to stay.
6. Little Sister (#5; 2:29) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. The drums play at full volume and the guitar licks never fail to catch my attention. The narrator once dated the girl's older sister, who jilted him in the middle of the date. Now he's trying his luck with the girl; he tells her not to do the same thing to him that her sister had done. I've also heard a version of this song by Dwight Yoakam.
7. (Marie's The Name Of) His Latest Flame (#4; 2:04) - The drums play at full volume in this fast song, too. The piano plays during the chorus. Blond-haired, green-eyed Marie is the latest girlfriend of the narrator's buddy, as the buddy confides to the narrator. The narrator wishes his friend luck, but his heart is crying because the day before, that same girl had been in the narrator's arms and promised to be HIS forever.
8. Can't Help Falling In Love (With You) (#2; 3:00) - In this slow, 12/8 song, the drums are soft, and a bell rings just before the first verse. The narrator may know that only fools rush into love, but his feelings for the girl are so strong that he asks her to share the rest of his life with him. He believes that a love between them is destined to happen, "Like a river flows / Surely to the sea."
9. Good Luck Charm (#1; 2:23) - This song has a moderately fast, slightly swing, tempo. The backup singers repeat "Uh huh" after Elvis. The narrator asks the girl to be his "good luck charm" because he could get from her what he can't get from a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe, a rabbit's foot, or anything else--love and tenderness.
10. She's Not You (#5; 2:07) - The tempo is moderate. Listen closely and you'll faintly hear a sax. The narrator has found a new girlfriend in whom he finds everything he has ever looked for in a woman. At the same time, it breaks his heart that the new woman is not the woman to whom he is singing.
11. Return To Sender (#2; 2:06) - This is the Elvis song I like best. The tempo is moderately fast. The featured instrument here is a saxophone. The narrator and his girlfriend recently had a dispute. He writes her a letter of apology, but she keeps returning it unopened to him. He resolves to hand-deliver the letter to her; if it comes back to him this time, he'll understand that the relationship is over.
12. (You're The) Devil In Disguise (#3; 2:17) - The tempo is moderate, but during the verses and the last two lines of the chorus, the drums and the guitar play rapidly. Just before each occurrence of the chorus, I hear a low-pitched guitar lick. In the instrumental I hear higher-pitched guitar licks and hand-clapping. The girl looks, walks, and talks like an angel, but now the narrator knows how evil and deceitful she is on the inside.
13. Bossa Nova Baby (#8; 1:59) - This fast song features an organ. The drums here sound similar to clicking and washboards. During the instrumental I hear horns, shouting, and whistling. No matter what the narrator asks that he and his girlfriend do, she insists that he continue dancing.
14. Crying In The Chapel (#3; 2:23) - Elvis sang a lot of gospel songs, of which this is the only one that ever reached the Top 10. Although this song was recorded in 1960, it didn't chart until 1965. The tempo is very slow, and the only instrument is a piano. The narrator's tears are not of sadness but of joy. After searching far and wide for a way to gain happiness, he found it through faith in God.
15. In The Ghetto (The Vicious Cycle) (#3; 2:45) - The tempo is moderately fast. This and the next three songs feature a string quartet. A boy born on a wintry day in Chicago grows up learning the only livelihood available to him--stealing and fighting. After purchasing a handgun and stealing a car, he is pursued by a crowd. To avoid whatever punishment the crowd might inflict on him, he shoots himself to death, while his girlfriend gives birth to their own baby boy, who in turn grows up learning the same way of life. The narrator pleads that all of us find ways to lend helping hands to such children so the cycle can be broken.
16. Suspicious Minds (#1; 3:22) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator is hurt by his girlfriend's unwarranted suspicions that he has been unfaithful to her. He warns that suspicion stifles dreams and relationships. This song was later covered by Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.
17. Don't Cry Daddy (#6; 2:49) - Instruments in this moderately slow song include cymbal drums and horns. Just when the narrator sinks into despair over the death or divorce of his wife, his son begs him not to cry; together father and son will find a new mother.
18. The Wonder Of You (#9; 2:36) - This moderate, 12/8 song is the only live recording on this whole collection. Whenever the narrator feels down or otherwise needs a helping hand, his girlfriend gives that hand to him; that is the wonder of her.
19. Burning Love (#2; 2:53) - The tempo is moderately fast. First the guitar enters, then the piano, and finally the drums. From the second verse on, the cymbal drums play on every beat. As a result of being in love with the girl, the narrator has, among other things, a 109-degree fever and difficulty breathing. In the fading sequence, he calls himself "a hunk o', hunk o' burnin' love."