While it’s true that Elvis was all shiny and new in the ’50′s and he’s influenced a few people, it cannot be denied that his music and his legacy are highly overrated. Before we begin, I’d like to point out: I do respect Elvis and his work. I respect it because, for whatever reason, it did influence a lot of people. If there was no Elvis, who knows what other artists (The Beatles) we wouldn’t have in existence. Now, having said that, I still hate everything about him.
1. He wrote barely any of his songs. For a guy who has been deemed “The King of Rock n’ Roll,” he sure couldn’t write anything. To put it in perspective: picture Elvis’s entire catalog of songs as the spectrum of stars in our visible universe, each representing one tune. The amount of songs Elvis wrote would take up roughly half the Milky Way, he really wrote nothing. Not only that, but he did a ton of cover songs, meaning he wasn’t even the first person to perform the song he didn’t write. Though the worst of it, for me, is that for some time he actually did attest that he wrote his material, which obviously, time has proved untrue. This is doing a great injustice to the people who actually took the time to write his songs; however terrible they may have been. I mean, what a fraudulent dork Elvis was! Which brings me to point #2.
2. Elvis’ legacy on music was nothing positive. As I’ve described above, he wrote none of his music and got all the credit for other people’s hard work, this is a mirror image of popular music today. Hardly any famous music artist writes music and, for that matter, there’s no evidence that they can write at all. All that seems to matter is looks nowadays. Actual talent is eclipsed by a bitchin’ face and a rockin’ ass…a trend started by dear old Elvis.
3. 99.9998676% of Elvis’s songs were awful, in my opinion. Now, maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t Elvis’s voice sound like a dying cat who got shot in the throat? Is a mumbley, low-pitched, unintelligible voice all it takes to be dubbed the king of rock and roll? Why was this guy so famous and, maybe I’m missing something, why is this guy so revered today? Elvis is the most imitated man ever and I ask why. WHY?
Some of you might be saying, “Hey! The Beatles were way more overrated than Elvis, and you wrote a ten point list on how great they were!” To that I say “Fuck you and your ideas, you know not what you say. Oh, misled one.” As if anybody actually reads these things.
I like Heartbreak Hotel (especially the subtle piano part by Floyd Cramer). I just looked it up: lyrics by Tommy Durden (a dishwasher repairman) and music by Mae Boren Axton (a high school teacher ). But Tom Parker arranged for Elvis to receive 1/3 of the songwriting credits. So you’re right!