Elvis Presley- The King Lives On
...ound his death Some people mean that Elvis faked his own death just to get away from a life he had started to despise. He couldn’t be alone anywhere, he had to have bodyguards wherever he went and the constant touring made him a worn-out man. The people who claim this believe that he will come back and continue his career when he thinks it’s time to do so, in that case, he would be 67 years old by now and I’m not sure that people would greet him as a hero. Other people believe that he still performs but not for the general public. It would have had to be one of the biggest conspiracies ever, to get away with faking your own death you have to have a lot of people helping you. It would also be a great risk, if someone decided he/she would rather take the money a disclosure like that would give. These are things against the fact that he faked his death. If it is true and Elvis is still alive, why would he risk everything by performing again? A site on the Internet claims that Elvis is alive and that he now calls himself Jesse Garon Presley that he lives on a secret destination and has planned to come forward sometime soon. They have all the facts, autographs, press releases and letters written by Elvis/Jesse. Elvis/Jesse wants to live the life of a poor boy that had a famous brother and he doesn’t want to be recognised with Elvis who was the entertainer. Perhaps this comes from that Elvis was real shy throughout his whole life. All their information has convinced many people that Elvis is still alive… True Elvis fans however say that Elvis is dead, they think that if Elvis faked his own death it would have been a huge betrayal. If he comes back many of them say that they will stop loving him. Elvis has been spotted on Hawaii (his favourite place), in Africa, in Asia, in Australia and so on, almost all over the world. But the most common place people have seen him in K-Mart stores in America. Perhaps he doesn’t have anyone to go shop for him so he has to do it himself. Graceland and Elvis’s grave Many people visit Graceland every year and most of them go there to see Elvis’s grave. It’s become an industry even bigger than Elvis ever could imagine. Priscilla Presley is the president of EPE (Elvis Presley Enterprises) and EPE together decides how Graceland should be controlled. If Elvis would have saved all his money instead of giving it away to people less fortunate Graceland wouldn’t have had to open up for the public in 1982. It costs over half a million to keep it running every year. I’m sure that people are thankful for Elvis’s generosity and for the fact that we can now visit his favourite home. Elvis Presley changed Memphis, it’s become a big tourist attraction and everyone who goes there visits all the places Elvis used to go to. It’s almost as if the city has adapted to being Elvis’s hometown. Elvis grave is at Graceland but at first he was buried on Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis. EPE decided to move him after they got complaints from the cemetery, Elvis-fans that wanted to see his grave invaded it and the other visitors got disturbed. There were also attempts to steal the body. There have been a lot of speculations about his grave. Some mean that they never moved his body, they just said they did to attract more people to Graceland. Others say that Elvis was buried on Graceland from the beginning. In a way it doesn’t matter because people go to honour Elvis on both his burial places anyway. The Elvis seance Five guys from America somewhere arranged a seance on Elvis’ birthday, (January 8th, 1994). They mean that the results the got proved that Elvis is dead, if he wasn’t he could not possibly answer their questions in a seance. They asked him questions with yes/no answers and they interpreted them. For example, they asked him if he approved how Graceland has been handled since he died. He answered “yes”. Another question was whether he liked the stamp that has his picture on it. Elvis answer was: No/V and they interpreted his answer: “We interpreted the V as "very much". This startled us. He was a showman when he was alive, why wouldn't he approve of the commemorative stamp? Perhaps the stamp reminds him of how he once was, before the regrettable problems and he feels remorse.” This proves that there are people out there that truly believe in Elvis and that you can communicate with the dead!? These guys are planning a new seance this year, on the day of Elvis’s death to be exact. It would be interesting to see what they will find out. Elvis-Jesus similarities There are people that think that Elvis were the new Messiah, because he lived a life in poverty and then he made it all by himself, he always thought of people that weren’t as lucky as him. Elvis gave money to several charity organisations throughout his life. Jesus cured the leprous, the deaf and the blind. Elvis gave away Cadillac’s to ease the burden of poverty. And he sang songs about the Lord and how to honour him. One of his most successful albums were “How Great Thou Art”, a gospel record that he got a Grammy for. He was a searching man even if he was a Christian his favourite book was the Bible. He tried to find a way in life where he could find peace of mind. Elvis used to wear symbols from many religions and when people asked him why he used to answer them by saying that life is to short to take chances with where you’re going. “The similarities between Jesus and Elvis are more than superficial. Given enough time, and if not interfered with by prior belief, an Elvis religion could easily build to the point of being an equivalent to Christianity, with just the title character changed.” Sites on the Internet say that Elvis can be the founder of a new religion. Jesus was called the King, which was also what Elvis was called. Impersonators are called the priests of this new religion and they are out all over the world spreading the message: love. There are people collecting Elvis relics in the same way that Jesus belongings have been. In some way people find comfort and forgiveness in Elvis. They mean that his songs spreads the message of love and that they are not as superficial as they appear when you first hear them. There are churches named after Elvis where they worship him. “The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis” and “The Truth Shall Set You Free, The First Church of Jesus Christ, Elvis” The people following these religions mean that Elvis was very charismatic and all religions have had a charismatic leader. Elvis has always been the object of millions of people’s fantasy’s, desire’s and love, he has all the makings of a new messiah and there is nothing strange in the fact that people love and miss him still. However, most people don’t think that Elvis is the new messiah, they just love him for his music. A man in Holland has a statue of Elvis that weeps tears of blood, scientists have examined it and they have come to the conclusion that it has the same blood type as Elvis. He has an Elvis-chapel and people come there from all over the word to see and to touch the statue. But as I wrote before, “real Elvis fans” ban all activities of this sort. Look-alikes and impersonators One of the earliest Elvis impersonators is Orion or Jimmy Ellis, which is his real name. He was active under the same time as Elvis and was often mistaken for the King. He has a voice that is very similar to Elvis’s own voice. I had a hard time telling them apart. Every country has its share of Elvis look-alikes and tribute artists, but the most common type of them is the look-alikes or they can also be called impersonators. The look-alike is often dressed in copies of Elvis clothing, trying to sing and dance exactly like Elvis, and they often try to talk like him. Then there is “tribute artists” and they don’t have to wear the right clothes. The tribute artist is not trying to sing exactly like Elvis, he sings the songs in his own way to honour the king. It’s difficult for an untrained eye to see the difference, but an impersonator would be very offended is someone called him/her a look-alike. Most Elvis tribute artists and impersonators are male but I have found a female one; she calls herself Ella Vis and does Elvis’s leather years. People love her wherever she goes and she mostly gets positive comments about what she does. She kind of looks like Elvis and the critics have said that if Elvis had been a woman, he would have looked just like her. Here in Sweden we have Eilert Pilarm, Henrik Åhberg, BroElvis, but they are all look-alikes. The only tribute artist we have is Stefan Wikström, he is the only one that is recognized by Graceland. Then there is the small part of more extreme Elvis-fans… A man in Brasilia have gone through several plastic-operations and he now looks like Elvis Presley, this is his whole life. That’s what makes his money, he’s travelling around, doing shows and people pay to go see him. There is much more of this kind but I think that this is horrifying and therefor I have decided not to write more about it. Japan Everything is big in Japan is something you often hear, but I doubt that there is anything bigger than Elvis. He still has a great influence on the youngsters in Japan, as he had in America in the 1950’s. Young people that want to break free from old patterns express themselves in different ways. Japanese people are not known for their individuality, that’s not something they strive after. Every Saturday and Sunday Elvis look-alikes gather in a park in Tokyo called the Yoyogi Park. There are other parks as well but this is the one with most Elvis’s. They have separate areas where they hang out and they try not to interfere too much with each other, then it might be some tur...