Back To Tupelo

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. My favorite guitarist, Mark Knopfler, wrote a song about when the downturn started ... when Elvis chose the wrong fork in the road. The '68 Comback Special was about to happen on December 3, 1968, but the drug fueled Las Vegas concerts were in his future with his death less than nine years later. He could still be Marlon Brando and the King of Rock and Roll, but he didn't get there from here. So you get two possibilities: Comeback and Death too Early from wrong choices, but either way a legend.

Around the time of 'Clambake'
Movie number twenty-five
You and the lying dutchman
Are still in overdrive

You're as strong as when you started
Mississippi in your soul
You can still be Marlon Brando
And the king of rock and roll

It isn't just the records
No, you must have hollywood
The songs alone are not enough
That much is understood

You'll soon be back in Memphis
Maybe then you'll know what to do
The storylines they're giving you
Are just not ringing true
Oh, it's a ways to go
Back to Tupelo

When you're young and beautiful
Your dreams are all ideals
Later on it's not the same
Lord, everything is real

Sixteen hundred miles of highway
Roll back to the truth
And a song to give your mother
In your first recording booth
Around the time of 'clambake'
That old dream's still rolling on
Sometimes there'll be the feeling
Things are going wrong

The morning star is fading
Lord, the Mississippi's cold
You can still be Marlon Brando
And the king of rock and roll
But it's a ways to go
Back to Tupelo