Received at Graceland

We are in Memphis for a few days, to see Graceland and Beale Street and try out some Memphis barbecue and fried chicken. Oh, and I have a chapter to complete. Then we move on to Shiloh so the boys can continue their study of Civil War battlefields.

We visited Graceland yesterday. It was expensive ($33 each), but I'm so glad we did it. It is a piece of Americana that anyone born in the last century should see if they get a chance. I've always loved Elvis's music, but I think it will be a much richer experience listening to him now.

Will and I were talking about how much our perception of Elvis has changed since we were kids. By the time we were aware of music, he had been out of the loop for a while - he just did movies from 1961-68, and they were pretty awful movies. His 1968 comeback concert was incredible, but then he rapidly became "70s Elvis", "Vegas Elvis". When I saw his concerts (on TV, never live) I saw a portrait in excess - the jewelry, the sequin-encrusted jumpsuits, the bloated, sweaty face. His fans seemed to be exclusively older women who had seen him in his beautiful, beautiful youth and kept the faith. And then all the weirdness after he died, the hysteria and then the "sightings" of his ghost. His music got lost in all that.

Paul Simon's album Graceland (which I think is one of the most brilliant albums of all time, with a title track that is one of the most brilliant songs of all time) gave me a different spin on Elvis. I'm trying to think of what it was about it that did that. I love the idea of embracing the excesses of popular culture, that it doesn't have to be highbrow to be worthwhile. The idea of redemption through music. The idea of being part of a community of pilgrims, all suffering, all seeking.

Honestly, I think Graceland (Paul Simon's Graceland) changed me forever. It's a powerful message, to be reminded that we are all in it together, all feeling the same things and wanting the same things. A great message to get at the start of graduate school, when it is very easy to get wrapped way up inside your own head and disconnect from the people around you.

So maybe the visit to Graceland was as much about Paul Simon's vision of Graceland as it was about Elvis's Graceland.

But it did give me insight into Elvis. The most endearing thing to me about him was his love for his family and his home. There is a video clip of him right after he had come back from serving in the Army, where reporters ask him if he is going to sell Graceland and he says that Graceland is home and he always wants to be there (I don't have that exactly right, but that's the gist of it).

There's not much else endearing about him, honestly. The bling and the excess are amusing. His voice is phenomenal and his music is still so powerful. Especially listening to it here, where it all began. But the strongest message I got here - and probably each of us gets a different message, depending on what we are looking for and what we are needing - is his deep sense of place, in the heart of the South and the heart of his family.

Elvis lives.