Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage the singer for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number one hit in the United States. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, he became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, made him enormously popular—and controversial.
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate, just 42 years of age.
Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century. Commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, blues, and gospel, he is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. He won three competitive Grammys, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.
I Was The One
Elvis Presley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The way that she kisses you now
And you know the way she touches your cheek
Well, I taught her how
I was the one who taught her to cry
When she wants you under her spell
The sight of her tears drives you out of your mind
And then one day
I had my love as perfect as could be
She lived, she loved, she laughed, she cried
And it was all for me
I'll never know who taught her to lie
Now that it's over and done
Who learned the lesson when she broke my heart?
I was the one
And then one day
I had my love as perfect as could be
She lived, she loved, she laughed, she cried
And it was all for me
I'll never know who taught her to lie
Now that it's over and done
Who learned the lesson when she broke my heart?
I was the one
The lyrics to Elvis Presley's song "I Was the One" tell the story of a man who taught his former love everything she knows about love and relationships, only to find out that she learned how to deceive him from someone else. The song's opening lines, "I was the one who taught her to kiss, the way that she kisses you now," suggest that the singer was once in a close relationship with his former love and may have even been her first romantic experience. He takes credit for teaching her how to be a good kisser and how to touch someone's cheek in a loving manner, implying that these skills were once unique to their relationship but are now being used with someone new.
As the song progresses, the singer reveals that he also taught his former love how to cry and manipulate people with her tears. The line "the sight of her tears drives you out of your mind, I taught her so well" suggests that she has used this tactic on him in the past. He then reflects on the time when their love was perfect and she was completely devoted to him, but now she has seemingly moved on and is, in fact, lying to him. The final lines "I'll never know who taught her to lie, now that it's over and done, who learned the lesson when she broke my heart? I was the one" suggest a feeling of betrayal and heartache on the part of the singer. He is left wondering who taught his former love to lie and ultimately questioning what lessons he himself learned from their relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I was the one who taught her to kiss
I was the first one to kiss her and I taught her how to express love with a kiss.
The way that she kisses you now
The way she kisses you now is how I taught her to do it.
And you know the way she touches your cheek
You know how gentle she can be when she touches your cheek, and I taught her that.
Well, I taught her how
It was me who showed her how to touch a man's face and make him feel loved.
I was the one who taught her to cry
I was the first one to make her cry and I taught her how to show her emotions through tears.
When she wants you under her spell
Whenever she wants to have power over you, she'll cry, just like I taught her.
The sight of her tears drives you out of your mind
When you see her crying, it makes you feel insane with worry and I taught her how to do that.
I taught her so well
I taught her so much about love and how to make someone feel what they need to feel.
And then one day
At some point in our relationship
I had my love as perfect as could be
Everything about our love was perfect, and it was all because of me.
She lived, she loved, she laughed, she cried
She experienced all human emotions while she was with me.
And it was all for me
All her emotions, experiences, and love was dedicated to me.
I'll never know who taught her to lie
I don't know who taught her to be dishonest, but it wasn't me.
Now that it's over and done
Now that our relationship is over and I lost her.
Who learned the lesson when she broke my heart?
Who really learned the hard lesson when she left me heartbroken?
I was the one
Only I suffered the pain of losing her because I loved her more than anyone else did.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Aaron Schroeder, Bill Peppers, Claude Demetrius, Hal Blair
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@paulajay473
My beautiful sister and I grew up with Elvis I was 12 when we saw love me tender for the first time all the young girls in the audience were crying at the end of the movie he was so beautiful and so young he never lost that amazing voice My sister is gone now but when I listen to Elvis I think about her and the hours we spent listening to him he was so talented and so humble and kind what a shame his life turned out the way it did he just deserved better than the way people used and took advantage of his generous nature so sad
@MikeyJMJ
Great comment Paula, it's amazing that you can recall your memories of your sister through your shared love of Elvis. You both got to experience his rise to stardom and the fall in his latter years.
@paulajay473
I've just came back to you comment thank you for the part about my beautiful sister but I totally disagree about the latter part Elvis never had a fall he never lost his true fan base. he was just as beloved when he died as when he started case in point 40 yrs later people of all age groups still love him does that sound like a fall to you
@janettgrady2394
Paula...Wow, Love Me Tender, the very first time I saw Elvis, girls going absolutely bonkers in that theater, and at the end of the movie, Elvis appears and sings Love Me Tender behind the rolling credits. No one, not a soul got up and left. I've never seen anything like it, not before and not since. And, I might add, it was a lousy movie. But I loved and love Elvis, Elvis, Elvis!!! Thank you, Paula, for mentioning Love Me Tender. You made my day.
@michaelcraig9449
@@MikeyJMJ Elvis never fell!
@felydaguio8459
After 65 years, this voice is still captivates!!! No other singer could!!! He is the one!!!
@haraldgoehlmann6486
thats right
@uncjim
The phrasing, the vibrato, the ability to hit any note with apparent ease..he was truly a genius.
@luciaweber3047
I agree...absolutely
@wjrs5
Totally agree but this is him in his prime. His last years were sad.