For today’s entry, we need to travel way, way back–all the way to the American Civil War, in fact.
In 1861, George Poulton and W.W. Fosdick published a love song called “Aura Lea.” Popular during the war, “Aura Lea” lingered in the periphery of American popular culture for decades after, notably appearing in the 1936 film adaptation of Come and Get It, where it was sung by Frances Farmer.
While it’s largely forgotten today, the melody for “Aura Lea” survives in the wildly and perennially popular “Love Me Tender,” Elvis Presley’s 1956 #1 smash hit.
Lyricist Ken Darby (uncredited) liberated Aura Lea’s melody (already well in the public domain by that point), and wrote his own lyrics for Elvis to sing. With an advance performance on The Ed Sullivan Show and a movie sharing the same name as the song and starring the singer, “Love Me Tender” debuted at #2 on the charts (the first time any song had debuted so high), and quickly climbed the extra rung to the top of the charts, where it remained for five weeks.
“Love Me Tender” is a sweet, simple song–a pledge, promise and request for enduring love, and it made for a perfect encore fit for Bruce Springsteen on the Tunnel of Love Express Tour when Bruce wanted a quiet opportunity to thank the audience before barreling into a final uptempo show-closer.
Performed throughout the early months of the tour, here’s a video clip of Bruce performing “Love Me Tender” at the end of his show in Uniondale, New York, from April 2, 1988.
Love Me Tender
First performed: February 29, 1988 (Worcester, MA)
Last performed: June 26, 1988 (London, England)
