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Viva Las Vegas |
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Written by: Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman Recorded: July 10, 1963, Hollywood Released master is take 7. Single:w/ "What'd I Say", 47-8360, April 28, 1964 Also released on Gold Standard Series, 447-0646, April 6, 1965 RIAA Certified: Gold (as of 03/27/1992) Highest U.S. Charts Positions: #16 on Cash Box's Top 100 Chart #29 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart 1st LP release: Elvis: Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits, Vol 1 - August 1970 |
Click to download or buy "Viva Las Vegas" now from Amazon!  or download from iTunes: For other versions, see Lyrics and Downloads section below. |
 with Ann-Margret | Today this song is not only a minor classic in Elvis' catalog but practically an anthem for the city of Las Vegas, but it took a while to gain its status! Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman custom-wrote this infectious title tune to one of Elvis' more enjoyable mid-'60s musicals. The rollicking tempo and slightly latin feel was in some sense a successor to "Bossa Nova Baby", but with a little less latin and a lot more punch! Elvis' vocals have the appropriate bite, and his iconic final note is almost operatic, not something one would expect from a rock-n-roll movie song back in '64! The song went relatively unnoticed outside the Elvis fan world for years until the Dead Kennedys did a remake, followed by the hit remake by ZZ Top. Then Elvis' original made a few key appearances in film, and gradually grew into the cult classic it is today. Couldn't happen to a nicer tune! :) |
Other Spins(What did the critics and fans say?)The title tune from the 1964 film - one of the better film numbers. It's fast, corny, remarkably attractive, mean - and it all comes together. The fade-out note that Elvis hits at the finale is one of the most remarkable of his career, a soaring, quasi-operatic scream. Martin Torgoff  , The Complete Elvis, 1982 It was a rollicking tribute to the city of gambling and was given a spirited performance by Presley and his session musicians... it remained an underrated Presley song for a long time. -from AllMusic's review of "Viva Las Vegas" - Check out other Elvis fans' opinions on the Elvis News page for Viva Las Vegas Check out other opinions at Rate Your Music "Viva Las Vegas" Links
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Bright light city gonna set my soul Gonna set my soul on fire Got a whole lot of money that's ready to burn So get those stakes up higher There's a thousand pretty women waitin' out there And they're all livin' devil may care And I'm just the devil with love to spare Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas How I wish that there were more Than the twenty-four hours in the day 'Cause even if there were forty more I wouldn't sleep a minute away Oh, there's black jack and poker and the roulette wheel A fortune won and lost on every deal All you need's a strong heart and a nerve of steel Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas Viva Las Vegas with your neon flashin' And your one-arm-bandits crashin' All those hopes down the drain Viva Las Vegas turnin' day into nighttime Turnin' night into daytime If you see it once You'll never be the same again I'm gonna keep on the run, I'm gonna have me some fun If it costs me my very last dime If I wind up broke up well I'll always remember That I had a swingin' time I'm gonna give it everything I've got Lady luck please let the dice stay hot Let me shout a seven with every shot Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas Viva, Viva Las Vegas |
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