The enduring popularity of Elvis Presley’s Graceland is a monument to his legacy
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Elvis Presley’s Graceland.
Paul Simon sang about going there to ease an aching heart in 1986 on a Grammy-winning album titled, well, “Graceland.” A year later, Philadelphia punk band The Dead Milkmen wrote their own song about a trip to Graceland that was decidedly less reverent, with lyrics like, “Goin’ to Graceland/It’s gonna be fun/We’ll get to see all Elvis’s guns.”
Maybe Graceland is all things to all people.
Elvis bought the large Classical revival home on about 14 acres of farmland in 1957, moving in with his mother, father and grandmother. Later came his wife Priscilla and then daughter Lisa Marie. From the beginning, the home was accessible to the public, right there on Highway 51 South, now known as Elvis Presley Boulevard. The distinctive wrought-iron gates decorated with musical notes and guitar players resembling Elvis are pretty much a giveaway.
Bruce Springsteen tells a story of jumping over the wall in the 1970s in hopes of meeting Elvis. He wasn’t home at the time, but if he had been, he might have allowed the visit. Elvis was known to watch for fans on the security cameras and go down to the gates to sign autographs.
When Elvis died at Graceland in 1977, mourners lined up outside the walls in a spontaneous vigil. They came back the next year and the next. After the home was opened to tours in 1982, they were finally able to enter the gates and file past Elvis’ grave.
Yes, Elvis is buried at Graceland — right in the yard — along with his parents, grandmother, daughter and grandson.
Today we take Graceland as a pilgrimage site for granted, but stepping back for a second it seems rather odd. The homes of most other celebrities aren’t thronged by adoring fans, certainly not half a century after their deaths. Maybe it’s the way Elvis’ mythology is so entwined with his Memphis house?
“Such a strong association between a man and his home is unique and unprecedented in the 20th century” is the way a 2006 application for National Historic Landmark status put it. (Spoiler alert: They got it.)
Then there’s the name: Graceland.
Although Elvis didn’t name the house himself, it’s hard to imagine his legacy would be the same if he had lived at “Presleyland,” or that Paul Simon would have waxed poetic about going to “The Elvis Mansion.”
As Simon so aptly put it: ”I’ve reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland.”
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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.
