We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Candles For Elvis

from Koffer by Ian Fisher

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €1 EUR  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Koffer via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      €10 EUR or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 8 Ian Fisher releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Burnt Tongue, American Standards, Idle Hands, Koffer, Nero, The Present, Anchor & Ship, and Vienna You White Moon. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      €50.40 EUR or more (10% OFF)

     

about

I wrote this song ten years ago, recorded half a dozen versions of it, and played it at nearly all of my thousand or so shows in the last decade. I just can’t shake the damned thing. I guess it’s because it’s a bit of a timeless and borderless theme. A guy grows disillusioned with the world and further away from society, turns to idol worship, and prepares for the apocalypse. When I wrote it, that guy was a Vietnam War veteran in my hometown in Missouri and that idol was Elvis on the thirtieth anniversary of his death. Nowadays when I sing it I imagine that guy could be just about any scared, hateful, rightwing, conservative person anywhere and that idol could be Trump, Putin, Erdogan, Hoffer, Le Pen, Wilders, or any other psychopath, wannabe demagogue. I wrote this song as an attempt to understand them. That’s the only real way to defeat them or get them to change their minds. I recorded it on Cherokee Street in St. Louis, Missouri, with one of my oldest friends and musical partners, Ben Majchrzak, at Native Sound Studio. Ollie Samland, otherwise known as the best pedal steel guitarist in Germany, was there and he played piano. I played electric guitar so loud that my ears are still ringing.

lyrics

i lit a candle for elvis wax pouring down my cheeks i know he’s still alive and i just can’t wait to meet him - when i go down to graceland i’m going down to graceland and i’ll buy that fat man a drink and talk like it’s the 70’s in my sequined suit and grey sideburns - i saw candles for children on my tv set from some kind of earthquake but i don’t give a shit - cause i’m going down to graceland i’m going down to graceland and i’ll buy myself a drink and i’ll talk like it’s the 70’s in my sequined suit and grey sideburns - so if the end is coming then where are the horsemen? i don't think I'd mind it at least it's seven days of something i don't have a first-born and I don't mind the frogs and I've seen rivers of blood in my dreams since Vietnam so come on jesus or come on allah i hope you have my number cause I've been waiting for your call - last night I lit a candle when my power died and of my youth it did remind i compared my youthful dreams to my modern life and I realized if I were a child again myself I wouldn't recognize - cause I'm going down to graceland i'm going down to graceland and I will drown my dreams in drinks and settle on my things like my sequined suit and grey sideburns

credits

from Koffer, released November 18, 2016
Ian Fisher - Lead Vocals / Guitar
Ollie Samland - Pedal Steel Guitar / Piano / Organ
Kevin Bachman - Bass
Ben Majchrzak @ Native Sound Studios - Engineer / Mix / Drums / Backing Vocals

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Ian Fisher Vienna, Austria

A modern songwriter born in rural America and living in Europe, making what Rolling Stone calls "Half Americana & Half Abbey Road-Worthy Pop".

shows

contact / help

Contact Ian Fisher

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Ian Fisher recommends:

If you like Ian Fisher, you may also like: