Wise men say only fools rush in/
But I can’t help falling in love with you.

“Can’t Help Falling in Love” is Elvis Presley’s most famous ballad. It has been covered many times but Presley’s version remains the best-even if he didn’t write it.  The song was released in 1961. It sounds a bit older when we think about all the crazy music that would be released only 5 years later during the summer of love- ’67.  The change in music during this time was an explosion.

The introductory verse (above) is a classic line…and a complex lyric for pop music at the time. Presley knows he shouldn’t be feeling and acting the way he does, but he’s in love and he doesn’t care: he has no control.

This song was written is a couple years after Donna by Ritchie Valens, five years after “Tutti Fruitti” and around the same time the Beatles were singing “She Loves you yeah yeah yeah yeah”.  This is a slightly more complex take on love and a bit risque for the time. The only one beginning to break ground in terms of lyrics was Dylan and some of the blues and folk singers, but that would come a few years later.

Presley’s voice sounds deep and rich and the guitar picking is a nice accompaniment. The melody of the verse is the strength of the song. It is timeless.

Can’t Help Falling in Love Lyrics

Wise men say,
“Only fools rush in”.
But I can’t help
Falling in love with you.

Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin?
If I can’t help
Falling in love with you.

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea.
Darling so it goes-
Some things are meant to be.

Take my hand,
Take my whole life too.
For I can’t help
Falling in love with you.

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea.
Darling so it goes-
Some things are meant to be.

Take my hand,
Take my whole life too.
For I can’t help
Falling in love with you.

For I can’t help falling in love with you.

Songwriters: George David Weiss / Hugo E. Peretti / Luigi Creatore