Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.



Hi Mark,

Haha, I am happy to have aided in you getting that off your chest!

That was probably his biggest chart hit (that and 'In The Ghetto') after he returned from Vietnam. I always thought it was a Mac Davis tune, but it turns out it's some writer named "Mark James" whose other big write was "Always On My Mind."

I think you're safe, Mark. "Suspicious Minds" is an easy song to dislike. The main thing for me is that 2/4 snare beat in the chorus was old even by 1969 and though I like it in some Tex-Mex music, on the upbeat, it just makes me think of gogo dancers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing I guess..Imagine the different kind of song this would have been with a Thom Bell production and Al Green singing.

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/09/19 01:58 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)