He Can Redeem His Soul and Fly

If I Can Dream by Elvis: After the twin King and Kennedy assassinations, he vowed: I’m never going to sing another song I don’t believe in

From left to right: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, just eight miles from the home of Elvis Presley. Just 68 days later, Bobby Kennedy died on June 6, 1968. That same month, Elvis was taping his 1968 comeback special for NBC and asked that a new song, “If I Can Dream,” be written as a response, a replacement for “I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Images of Presley, King, and Kennedy via Wikimedia Commons. The Lorraine Motel photo (where King was shot) and collage by Joseph Serwach.

MEMPHIS — It’s jolting to stand in front of room 306 of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated, eight miles from the Graceland home of Elvis Presley.

1968 was a turning point for America — but it forever changed the king of rock and roll.

“I’m never going to sing another song I don’t believe in,” Presley said. “I’m never going to make another movie I don’t believe in.”

The 2022 film Elvis shows part of the story of how the twin assassinations of King on April 4, 1968, and presidential frontrunner Robert Kennedy (just 68 days later) shook Presley and forever changed him and his work.

Elvis Presley’s 1968 comeback special is a turning point in the 2022 Elvis film, the 2018 Elvis HBO documentary The Searcher, and the 2023 Netflix series Agent Elvis.

Elvis star Austin Butler wore 90 costumes for the film, but he kept only one of those costumes: the replica of the iconic black leather suit Elvis wore in his 1968 comeback special.

“A reverend once told me, “When things are too dangerous to say…