From golden hour to blue suede shoes, Kacey Musgraves has taken her pop-country sound backwards in time and shared a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The song appears on the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” first appeared on Presley’s Blue Hawaii (1961), though its origins are much older, having been written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss from themes in the 1784 French ballad, “Plaisir d’amour.” Musgraves’ version is stripped back, forgoing the original’s heartbeat percussion and swooning choir, the better to put all the emphasis on the melancholy keys.
There’s lots of reverb on her voice, making it sound as though she’s singing alone in a large, empty house. Her take on “Can’t Help Falling in Love” reads more as a mournful breakup song instead of a musical version of first-kiss butterflies. Check it out below.
Elvis struts into theaters this Friday, June 24th. Previously, we’ve heard from the soundtrack Doja Cat’s “Hound Dog”-sampling “Vegas,” as well as Swae Lee and Diplo’s “Tupelo Shuffle,” Austin Butler’s “Trouble,” Eminem and Ceelo Green’s “The King and I,” and Måneskin’s “If I Can Dream.”
Revisit our recent feature on Presley’s legacy now. You can also catch Musgraves’ appearances at Palomino Festival and Austin City Limits by getting tickets here.