Did Elvis know he was going to die? [Archive]

BrianK

10-28-2007, 12:31 PM

Some say that Elvis knew his days were numbered, and that putting out "Unchained Melody" in the summer of "77 was evidence of this - with the lyrics "I'll be coming home, wait for me..." a signal that he was going home to join his mother in heaven. What do you think - did Elvis suspect his life was almost over?

presley31

10-28-2007, 12:33 PM

I was always wondering the same thing myself but thought it was impossible to know if your dying or not. I don't know if elvis knew his time was coming or not??

Diane

10-28-2007, 12:34 PM

I don't think so as it was said that he was really looking forward so some new changes and the new tour.

Diane

ksimms2

10-28-2007, 12:36 PM

not sure....if he did...why would he get ready for another tour? however....I know he has said that he won't live much longer than his mom.....do you think this was always on his mind and maybe he had a second sense that the time was near? I know it sounds crazy.

Diane

10-28-2007, 12:38 PM

No I don't think that sounds crazy Kelly, It's very possible that he thought he would die young but I don't think he realized it was imminent.

diane

Elvis_Priestly

10-28-2007, 12:46 PM

Three of my grandparents died when they were in their late 40's early 50's and I know my mum n dad kinda thought the same would happen to them, up until they were both about 55 they were feeling like they were on borrowed time. Now both of them are around 60 and free from that anxiety and both of them have a really new sense of life and loving it!
Elvis may have felt the same and worried the same and it may have entered his thoughts and conversation. Unfortunately for him, and us, this anxiety (coincidentally) came true and even the timing of it in mid-August. That I think is likely coincidence too, having experienced the August heat in Memphis now myself - if you've got health/heart problems must be a really rough time of year to be there!

riley

10-28-2007, 12:47 PM

ksimms2

10-28-2007, 12:51 PM

He often was quoted to say he was not going to live past 40.
I think indeed he knew he was going to die yes...
He had some warnings in the past.
I read a story that exactly a year (or two)prior he almost died in his plane on the 16th of August too (source Red West)

Yes he couldn't breathe and they made him lie down and put his face in the a/c vent so he could breathe until they landed. I think they either turned the plane around and came back home - or landed at the closest airport, can't remember. Do you think these were panic attacks? Look at the time of year this happened a day or so after his mom died....can't remember exactly what day in August but it was a day or so before the 16th I think.

riley

10-28-2007, 12:54 PM

she died the 14th

Burning_Love

10-28-2007, 01:02 PM

The line "Until we meet again, may God bless you, adios" at the end of one of his last concerts made me think, well :hmm: maybe he did.

I am not sure, but i think he did have a feeling.

Jailhouse-Rocker

10-28-2007, 01:11 PM

if it was me and i knew i was gonna die, i would've sung Green Green Grass Of Home (sorry bit random to say that but i think it fits)

i think that on some levels he did know :blink: :'(

Rover

10-28-2007, 01:17 PM

I don't think he knew it...I believe he was thinking about death. Because of his mother, because of his health problem, and I don't know if you think the same, but to me he looked depressed in his last appearances.
The choice of the tracks and the way he said a few verses (you know...when you can't help but cry...) was influenced by his depression and not by his upcoming death, IMHO.

Donut

10-28-2007, 01:19 PM

He didn´t feel well but I don´t think he thought he was actually going to die.
His health problems weren´t lethal and were controlled and it seems he wanted to make some changes in his life related to his entourage and possibly with the pills too so it´s unlikely he knew it. In fact by all accounts he thought his life would change for better...

SleepyJack

10-28-2007, 01:20 PM

Ooooooh....this is a pretty morbid one!.....Suggest that we all stop whatever we`re doing and go listen to "Wonderful World" from "Live a little love a little"!!...Go on..

Jailhouse-Rocker

10-28-2007, 01:29 PM

Ooooooh....this is a pretty morbid one!.....Suggest that we all stop whatever we`re doing and go listen to "Wonderful World" from "Live a little love a little"!!...Go on..

lol wonderful idea! :lmfao: followed by "c'mon everybody" from "Viva Las Vegas" cos i just happen to find that an upbeat song and LOVE IT :D

cameron

10-28-2007, 03:30 PM

TLC67

10-28-2007, 07:27 PM

I believe many people "know" {have a feeling} when they're going to die.
I don't mean months ahead of time , just that "feeling " as their time approaches. I've seen it with some patients .

Yes, many people seem to "know". My m-in-law was one of them, as well as Elvis.
I've always felt that I will not make it much beyond the age of 45. Guess time will tell, huh?

Getlo

10-28-2007, 07:40 PM

I believe many people "know" {have a feeling} when they're going to die. I don't mean months ahead of time , just that "feeling " as their time approaches. I've seen it with some patients . Depending on what book one reads ...Elvis really wasn't planning much for his upcoming tour. There's two stories out here about that too.

Again, Elvis was not a patient! :!::!:

And considering Unchained Melody is about a guy who can't wait to get out of prison to begin his life again with his lover, the theory simply doesn't hold water. And no, it wasn't about breaking out of the "prison" of life to be with God either!

Besides, he had Lisa to live for. She was his life. He wanted to see her grow up (Hmm, he'd still be waiting for that if he were alive!)

Please share the "two stories" about the upcoming '77 tour too!:blink:

utmom2008

10-28-2007, 07:46 PM

lol wonderful idea! :lmfao: followed by "c'mon everybody" from "Viva Las Vegas" cos i just happen to find that an upbeat song and LOVE IT :D
Good idea!! I'm tired of hearing Viva Viagra...:D :D

cameron

10-28-2007, 08:09 PM

Again, Elvis was not a patient! :!::!:

And considering Unchained Melody is about a guy who can't wait to get out of prison to begin his life again with his lover, the theory simply doesn't hold water. And no, it wasn't about breaking out of the "prison" of life to be with God either!

Besides, he had Lisa to live for. She was his life. He wanted to see her grow up (Hmm, he'd still be waiting for that if he were alive!)

Please share the "two stories" about the upcoming '77 tour too!:blink:

Elvis was a "human being ," just like anyone else.
I've known family members that have had the same feeling before they died.
As to two differing stories about his being "ready for this tour".
I don't feel friendly enough to tell you.
Look it up. :) and please don't address me personally.

Getlo

10-28-2007, 08:23 PM

I don't feel friendly enough to tell you.
Look it up. :) and please don't address me personally.

You don't feel friendly enough, cameron?

Now, don't be like that!

I shall refer to you by the name you've given here as your handle if I so wish. Unless I happen to stumble onto your real name, madam, then it is most definitely not personal.

And how do you suggest I "look up" the two stories about Elvis going on tour? Elvis was planning on going on his next tour for Portland Maine.

SeeSeeRider777

10-28-2007, 08:53 PM

The line "Until we meet again, may God bless you, adios" at the end of one of his last concerts made me think, well :hmm: maybe he did.

I am not sure, but i think he did have a feeling.

Exactly what I said in another post and people responded like I said something stupid.

cameron

10-28-2007, 09:02 PM

Exactly what I said in another post and people responded like I said something stupid.

I don't think you were stupid . There are instances where family members have told of some saying they were going to die...even on a certain day and they did. We live in an interesting world.

Getlo

10-28-2007, 09:06 PM

The line "Until we meet again, may God bless you, adios" at the end of one of his last concerts made me think, well :hmm: maybe he did.

Or maybe ... and I'm just spitballing here of course, and I know this may sound pretty radical ... but maybe ... just maybe ... Elvis was simply saying goodbye to the audience and wishing them well until he came back to their town.

:doh::doh::doh::doh:

rhythmknights

10-28-2007, 09:27 PM

methinks, & it's just my opinion & my musings, that perhaps every August around the time of Gladys' death he would get a little melancholy, they were very close. but other than knowing that sooner or later we're all gonna die, i don't think he had any special insight, premonition or desire to die. he really loved his life had a lot of fun living it.

BrianK

10-28-2007, 10:07 PM

During the summer of "77 Elvis looked bad (though he could still belt out a song that was great) he probably felt bad, and a lot of his music at the time had a "sad" feel to it IMO. Since Elvis' had an often expressed "spiritual" side, it seems possible that he may have said something of these depressive concerns to his friends at the time. I can't believe that Elvis felt that everything was OK and going along as usual when it wasn't. As far as "Unchained Melody" goes it is about escape, Who knows how Elvis personalized it in his mind? But it seems to be the song he featured & put a his heart & soul into in the last concerts. With most of the others he seems to be going through the motions. I also seem to remember some books or articles metioning Elvis' depressed state at this time.

elvis himselvis

10-29-2007, 10:26 AM

Don't know if he knew he would gonna die,but he certainly had a feeling.I know he said he wouldn't outlive his mother to someone...
But I think he didn't knew it that day,so he didn't stop the upcoming tour...I think he just would let it happen but going on with his life and see how things would happen...R.I.P

Jumpsuit Junkie

10-29-2007, 12:42 PM

Burning_Love

10-29-2007, 12:47 PM

Or maybe ... and I'm just spitballing here of course, and I know this may sound pretty radical ... but maybe ... just maybe ... Elvis was simply saying goodbye to the audience and wishing them well until he came back to their town.

:doh::doh::doh::doh:

Leave me alone.

I have opinions.

Suzan

10-29-2007, 12:49 PM

I don't know, maybe he had premonition...maybe not, but by some accts. he was quite in the good mood eve of 15th early morning of 16th and was looking forward to going on tour.
The adios speech? I think there was nothing more to it then what it was, which is what Getlo said.

Suzan

10-29-2007, 12:51 PM

Leave me alone.

I have opinions.

I'm not understanding the anomosity here folks, I don't see where he said anything bad????? We all have our opinions, and unless Elvis himself were to come along and post here telling us everything, we'll never ever know.
Lets please make this a fun chat.:D
I'm getting sad and leery of posting and it should not be that way.

ruggishboo

10-29-2007, 12:52 PM

I don't think for one minute Elvis thought he was going to die when he did! He maybe thought about it during 76-77 due to his declining health?

The thing about hindsight is that you can see many things and make them relevant. If Elvis was aware of his impending demise I'm sure he would have made better plans.

Excellent answer! Though he had had some scares in the past, I don't think Elvis knew his death would come so quickly. I also don't think he was leaving little hidden messages about it either...he had no way of knowing he would die on Aug 16th.

Burning_Love

10-29-2007, 12:53 PM

I'm not understanding the anomosity here folks, I don't see where he said anything bad????? We all have our opinions, and unless Elvis himself were to come along and post here telling us everything, we'll never ever know.
Lets please make this a fun chat.:D
I'm getting sad and leery of posting and it should not be that way.

Well, i felt like i was being patronized.

Sorry for my mistake.

Stressful day

Suzan

10-29-2007, 01:13 PM

Well, i felt like i was being patronized.

Sorry for my mistake.

Stressful day

Shoot no worries, I was just confused. lol :D

Sorry about your day, I hope that it gets better, Monday's tend to be yucky! :(

Burning_Love

10-29-2007, 01:21 PM

Shoot no worries, I was just confused. lol :D

Sorry about your day, I hope that it gets better, Monday's tend to be yucky! :(

Thank you. :D

Unchained Melody

10-29-2007, 03:45 PM

I don't think he knew he was going to die when he did. I don't think none of us no when that days going to come. Sure, he knew that his health was in very bad shape. That was obvious. I'm sure in the last year, year 1/2 of his life he may have thought about that. You'd think so with all of the spiritual and religous books that he read so much. But imo he didn't know he was going to die. He was excercising and getting ready for another tour. I remember reading somewhere that the night before he died he was having a talk with Billy Smith while Smith was washing Elvis' hair. Billy recalls Elvis saying as Billy left the room that "I'm going to try and make this the best tour ever". Elvis was still giving it all, but lost the battle sadly:'(.

EnigmaticSun

10-30-2007, 03:02 PM

I can't verify this source, but I did read that Kathy Westmoreland (supposedly) found out that Elvis was suffering from bone cancer and that he did tell he wasn't going to be around for too long. I'm sorry I can't tell how reliable this is.

My husband is a priest and from his experiences he knows that some people feel their end is approaching - he has gone through this many times. In some cases people don't want to fight anymore and just let go. I don't know about Elvis and it's not that people predict their date of death by day and hour.

Tony Trout

10-30-2007, 03:20 PM

I can't verify this source, but I did read that Kathy Westmoreland (supposedly) found out that Elvis was suffering from bone cancer and that he did tell he wasn't going to be around for too long. I'm sorry I can't tell how reliable this is.

It's not reliable cuz it's not true...Elvis didn't have bone cancer whatsoever. There was no evidence of it during the autopy. Vernon Presley, himself, started the ball rolling by spouting those now famous words to Dick Grob to see how far it would go...

EnigmaticSun

10-30-2007, 03:32 PM

Tony Trout

10-30-2007, 04:11 PM

That's why I put emphasis on "I don't know how reliable this is". I didn't present it as a certain fact. Strange story though - why would Vernon spread something like this? Just to satisfy curiosity..?

Vernon started it apparently because he wanted to find out if, in fact, it would make people curious....and people like Kathy Westmoreland and Charlie Hodge (R.I.P) and Larry Geller have just stuck with that story all these years.

Danny Ocean

10-30-2007, 04:18 PM

He had a feeling he woudn't be old. He always said he woudn't become older then his mother did... You will never know how much he know or felt about the 16th... but I personaly think he had a feeling he didn't stayed long. He gave many, many things away the weeks before.

Unchained Melody

10-30-2007, 04:51 PM

I'm sorry, but Elvis gave "ALOT" of things away ever since he became famous so thats not right to say when discussing this topic imo.

TCE

10-30-2007, 05:07 PM

I do think that he knew his time had come. Just not when. I read a story (Don't know the sorce) that he told Joe one day that he wouldn't be long around anymore , because his mum had appeared in a dream telling him that she was waiting for him and it was time. Tis was shortly before his last concert. I do believe that people feel when there time has come, because my mum and dad had the same. Some people just don't want to know it and set it aside. (The same as people sometimes hear a little voice warning, but don't listen to it.)

Christel (TCE)

utmom2008

10-30-2007, 05:34 PM

I'm sorry, but Elvis gave "ALOT" of things away ever since he became famous so thats not right to say when discussing this topic imo.
Totally. name a time when he was NOT giving away things. That's one reason his finances were in such a mess...

riley

10-31-2007, 12:40 AM

quote TCE

I read a story (Don't know the sorce) that he told Joe one day that he wouldn't be long around anymore , because his mum had appeared in a dream telling him that she was waiting for him and it was time. Tis was shortly before his last concert

end quote

read exactly the same...

TC_of_EAP

10-31-2007, 02:10 AM

In my opinion, I also believe that Elvis knew that he wouldn't grow old, and I also think that he felt when his time was coming in August '77. Though he'd tried of course to not listen to that inner voice, who would in the end if you aren't really old of age ? So he went through the motions, prepared the tour, also stated that he'd wanted that tour to be a great one or even the best ever. I think he wanted to shut up that inner voice with these things, what wouldn't fit into his apparent state of depression. The term depression can be very stretched, and regarding his state of health, that he wasn't able to change things as he'd wished -parts in lack of a certain determination and stamina, parts to that kind of dead end he saw his life coming to, and who knows what else can lead to a depressive state. But it isn't a clinical depression, where people give up totally, let themselves go, become absolutely unable to form any constructive thought.

After reading so many different, often opposing theories of the events of Aug 16,77 my feeling is that he wasn't prepared when his end came. He had the feeling that he wouldn't last long, but then it came to a surprise. To him and everybody else with him.

riley

10-31-2007, 04:05 AM

quote TC

After reading so many different, often opposing theories of the events of Aug 16,77 my feeling is that he wasn't prepared when his end came. He had the feeling that he wouldn't last long, but then it came to a surprise. To him and everybody else with him.

end quote

agree here totally

ms_epblvd

10-31-2007, 08:17 AM

I do think Elvis new he was very unhealthy and probably not going to live long. I think alot of people who are unhealthy like that wonder about death more. I dont think Unchained Melody had anything to do with that. Alot of Elvis' songs carried messages like that.

DodgeGal

10-31-2007, 09:00 AM

Yes, I do think Elvis knew he was not of good health, and Yes some of his songs appeared to be related to his saying goodbye, but on the other hand, alot of songs have a saying for all, I have to admit though working in the medical field, hospice RN, some know, some don't of their passing, for the conclusion, I believe that Elvis, is very happy that the whole world, remembers him as the King of Rock & Roll.

SweetCaroline

10-31-2007, 10:42 AM

:king: I think ELVIS had moments of depression where it may have crossed his mind at those times, but he also brushed it off, and he did what he had to do to keep moving along. I do think he knew he wasn't in his best health, and that he was in his fourties like his mom, so the thought must have been there at times in that last couple of years. Did he actually know he was dying, I don't think so. None of us know that, and if we do think the end might be near it human nature to try to shake it off. :king: