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Fool

Rating:
4.3 / 5

Words & Music: Carl Sigman James Last

Fool, you didn't have to hurt her
Fool, you didn't have to lose her
Fool, you only had to love her
But now her love is gone

Fool, you could have made her want you
Fool, you could have made her love you
Fool, you only had to love her
But now her love is gone

Gone now, the love and laughter
See yourself the morning after
Can't you see her eyes are misty
As she said good-bye

Fool, you didn't have to hurt her
Fool, you didn't have to lose her
Fool, you only had to love her
But now your love is gone

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Fool, you only had to love her
But now her love is gone

Fool, you could have made her want you
Fool, you could have made her love you
Fool, you only had to love her
But now her love is gone

Fool, you didn't have to hurt her
Fool, you didn't have to lose her
Fool, you only had to love her

Recordingdate: 1972/03/28, first released on: single (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Fool:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(piano)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)

Others*

(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(tuba)
(cello)
(cello)
(viola)
(viola)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)

*Orchestra, overdubs

Availability

Find available albums with Fool.

old shep wrote on May 02, 2008
A pleasant Elvis ballad for the 70s that is seldom heard, which is a pity for it's a good recording.
commoneverybody wrote on January 07, 2009
The song starts very lovely, but after a while its getting boring. Not a great track in my opinion, and a song i hardly listen to.
bastiaanvinke wrote on January 07, 2009
LOve this one although it brings back some sad memories
Marty_TCE wrote on January 07, 2009
I like this track, I don't listen to it that frequently but I do enjoy it when I hear it (usually on randon play on the MP3). In honesty, the Fool album is not one that I often reach for either but again I do like it - there is just so much other Elvis material I would rather listen to.
JLpResLey wrote on January 07, 2009
I like it, but I do agree that it´s a bit boring. So it was not hit material. But a lot of the seventies stuff was like that. They were often nice but wouldn´t have done well as single releases.
Steve V wrote on January 07, 2009
Not a great song and a bit boring. Bad choice for a single. Unfortunately, this this type of song was all too common in the 70's as Elvis was getting less good original material to record and was wearing his divorce on his sleeve.
My boy, my boy wrote on January 07, 2009
As weird as it may sound, the only thing I like about this song is the intro (piano part) of Glen Hardin at the beginning...
Jim Hoff wrote on January 07, 2009
The Fool is much better, and (Now And Then There's a)Fool Such As I is even better. Foolish comment?
NONE000000 wrote on January 07, 2009
I like this one. I can kinda see the "boring" criticism, but I think that is more about the production than anything else. I wish he would have sung this one live. Reminds me a little of "I'm Leavin'"--which is another one I like a lot. They both have a vulnerability in the vocal not often heard in Elvis songs from the 1970s
bajo wrote on January 07, 2009
I've removed Fool from my private singles collection CDR's. I replaced it with For The Good Times. When I first heard it I liked the intro and thought that this must be great! But, what happened to Elvis here, I really can't tell. It starts off slow, takes off....to nowhere! Overblown dramatic which ruined the pleasure for me! When I play this, I play only the first minute or so and turn it off!
GeoElvis wrote on July 25, 2010
Beautiful Song from the heart. Love the piano intro! 5stars.
Steve Morse wrote on July 25, 2010
I love it. One in a trio with Always On My Mind and Separate Ways, all with the piano prominent. Also it has happy, nostalgic memories for me, from Easter 1973.
shoesuedeblues wrote on July 25, 2010
A song that I like but never seem to play nowadays.
JerryNodak wrote on July 25, 2010
Love those overblown, big-voiced '70s ballads more than any R & R he ever sang except Big Hunk 'O Love and Burning Love. Keep singing those ballads with the "heavenly" choir E.
dgirl wrote on July 25, 2010
Strictly MOR and very repetitious. After Burning Love, the numerous ballads blended into each other with none being on the level of the great 1969 Memphis soul ballads. There is nothing wrong with a good ballad, but The King had gone soft too many times with bland material.
Deano1 wrote on July 25, 2010
Another of Elvis' outstanding ballads from the '70's. Elvis' vocals soar after a very subdued start and he really makes this track special. This is the first record I ever bought and I played the A-side ("Steamroller Blues") a lot more than this one, but as I have gotten older, I like "Fool" every bit as much, if not more than SB. I remember the day I bought this record and I took it to my Grandmother's house and I was playing it on her Airline record player when one of my older cousins told me how much she liked the song "Fool" (as opposed to the side I was playing), so I played it for her. This was not a bad choice for a single, especially as a B-side and the move paid off with SB hitting the pop top 20 and "Fool" hitting #12 on the easy listening chart and #31 on the country chart (even though it isn't really a country song). 4 1/2 stars.
serious1 wrote on July 25, 2010
FOOL is a classic Elvis ballad full of emotion and real feeling!-i am really looking foward to getting the new RCA/FTD 2 cd deluxe edition of the 1973 album by RCA "ELVIS"(the fool album as it's known)..i'm hoping that FTD reelase some very good outtakes on this new expanded 2 CD edition aswell as undubbed version of the title track?(fool)TCB.
Deke Rivers 6 wrote on April 14, 2011
Don't know where Elvis was going with type of ballad, and with his opinion of "Burning Love" that he didn't like the song,I feared for his future,but we know what happened there.
sugartummy wrote on March 05, 2013
This song always gets to me. I feel Elvis' pain. A great trio:Fool, Always on my mind, Seperate ways.
Gorse wrote on August 07, 2013
I always consider this as Always On My Mind part 2. Not as as good as the latter but a fine strong vocal effort that seems to have disappeared under the radar for most folk including Elvis fans. It was an 'A' side in the UK and broke into the Top Twenty and is worth 4 stars in my book.
ElvisSacramento wrote on April 05, 2014
I've always liked this song immensely and I've never skipped it. Elvis' rendition of it was passionate, soulful, brilliant and committed. I like the piano intro immensely too. My favorite version of this ballad was first issued on the "Elvis Aron Presley - Silver Box Set".
Cruiser621 wrote on May 30, 2020
The "Elvis" aka "Fool" FTD double CD which covers the actual album released back when; I know not as I stopped buying his garbage back in the 1970's. It all blends together, one song sounding the same as the one before. No thanks. This is not the Elvis Presley I grew up with. "Burning Love" was his last which I actually purchased on a 45RPM. Over and out. 2-stars, if that.
TheMemphisFan wrote on May 30, 2020
In 1973 this 45-rpm single was mostly worth purchasing for the flip side "Steamroller Blues"... selling less than 500,000 copies.
Milky White Way wrote on February 27, 2021
A really decent song imo and one I listen to often. The Standing Room Only FTD is on of my favourites and would have been an outstanding album should it have been released as the FTD version. What a strong album that would have been. But 5 stars for Fool
Rob Wanders wrote on September 11, 2021
Nice ballad; sung with feeling and a catchy melody
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