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What Now My Love

Rating:
4.4 / 5

Words & Music: Carl Sigman Gilbert Becaud

What now my love
Now that you left me
How can I live through another day
Watching my dreams turn into ashes
And all my hopes into bits of clay
Once I could see, once I could feel
Now I'm a numb
I've become unreal

I walk the night, oh, without a goal
Stripped of my heart, my soul
What now my love
Now that it's over
I feel the world closing in on me
Here comes the stars
Tumbling around me
And there's the sky where the sea should be

What now my love
Now that you're gone
I'd be a fool to go on and on
No one would care, no one would cry
If I should live or die

What now my love
Now there is nothing
Only my last goodbye
Only my last goodbye

Recordingdate: 1973/01/14, first released on: Aloha from Hawaii (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of What Now My Love:

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

Others*

(baton)
(organ)
(vocals)
(percussion)
(clarinet)
(flute)
(sax)
(sax)
(sax)
(trombone)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(viola)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)

*Orchestra, overdubs

Availability

Find available albums with What Now My Love.

efan4ever wrote on March 21, 2008
I love this song.
old shep wrote on April 19, 2008
A great song, and a top notch Elvis performance
My boy, my boy wrote on November 20, 2008
Elvis has the most beautiful and powerful version of this song ever...
Natha wrote on November 20, 2008
Elvis, the performer par excellence, showed the world via satelite his grandeur and prowess. And this is one of those songs that knock you off your feet. So much feeling in it. Never heard a better version.
ta2k wrote on November 20, 2008
Simply majestic. No-one has been born,or will be born,who is fit to lace the King's boots. TCBA
Pedro Nuno wrote on November 20, 2008
Elvis version of this French classic is simply superb! But the versions I love most you find them in some audience recording, where the king doesn’t sing but speaks the lyrics (you can ear it in YouTube)! Simply a touch of gold. The spoken version from Atlanta in 3 of July 1973, one of the few outside Vegas and Tahoe, performed in front of near 20.000 fans at the Omni, takes the cake! A pure touch of paradise!
Volker Stockel wrote on November 20, 2008
That it never recieved a grammy when Elvis did sing it is a shame. Great, greater, Greatest and than Elvis.
Rob Wanders wrote on November 20, 2008
for me The Highlight of The Aloha show. The perfect combination of (controlled) emotion and musical grandeur. The versions with the spoken words are also beautiful.
Ruthie wrote on November 20, 2008
Never cared that much for the song until Elvis sang it. He really put the "feeling" in it.
burninglove92 wrote on December 08, 2008
Elvis turning a boring song, into a passion. Elvis performs this with emotion and sooo much passion. Elvis TCB
commoneverybody wrote on February 07, 2009
For me its the highlight of the Aloha. What a superb version!
JLpResLey wrote on February 07, 2009
It´s wonderful. Not the song itself, but Elvis´ performance
Ton Bruins wrote on February 07, 2009
When I throw my copy of the Aloha show in my DVD player I always start with this song. The power of his voice in the last notes ! amazing ! A real Elvis song. This is Elvis Presley, the best performer and singer of all times !
theoldscudder wrote on February 07, 2009
Yes this is very good. Notice when the song is good nobody says its a "fun song". It's just a nice song & performance that stands on itself.
ger wrote on February 07, 2009
Shirley Bassey done this song much better than Elvis he was just C##p the king trying to be Tom Jones
Steve V wrote on February 07, 2009
Nice performance but did Elvis really have to do this type of material? Now, think of it. Elvis straps on an electric guitar, ditches the gliiter & silly jumpsuits and rips into a version of I Feel So Bad instead of this. Wouldn't Aloha (and Elvis) be the better for it? The image of the 70's Vegas Elvis would take a nice hit to the chin if only he did. Leave these boring songs to the Shirley Basseys of the world.
chriselvis5 wrote on February 07, 2009
Elvis revels in the whole Aloha performance and it shows in this song, theres a passion to his voice.
sitdown68 wrote on February 07, 2009
I would not say, the song is bad. But I don't think it was suitable material for him. Compared to "Steamroller" its a nobrainer for me which one to choose. Guess it had to do with Presley's melodramatic flair. My absolute favourite from the Aloha is the Hank Williams rendition...I once read, as he was on the road with the same songs for quite some time so he was asked to extend his repertoire for Aloha's sake. Would have loved to he did "It's Impossible"...
NONE000000 wrote on February 08, 2009
This is a fantastic rendition of this song. It is pointless to discuss whether he should have done this type of material; he did. The only thing really worth discussing now is if he did it well, and he did. He did it fantastically. It builds and builds until it explodes with amazing, astonishing passion. This really is not so far removed from Elvis if you think about it. Glen Campbell had recorded this song shortly before Elvis (as well as Mary in The Morning and Until It's Time For You To Go...). The song builds the way a Roy Orbison song does, such as Crying or It's Over (the Roy Orbison song, not the one Elvis did also on Aloha. Coincidentally, Glen Campbell also recorded both It's Over songs. Glen's early 70s late 60s stuff is like a catalog of demos for Elvis, having recorded tons of them...). Elvis had a way of looking through a song to the soul of it, the passion and he transcended the style of it. He could sing Impossible Dream and What Now My Love alongside Steamroller Blues and Big Hunk O'Love because it's all about the passion and the power.
Monster wrote on February 26, 2010
Elvis gives a stunning, stunning performance on this song singing one of the highest notes he ever sang and he did it night after night after night in the seventies. I love the Alternate Aloha footage of him singing this because the camera cuts from a wide shot to a mid shot just as Elvis dows a quick turn of the head as he punches into the final big verse and delivers vocal power and seventies bombast that's just awe inspiring. You may not like the song but it takes one hell of a performer to pull it off at all, never mind do it live. Five well earned stars.
shoesuedeblues wrote on March 12, 2010
The song brought the house down when the TCB band performed at Manchester this month (March "2010) It was as if Elvis was really there. Never cared for the number until Elvis sang it.
Deano1 wrote on March 12, 2010
Outstanding, wonderful, amazing, perfect and what ever superlative you can throw at this performance would be 100% accurate. One of the highlights, if not THE highlight of the "Aloha" show. Elvis mixes vulnerability and power and produces one of my top five performances of all time. As far as whether he should have been singing this type of song or singing oldies in the 70's is silly. He had already given us definitive versions of "I Feel So Bad" and "A Big Hunk O' Love". He needed challenges and songs like "What Now My Love" gave it to him. Elvis answered the challenge with this five star performance. At this point, Elvis' concerts were a perfect mixture of ballads, popular modern hits and a few oldies. I wish Elvis fans had allowed him to grow in the 70's and not demanded him to try and remain the 50's rocking rebel.
bluesboy wrote on March 12, 2010
A mediocre performance of "Et Maintenant", a classic Gilbert Bécaud song. Elvis sounds tired (like in the rest of the Aloha show), his voice is strained and lacks emotion. Plus the horns sound horrible. Compare this to "You've lost that loving feeling" and you'll know what I mean.
dgirl wrote on March 12, 2010
As many new fans as Elvis may have gained by singing this kind of stuff on TV, he lost some as well. Strictly MOR material. He already did the ultimate versions of I Feel So Bad or Big HUnk O Love? But he was still doing Hunk Of Love in Aloha, so why not throw in His Latest Flame, Return To Sender, or I Feel so Bad once in a while and leave this & Impossible Dream to Broadway type performers. You know the special would have been better for it. 'I'm gonna do some of my biggest records' he announces, then does 1 minute versions of songs he always does. Imagine if he brought out these nuggets instead! For those who may want an Orbison type of performance, he should have tried Cryin or Running Scared instead of this. This would not have meant he wasnt growing up or being forever a 50's rebel but just someone who should have done what he was known & loved for a bit more often. You get the feeling he didnt like a lot of the songs he recorded and thats a shame.
Wiebe wrote on March 12, 2010
Great song, great arrangement and Elvis giving us goose bumps.
LonElvis wrote on March 13, 2010
I put this song and It's Over up as the two best performances of Aloha. These are both fantastic songs. Elvis' What Now My Love was a perfect addition to the show, and I love the build up and the dynamic ending. One of Elvis' biggest strengths was his versatility. He could truly sing anything and do it better than anyone else. And he proves it with this song and with My Way and others on Aloha. I would have loved to hear Elvis sing We Can Make the Morning on Aloha. That would have been fantastic, too.
marco31768 wrote on March 28, 2010
Elvis sang this song in fantastic way in every show ! This is a masterpiece ! What a voice, folks !!!
Great Dane wrote on July 27, 2010
This one and American Trilogy were the highlights for me. Great voice,and what a crescendo.I love it.
serious1 wrote on July 27, 2010
I read some comments on this subject and really cannot believe my eyes at how awful,negative and damn right nasty the comments are against our man Elvis?-i thawt that this website was run by fans for fans??;some of the idiots on this website sound ANTI ELVIS ,not like real elvis fans at-all??-someone even had the cheek to call this song CRAP!!-why do the moderators of this website allow such nasty and unwanted comments to said about our man Elvis???..i think this song from the aloha and the 1972 vegas version is an awsome song from elvis and at the Aloha in 1973 it proved that he could sing any type of song and give himself a challenge and successfully pass that challenge in-front of 1.5 billion fans worldwide.,lets try and be a bit more 'positive in leaving comments about the KING..(if you nothing positive to say about Elvis,dont bother saying it-especially on a elvis fan website)
NONE000000 wrote on July 27, 2010
This song has probably saved my life on numerous occasions. Even though the song itself is as bleak as anything, and the lyrics pretty much amount to a suicide note, just the sound of Elvis's perfect voice screaming out all this pain is enough to let anyone else know they are not alone. I get the criticism of this song, but songs like this one made me more of an Elvis fan than Jailhouse Rock ever did or could. These are the songs that show Elvis' depth.
GeoElvis wrote on July 27, 2010
Awesome performance!! A great song that builds and builds until that final moment when Elvis' phenominal voice punches the last note thru the roof!! Elvis got much better vocally with age, hands down. Not one performer out there has not done ballads or sad songs, from Jerry Lee to Heavy Metal, Elvis is simply the King of all musical genres, period! And if Vegas Elvis is so bad for some to cope with, why are all the impersonaters doing "that Elvis?" No one can or ever will be as great as Elvis was, is, and forever will be!! TCB!!
Gorse wrote on October 08, 2012
I have no idea how many times I have seen this on the Aloha concert but it always blows me away. Rock and Roll by accident made him, but unlike fans on here he never really knew it in his teens. He wanted to be recognised by his influences as a 'real singer' and not a shouter, and this performance showed millions that this had been achieved.
ElvisSacramento wrote on October 27, 2012
This is such a sensational song and the best rendition of it is Elvis' version from the "Aloha From Hawaii" concert.
sugartummy wrote on June 10, 2013
When I listen to other renditions of this song, I must admit Elvis has the best version, but the song sucks nevertheless.
bajo wrote on October 06, 2013
The Aloha show was the first time I heard Elvis doing this song. It was great in the show. But, I must admit I now like the august 12 dinner show version better. (As found on 3000 South Paradise Road).
Deano1 wrote on October 06, 2013
Good to see the positive reviews starting to really outnumber the bad ones. Comments like "sounds tired", "voice is strained" "lacks emotion", "boring songs", "song sucks" along with people insisting he lost fans with songs like this are in a word mind-boggling to me. You don't lose fans of your rock and roll when you are also giving fantastic renditions of "Steamroller Blues", "Burning Love" and "A Big Hunk O' Love" at the same show. Aloha had it all. Rock (old, current and other's peoples), sweet ballad, bombastic ballads, country and R&B. The only thing it lacked was gospel and American Trilogy almost fills that omission. 5 star song, 5 star LP and 5 star show!
alanfalk wrote on October 06, 2013
I think that one big reason why some people put this song (and Vegas style) down, is that they would rather see themself as rocking rebels than as Vegas type people (old men , and older women with purple hair), and one way of doing this is to tell others how much they hate a song like this, and love every 50' song. I'm so glad that Elvis was above pretentious behavior like that ! He chose songs because he liked them , and not because they were "cool". In my book THAT is a real sign of coolness, doing or liking what YOU want/like, no matter what other people say. This song I have loved since the first time I heard it, it is power, emotion and skilled singing all rolled into one, and I like Elvis more because he sang songs like this also. 5 stars !
Jerome wrote on October 07, 2013
Masterpiece. Especially that part where Kathy comes in.. And Charlie of course. You can tell from the way he held that water for Elvis that he was affected by the emotion too..
TheMemphisFan wrote on August 16, 2015
Even more of a masterpiece now with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra... and without unnecessary vocal accompaniment! (Available on the U.S. Postal Service CD)
Cruiser621 wrote on March 14, 2018
Not my cup of tea to be honest; much as those ridiculous caped uniforms, if you can call them that, he wore on stage. The '70's were not my cup of tea.
DerekH wrote on April 29, 2020
This was Elvis using his great 'voice' just as he done with now or never, surrender, kiss me quick, no more, wonder of you, etc
JerryNodak wrote on April 30, 2020
Three things. One: I love the version of What Now My Love in Aloha. Two: I don't care for the version heard on the U.S. Postal Service CD. Three: The Elvis/ RPO CDs make me ill.
Milky White Way wrote on April 30, 2020
An old work colleague became a fan after watching the Aloha show. He said "I never knew Elvis could sing such beautiful songs." All he knew was Hound Dog. This is such a stunning song and no one could deliver this like Elvis. Elvis loved to sing this style of song, you only need to look at the first few songs he ever recorded. Harbour lights and I love you because. People need to accept he wasn't just a rock n roll singer from the 50"s. 5 stars
Gorse wrote on August 15, 2020
I am following the reactors to Elvis on YouTube, and black and white, older and young are bowled over by this performance. This song, along with American Trilogy from 1973, plus the 2 big message songs (If I Can Dream and In The Ghetto) go over much better than the 1950's film rock output.
TheMemphisFan wrote on August 15, 2020
The absolute best version is from the Aloha rehearsal show. Elvis really gets into it with a great dramatic ending!
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