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Sand Castles

Rating:
3.7 / 5

Words & Music: David Hess Herb Sandberg

At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
There's a world that's born

And for every child on the beach that day
Stands a castle tall and proud
And the warm wind crawls through the castle walls
And the nightfolk wake as the warm wind calls

At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
There's a world that's born

Then the fiddler crab plays his violin
On the back of a dancing whale
While the mermaid sing to the shell they bring
And the dragon leads with his sweeping tail

At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
There's a world that's born

For the rosy dawn
Brings the children on to the beach that's bright and new
And the nightfolk know as the castles grow
They will play once more as the children do

At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
There's a world that's born

A world that's born
There's a world that's born
A world that's born

Recordingdate: 1965/08/02, first released on: Paradise, Hawaiian Style (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Sand Castles:

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

Availability

Find available albums with Sand Castles.

Steve V wrote on January 28, 2009
The best song on an otherwise dreadful LP, probably the worst soundtrack of them all. Cool lyrics with a catchy refrain and I often wondered if this was released as a single if it could have been a summer hit record.
derekd wrote on February 27, 2009
Good recording, more of these and 1965 may have been a beter year chart wish. He was prove that given a decent song with catchy tune and good lyrics Elvis could still product good recordings.
JLpResLey wrote on August 22, 2009
Heard it just recently. Kind of boring to me. But of course, there were worse songs, so much worse
dgirl wrote on August 22, 2009
The best song from the LP which is not saying much. At this point in the 60's Elvis was so out of touch with the current music scene that he helped establish 10 years before. Frank Sinatra seemed more with it.
derekd wrote on August 22, 2009
Good recording, more of these and 1965 may have been a better year chart wise. Here was prove that given a decent song with a catchy tune and good lyrics Elvis could still product good recordings. {Just sorting out my poor spelling & grammer}
Marty_TCE wrote on August 22, 2009
Elvis had lost touch with things in 1965 but he does sound really good on this recording and made a very average tune sound good. But hey, this is why he's the King!
Jim Hoff wrote on December 27, 2009
I like the 12 guitar string-picking...... rarely used on Elvis records. Cosy, nice and outstanding on that album!
Deano1 wrote on December 27, 2009
A slow song with almost a lullaby quality to it, that was recorded in 1965 for the movie "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" and released as a bonus song on the soundtrack LP in 1966 (it was not in the movie). The song is nothing exciting and a little dull, but it is still one of the best four or five tracks on this really sub par LP. Elvis sounds bored by the ten "songs" (and that might be too strong of a word for most of these tracks) he recorded for this movie and while his vocal on this track is better than on some, it is not Elvis at his best. The soundtracks LP to "Harum Scarum" and "PHS" were easily the worst albums of his career (and this includes the Camden budget releases and "Having Fun With Elvis On Stage"!). Amazingly enough the "PHS" LP reached #15 on the pop charts in the U.S. and "Harum Scarum" did even better reaching #8!
Marty_TCE wrote on December 27, 2009
An average song, beautifully performed by the King. Quite lovely.
Deke Rivers 6 wrote on December 27, 2009
It must be me then....lousy film & soundtrack. But not as bad as Harum Scarum !
JerryNodak wrote on December 27, 2009
Pretty song. I've always liked it. A pity they couldn't have found a spot for this song and dropped one of the really bad ones like "Queenie Wahine."
NONE000000 wrote on December 27, 2009
A surprisingly pretty acoustic song from a horrible movie soundtrack. At a time when psychedelia and folk music was coming into style in the 60s, this song kinda fits right in (think "Puff The Magic Dragon"). And from that point of view, I think it's true, this could have been a nice single at the time. I was surprised it was not on Elvis Sings For Children (and Grownups too!). In a lot of ways this song is an anomaly in Elvis' songbook. Sooo much better than "Cotton Candy Land" which is the nearest similar song I can think of.
RobIreland wrote on February 03, 2012
I really like this very unusual Elvis song ! A great song to chill to or even fall a sleep to ! Beautiful instrumentation and Elvis in top laid back voice. Conjures up images of a warm beach at night time with all the various creatures enjoying the beach free from people ... Just great fantsy stuff !
ElvisSacramento wrote on October 26, 2012
I've always liked this song immensely and it's one of the five good songs from the disappointing "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" soundtrack album.
Gorse wrote on December 11, 2012
I like this song a lot along with This Is My Heaven from the less than marvellous soundtrack. You could always depend on Elvis making the most of a ballad regardless of the material, at any time in his career.
sugartummy wrote on April 28, 2013
The guitars on this wonderful track are played by Howard Roberts & Alton Hendrickson, who didn't play on the rest off the soundtrack. Elvis & The Mello Men overdubbed their vocals on the same day as the rest off the recording. Elvis overdubbed all his vocals on the soundtrack, so he probably was embarrassed by the songs, although this one & This is my heaven are very good.
bajo wrote on March 27, 2014
Almost every soundtrack had it's hidden gem. This little beauty is one of them. My definite favourite from that soundtrack album. This Is My Heaven a firm close! Sand Castles is actually a song I often dig out and play. Even at that stage Elvis really could make "wine out of water"! Love it!
atomic powered poste wrote on February 25, 2018
This songs seems to be better then it actually is, simple because the rest of the lp is so bloody awful. Neither the production or elvis singing are really good from a technical point of view. Anyway, a likeable recording though. 3 stars.
Milky White Way wrote on December 18, 2019
Some outtakes of this wonderful song are available on various bootlegs and shows Elvis recorded this song live compared the rest of the soundtrack. I just love this simple but beautifully performed fantasy song that takes me to tropical shores. 4 stars from me.
Miknik7077 wrote on July 23, 2020
Beautifully sung and another hidden gem by Elvis. I can picture him on the beach with his guitar just singing this song.
DerekH wrote on August 20, 2022
A breath of fresh air when record in the mid 60's 4 star from me.
PADawgs wrote on August 21, 2022
David Hess (aka David Hill) wrote Sand Castles, Come Along and I Got Stung, in addition to pitching other songs to Elvis that he chose not to record, including Your Hand Your Heart Your Love, subsequently a hit for Andy Williams. Of those songs, purely on the merits of the song itself, Sand Castles is by far the best. A little bit of an overlooked gem from Elvis's film recordings.
Milky White Way wrote on August 21, 2022
I believe this song was supposed to be sung in a scene when the helicopter keys where lost on the beach and Elvis sang this to the girl during the night whilst she slept in his arms on the beach. There’s a photo from this cut scene on the back cover of the bootleg A dogs life. It’s a song that remains in my all time fav playlist.
GBK42 wrote on August 21, 2022
One word: breathtaking. When Elvis himself had the right material, he could make any song into his own, and "Sand Castles" proves it.
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