Elvis Presley – Viva Las Vegas (1968)

About The Song

– This song was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman as the title song for the film of the same name starring Elvis Presley. In the movie, Elvis plays a race car driver who has to wait tables at a hotel in order to pay off a debt. He performs this song at the hotel’s talent competition accompanied by various Vegas showgirls.
– The song captures the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. Elvis’ character in the film is from out of town, and he has that enthusiasm and awe that comes with the chance of hitting it rich in the city.
– Just about every Vegas archetype shows up in the lyric: roulette, neon, hot dice, pretty women, blackjack, one-armed bandits (slot machines), bright lights. The song could easily serve as an advertisement for the city (and it has), especially considering the last line, which offers consolation to the many who lose to the house:

Video

Lyric

Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn
So get those stakes up higher

There’s a thousand pretty women waitin’ out there
And they’re all livin’ the devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare, so
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas

How I wish that there were more
Than the twenty-four hours in the day
Even if there were forty more
I wouldn’t sleep a minute away

Oh, there’s black jack and poker and the roulette wheel
A fortune won and lost on ev’ry deal
All you need’s a strong heart and a nerve of steel
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas with your neon flashin’
And your one arm bandits crashin’
All those hopes down the drain
Viva Las Vegas turnin’ day into nighttime
Turnin’ night into daytime
If you see it once
You’ll never be the same again

I’m gonna keep on the run
I’m gonna have me some fun
If it costs me my very last dime
If I wind up broke, oh well
I’ll always remember that I had a swingin’ time

I’m gonna give it ev’rything I’ve got
Lady luck please let the dice stay hot
Let me shoot a seven with ev’ry shot, ah
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas, Viva, Viva Las Vegas