Our White Whale, Elvis; or, Democracy Sighted

• Published in: Prospects
• Main Author: Parrish, Timothy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1995
• Subjects: General Medicine; Avers; White whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0361233300006104; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0361233300006104

The lyrics cited above are from the 1990 Living Colour single “Elvis Is Dead” and serve as another reminder, as if we needed one, that, despite the song's emphatic refrain, the rumors we hear are true: Elvis is alive. His shade haunts us, bringing with it strange but vital messages. Greil Marcus, Elvis's best critic, may be blessed with second sight when he avers that Elvis comprises our “cultural epistemology,” that he holds the “skeleton key to a lock we've yet to find.” Marcus's elliptical prophecy promises what for many may be a stunning revelation: Elvis Presley so profoundly embodies the complexities of American culture that only Melville's Moby Dick is comparable to his richness, his ambiguity, his mysterious meaning. As with most supernatural sightings (or Melville's whale), Elvis's presence is nearly impossible to identify.