An Elvis Presley superfan from Sydney has turned her grief into music, using The King’s song titles as inspiration for her lyrics.
“I cried and cried and cried,” says Lucy Bersuk, recalling the day Presley died, on Aug. 16, 1977. “That’s where all the titles of his songs came in my head. I sat down and wrote three verses with the titles.”
Long after his legendary voice has been silenced, Bersuk is keeping Presley’s memory alive through her song, simply titled “Elvis.”
“I was so upset. All these songs, his songs were going around in my head, all the titles,” she says. “I just sat down and started writing. Whenever I’m upset I write.”
Bersuk worked as a receptionist at a recording studio in Toronto in the 1980s. After writing the lyrics – which consist of more than 100 of Presley’s title hits – she took the song to her boss, who put it to music.
Bersuk says her boss had planned to submit her song to the Guinness Book of World Records, but he died shortly after it was recorded.
Now, decades later, only a few people have heard her music, but she says that’s OK with her.
“I didn’t write it for any reason, to make a fortune on it,” says Bersuk. “I wrote it because I was hurt and it just poured out of me.”
Bersuk says she loves listening to all kinds of music, but The King’s tunes take her to a happy place.
“All I had to do was hear the band. I didn’t need anything. That’s what it did to me.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore
