are you lonesome tonight?

The King had his eleventh American chart topper with this revision of an old tune with a soliloquy that riffs on the Bard. It was written in 1927 by Lou Handman and Roy Turk and had been recorded many times before Elvis made it his own. The spoken word portion refers to a speech in Shakespeare's As You Like It:

"All the world's a stage, and all men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

Are you lonesome tonight?
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?
Does your memory stray to a brighter sunny day
When I kissed you and called you sweetheart?

Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?
Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?

I wonder if you're lonesome tonight?You know someone said that the world's a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love you as my sweet heart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your lines so cleverly and never missed a cue
Then came act two...

You seemed to change and you acted strange
And why I'll never know.

Honey, you lied when you said you loved me
And I have no cause to doubt you.
But I'd rather go on hearing your lies
Than go on living without you.

Now the stage is bare and I'm standing there
With emptiness all around
And if you won't come back to me
Then they can bring the curtain down.

Is your heart filled with pain?

Shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?