“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away.”
— Elvis Presley
Elvis said this reflecting on authenticity and self-honesty. After years of making formulaic movies he disliked, his 1968 comeback was a return to the raw music that made him famous, a moment of confronting the truth he had been avoiding.
I spent years making movies I didn't want to make, singing songs I didn't believe in, smiling when I wanted to scream. The Colonel told me it was smart business. The studio told me it was what the fans wanted. And I went along with it because it was easier than fighting. But the truth was I had stopped being an artist and turned into a product. Deep down I knew it. I just kept the curtains closed and pretended the sun wasn't there. When I finally did the Comeback Special in '68, I sat down in that leather suit and played the music I actually loved, and it felt like opening the curtains after years in the dark. You can run from what's real for a while. But it waits for you.