Patty Loveless’ ‘I Try to Think About Elvis’ Was Rewritten to Be Less Manly

Elvis Presley inspired more country songs than you can shake a pair of blue suede shoes at. One of the more famous ones is Patty Loveless’ “I Try to Think About Elvis.” The track was initially more masculine. Here’s why it got changed.

Patty Loveless’ ‘I Try to Think About Elvis’ was originally about handguns and red meat

While Loveless brought “I Try to Think About Elvis” to life with her vocals, she had nothing to do with its writing. “I Try to Think About Elvis” was written by Gary Burr. Burr is also known for writing country classics like Juice Newton’s “Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me” and Tim McGraw’s “Can’t Be Really Gone.”

During a 1995 interview with American Songwriter, Burr discussed how “I Try to Think About Elvis” evolved. “I had to rewrite ‘Elvis’ because it was a very testosterone-driven song,” he said. “It was also all about home runs, handguns, and red meat. They said, ‘We’d really love to do it, but Patty would rather not sing about handguns and red meat.'”

How Gary Burr made ‘I Try to Think About Elvis’ more feminine

Burr was willing to reframe “I Try to Think About Elvis.” “So I rewrote it and tried to get in touch with my feminine side,” he said. “There’s a fine line. I didn’t want to be sexist, but I wanted it taken more to the feminine side. So I wrote about hairdos and tattoos — two important things to a woman to me.”

When all was said and done, Burr was the sole credited writer of “I Try to Think About Elvis.” Burr discussed what it’s like for him to write songs alone. “I try to be fairly structured in that I have to get out of the house otherwise I’ll watch Gilligan all day,” he said. 

“That’s why I asked them to give me this little office here at MCA … I was a solo writer,” Burr said. “I enjoy the process and I still try to set a certain amount of time a year aside to write by myself.” Burr said the tunes he writes alone tend to be the ones he thinks of in the wee hours of the morning or when he’s driving.

Patty Loveless recorded an album inspired by a childhood love of Elvis Presley

While Loveless didn’t write “I Try to Think About Elvis,” she still has a connection to the “Love Me” singer. During a 2008 interview with CMT, Loveless was asked why she decided to record Sleepless Nights, an album of classic country covers. Loveless said she grew up listening to country singers such as Elvis, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, George Jones, Connie Smith, Ray Price, and Jim Reeves with her brother, Roger, and her sister, Dottie. 

Loveless wanted to do an old-fashioned album that Roger and Dottie would have appreciated, so she recorded Sleepless Nights. The record includes Loveless’ rendition of “There Goes My Everything,” which was a country hit for the “Hound Dog” singer in the 1970s.

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll inspired “I Try to Think About Elvis” and Loveless herself.