The Edge of Reality

Unless you're a diehard Elvis fan, you've probably never heard of his song, "The Edge of Reality".  It happens to be one of my favorite Elvis songs.  It has been throughout my adulthood. 

I've never really paid much attention to -- or understood -- the lyrics.  To me, they are like a Rorschach test (inkblot test) left up to your own interpretation.  I guess perhaps the songwriters understand what they were trying to portray in the lyrics.  But I can't ask them so I'm going to give you my interpretation of the lyrics.

Edge of Reality

Elvis Presley 

I walk along a thin line darling
Dark shadows follow me
Here's where life's dream lies disillusioned
The edge of reality 

Oh I can hear strange voices echo
Laughing with mockery
The border line of doom I'm facing
The edge of reality 

On the edge of reality she sits there tormenting me
The girl with the nameless face
On the edge of reality where she overpowers me
With fears that I can't explain
She drove me to the point of madness
The brink of misery
If she's not real then I'm condemned to
The edge of reality 

On the edge of reality she sits there tormenting me
The girl with the nameless face
On the edge of reality where she overpowers me
With fears that I can't explain
She drove me to the point of madness
The brink of misery
If she's not real then I'm condemned to
The edge of reality 

Reality, reality, reality, reality,
Reality, reality, reality, reality. 

Songwriters: Bernie Baum / Bill Giant / Florence Kaye

I looked this song up on YouTube and found out that it was in the movie, "Live a Little, Love a Little".  Which apparently I have never seen because the video that goes along with this song is -- I guess strange might be the word I'm looking for.  It is very psychedelic.  Not anything like I'm used to Elvis doing in movies.  

This is a case where the video ruined the song for me.  I've never been a fan of music videos anyway because I don't want someone else's interpretation of a song.  I like to create my own interpretation in my head.

Anyway I will post the video at the end of my remarks.

 Here is my interpretation of the lyrics:

I walk along a thin line darling

He is walking the line between reality and Lala land.  He could go either direction.  It's like he's facing a choice or choices and the consequences of those choices are where he will end up.  Either in reality or Lala land.

Dark shadows follow me

He is being tempted to make the wrong choice or choices.  Satan and his angels (or demons as they are more commonly known) want him to make the wrong choice.  They want him to cross from reality to Lala land where they can control him.

Here's where life's dream lies disillusioned
The edge of reality 

Satan uses lies and deception to tempt people to make the wrong choices.  He makes their life dreams distorted to fit his agenda to make evil look good and good look evil.

He makes leaving your eternal family look like a good idea.  He makes chasing floozies/floozers enticing.  He makes breaking God's commandments and your covenants with Him seem like freedom and happiness, when in reality it is captivity and misery.

Walking on the edge of reality is dangerous.

Oh I can hear strange voices echo
Laughing with mockery

Again these are the temptations of the devil and his demons.  Enticing echoes trying to lure him off the edge of reality into Lala land.  Where he will lose his agency and be enslaved to the devil.

It reminds me of the great and spacious building in the Book of Mormon.  Where those who had fallen off the path were laughing and mocking at those who were still on the right path, covenant path.

When Satan tempts someone off "the edge of reality", there is no love.  He just laughs and mocks knowing that he got another person to fall into the same misery that he lives.

The border line of doom I'm facing
The edge of reality 

Doom is exactly right.  The edge of reality is the borderline of doom or happiness.  If you fall to temptation -- You're doomed.  He knows if he listens to the strange voices echoing -- tempting him to make the wrong choices -- that he is doomed. Doomed to a life of misery and torment.

On the edge of reality she sits there tormenting me
The girl with the nameless face

Interesting choice of words.  "She" is Satan.  The girl with the nameless face is Satan.  Interesting that the songwriters feminized Satan.  Or I guess you could also look at it as perhaps the floozy tempting the man to leave his family.  And forever lose all that is important to him.

On the edge of reality where she overpowers me
With fears that I can't explain

 Again, he's teetering on the edge of reality.  What will he choose?  Her temptations overpower him.  Satan overpowers him.  He is weak.  He fears losing all that is precious to him.  His relationship with God.  His family.  His religion.  His happiness.  His peace.

She drove me to the point of madness
The brink of misery

She drove him mad.  He's lost his mind. He's made the wrong choice.  He fell to temptation. He's miserable.  Satan has him in his grasp.

If she's not real then I'm condemned to
The edge of reality 

He knows that if all the lies and deceptions that he has believed are not real, then he's condemned to a life of misery and torment.

That's my interpretation of the song.  It's actually quite profoundly written -- the way I interpreted it.  It goes right along with the plan of salvation.

I'm sure others will just see it as a weird psychedelic song but I like my interpretation.

Here's the video from the movie:

Despite the late 60s psychedelic video, The Edge of Reality is still one of my favorite Elvis songs.  And now that I have interpreted the lyrics, I think I like it even more.

That's my two cents.