Any musician’s memoir is bound to come with a kickass soundtrack, but Lisa Marie Presley is not any musician. The only child of Elvis, Lisa Marie was born into rock n’ roll royalty and maintained her crown throughout her life, releasing three acclaimed albums and marrying three acclaimed musicians (Danny Keough, Michael Lockwood, and Michael Jackson). Music shaped her life, and her life reshaped music.
It’s hard to read Oprah’s 108th Book Club pick and not want to listen to all the songs referenced in the text (and decode all the lyrics for hidden messages you may have missed upon first listen.) Luckily, we’ve done the work for you, gathering the songs and histories that fill the pages of Lisa Marie Presley’s remarkable life story. We give you full permission to sing along.
“Hurt” and “How Great Thou Art,” by Elvis Presley
Lisa Marie recalled how she would ask her dad to perform these songs at his shows and he “would always say yes.” Seeing Elvis on stage was her “favorite thing in the world.”
“Can't Help Falling in Love,” By Elvis Presley
One night at Graceland, after her father had lost his temper with her, Lisa Marie woke up in the middle of the night to find Elvis standing next to her bed, “holding a puppet, a basset hound, making it mouth the words while he sang ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ to me.” When he finished the song, he hugged her and told her he was sorry.
“Wildfire, Michael Martin
Riley remembers Lisa Marie singing this song when they drove up to Ojai to ride horses. “In fact, she listened to that song on repeat when I was a teenager,” Riley writes.
“Torn Between Two Lovers,” Mary MacGregor
When Lisa Marie was fourteen, she visited her mother in the Bahamas, where Pricilla was shooting a film. There she met a “twenty-three-year-old guy who had a small part in the movie” and “fell hard.” The problem was, she already had a boyfriend—her first—back at school in L.A. she listened to this song “over and over” on the plane ride home, and promptly dumped her boyfriend when she returned.
“Baby I Love You,” Aretha Franklin
When Lisa Marie first started taking voice lessons, she sung a few verses of this song, and her instructor seemed “genuinely mind blown.” The reaction gave her the confidence to seriously pursue singing. “Even though I knew what I was up against, I thought, Wow. Maybe I can do this. . . .” she recalled.
“Ben” and “You Are Not Alone,” by Michael Jackson
Riley recalls how, during his relationship with her mother, Michael Jackson would often sing to the family. “To my mom, he’d sing the Bart Simpson song ‘Happy Birthday, Lisa.’ To Ben, he’d sing ‘Ben,’ his first ever solo number one hit. And to me he would sing ‘You Are Not Alone,’ she writes.
“Leaving on a Jet Plane,” by John Denver
Riley remembers singing this song with her parents on the balcony of their Florida home while a tropical storm raged. “Both my parents loved rain and hated the sun—they had chosen my brother’s middle name, Storm, during Tropical Storm Earl,” she writes.
“Lights Out,” by Lisa Marie Presley
This very first single from Lisa Marie’s 2003 debut album, To Whom is May Concern. Riley recalls how “every time the record company sent it to her for approval it was more countrified, targeting Elvis fans,” which frustrated Lisa Marie. “I like having my own identity, as much as I can have one” she said.
“Thanx,” Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie wrote this song about the friends that filled her life and house in the years after her split from Michael Jackson. Riley recalls how seventeen people could be living in their house at a time, with more coming to visit during the day.
“So Lovely,” Lisa Marie Presley
The voices of Lisa Marie, Riley, and Ben are all featured on this song, which Lisa Marie wrote as a love letter to her children.
“Here Today, Gone Tomorrow,” by Lisa Marie Presley
“During the making of her second record, Now What, she would come home and tell us what every song was about,” Riley writes, “She recorded the Ramones song ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’ for Johnny Ramone, her good friend who had died a year earlier.
“When You Go,” by Lisa Marie Presley
Another song from Now What, Riley writes that “’When You Go’ was half about me and half about my dad.”
“High Enough,” by Lisa Marie Presley
This song “really stands out now,” writes Riley. With the lyrics “I’m not doing fine/I’m drowning in my mind again” it addresses addiction head-on. Lisa Marie wasn’t doing drugs at the time, but she was drinking “some nights way too much,” writes Riley, “But this was way before any of us could have conceived that would become such a problem for her, though in retrospect, storm clouds were gathering even then.”
“Raven,” by Lisa Marie Presley
As an adult, Lisa Marie worked to heal her relationship with her own mother, Pricilla Presley, and wrote this song for her. The lyrics about forgiveness, “meant the world” to Pricilla, Riley writes, “After that, Nona would come on tour and get so excited to hear her song. In fact, my grandma and my mom were thick as thieves for a minute. They were always giggling and laughing and having fun and getting drunk together, constantly up to no good.”
“Let’s Dance,” by David Bowie, “Wild Thing “by The Troggs, “Your Song,” by Elton John, “Chiquitita,” by ABBA
All four of these songs were sung by various members of the blended Presley Keough family at Lisa Marie’s wedding to Michael Lockwood in 2006. Riley writes that the groom sang “Let’s Dance,” her dad sang “ Wild Thing” by the Troggs, and Riley and Lisa Marie sang “Your Song” together. Then, Riley recalls, “I sang two ABBA songs with my best friend, my mom joining in with ‘Chiquitita’ until the three of us ended up sitting on the floor crying because we were laughing so much.”
“I Shall be Released,” Jeff Buckley version
Riley recalls this version of Bob Dylan’s song playing at her brother’s funeral, as guests released biodegradable balloons with letters to Ben attached. “It was just punishing,” she writes.
Brown Eyed Girl, by Van Morrison
Riley Keough wrote From Here to the Great Unknown based off of her own memories and a series of tapes Lisa Marie recorded, telling her life story in her own words. When Riley first played the recordings, after her mother’s death in 2023, she was instantly transported to being “eight years old again, riding in our car. Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ came on the radio, and my dad pulled over and made us all get out to dance on the side of the road. I thought of my mom’s beautiful smile.”
From Here to the Great Unknown, by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough
Charley Burlock
Associate Books Editor
Charley Burlock is the Associate Books Editor at Oprah Daily where she writes, edits, and assigns stories on all things literary. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from NYU, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing. Her work has been featured in the Atlantic, the Los Angeles Review, Agni, the Apple News Today podcast, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a book about collective grief (but she promises she's really fun at parties).
