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Nicole Byrnes
Professor Reynolds
English 1201
February 7, 2022
Can’t Help Falling in Love

Elvis Presley recorded a song called, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in 1961, and Haley

Reinhart sang the rendition of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in 2015. The music videos are quite

different from each other but are portraying the same message. In both versions of the song,

romantic feelings are being told through the storyline between the main characters. The two

video’s capture different ways to express how falling in love can be.

Haley Reinhart’s version of, “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” came out almost fifty-four years

later than that of when Elvis Presley’s original version came out. Both videos could attract the

same audiences, but I see Elvis’s audience having an older crowd, while Haley’s version the

audience is aiming for a younger audience. Anyone you ask has heard of this song before. Each

video describes the love and relationship between two people, and how it makes them feel.

Elvis sang this song for an album called, “Blue Hawaii.” The lyrics in the song claim that

the singer is falling for the person. The lyrics say, “Take my hand, take my whole life, too,”

meaning the singer is ready to get married and commit themselves to that person for the rest

their life. In another verse the singer states, “Like a river flows surely to the sea,” that he knows

that this relationship is meant to be. At the beginning of Elvis Presley’s video, he and another

woman are standing with a lady sitting in a chair between them. Elvis is presenting this lady

with a gift. She opens the gift, and it is a music box. The lady in the middle seems to be the
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mother of the other woman standing beside her. Elvis is staring and singing to the mother and

kisses her on the cheek while giving her a lei as well. He is trying to make a good impression to

the woman he loves. The video is showing the love that he has towards the woman. Elvis is

singing and making eye contact with the lady, offers her a gift, then kisses her on the cheek. He

is showing how romantic this song can be by the gestures he makes towards the lady.

After watching Haley Reinhart’s version of, “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” video, you can

see the girl offering the boy a piece of gum throughout the video. She is giving him a piece of

gum at school, at a dance, out on a picnic, arguing, and in the snow. During the video, you see

the boy writing on the gum wrappers, but you do not see what he is writing until the end of the

video. At the end of the video, you see her walk into his studio and looking at his drawings

hanging on the walls, which happen to be the gum wrappers. Each wrapper represents

something they shared between the two of them. The last drawing is that of him proposing and

as she turns around, he is on one knee. This song is very romantic and Haley Reinhart’s

rendition of it was well played out in the video. She is presenting a story with a proposal at the

ending. I also see the Extra (gum) advertised throughout the video.

To convey the messages in both video’s is about the same. The video’s appeals are both

Pathos for the emotion each video is showing and Ethos for Elvis as he is in front of an audience

convincing them he is in love. Haley’s version, show a Logos side by the man pulling out the ring

at the end and asking for her hand. Either video could have a take on a different audience. It

does not matter the setting or situation but that you can express how you feel anywhere. Both

videos are showing a romantic side with each man in the video as well as the overall videos. The

original video is Elvis singing to the woman, while Reinhart’s version is a man proposing,
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showing everything he has saved along the way. Each video is different, but the tone and style

remain the same in both videos. Both of their voices are calm, soothing while showing how love

should feel.

There has been over fifty or more people who have covered this song from movies,

music videos, fundraising to T.V. Most artists have their own rendition of this song, but the

message remains the same. Each version of this song is to show the viewers how being in love

with someone can be perceived in many ways. It can be from singing directly to that person or

sharing a piece of gum that leads to a proposal. Being in love does not typically evolve from a

music video. After you have fallen in love is when the music video shows you how that artist

sees what being in love is. The two videos are completely opposite in many ways, not only by

the years in between. The original version is up on a stage, where he is showing the parents, his

love for their daughter. Haley Reinhart’s version of the song is every girl’s fairytale.
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Works Cited
Reinhart, Haley. “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Can’t Help Falling in Love, Casey Abrams, 2015,
Extra Gum - Can't Help Falling in Love Feat. Haley Reinhart. 14 Oct 2015

Presley, Elvis. “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Can’t Help Falling in Love, Radio Recorders, 1961.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGJTaP6anOU. Accessed 10 Feb 2020