Quote Of The Day By Elvis Presley: 'And I Am Grateful. Only I'm Afraid. I'm Afraid I'll...'

Few before him had ever experienced what Elvis Presley, widely considered the first superstar of the rock 'n' roll era, did as he rocketed to fame in the mid-1950s off the back of rockabilly hits such as "That's All Right Mama" and "Heartbreak Hotel." Presley's image — his incredibly photogenic look, slick dress sense, and suggestive dance moves — made him a subversive star, and he commanded a level of devotion among teenage fans that became a worldwide phenomenon.

By the time he became a breakout star in 1956, he was still just 21 years old and grappling with the demands of his newfound fame. As well as being profiled extensively in the media as the new musical sensation, he was touring widely, attracting legions of fans to his shows. But while it must have been incredibly gratifying for the world to suddenly recognize Presley's natural talent and charisma, it was also intensely intimidating — as revealed in our Quote of the Day from the King himself.

"I guess it's just something God gave me. I believe that, you know. Know what I mean, honey? And I am grateful. Only I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'll go out like a light, just like I came on."

Our Quote of the Day comes from an interview Elvis Presley gave to the Waco News Tribune back in 1956, unearthed and republished by Alan Hanson on the Elvis History Blog in 2009. As Hanson notes, Presley gave scores of interviews while on tour in the months after his meteoric rise to fame, but this one is markedly different from regular interviews of the era that typically focus on his background and musical interests.

Conducted by interviewer Bea Ramirez — the "honey" of the quote — the piece shows Presley pre-show, hiding in his Cadillac away from thousands of fans shortly before he is due to go onstage. Ramirez paints the young Presley as both nervous and distracted by worries about the future, and despite the world seemingly falling at his feet, how he might look in the articles written about him. "Write me up good, will you honey?" Presley implores Ramirez at the end of the interview before heading onstage — a different side of the star to the snake-hipped charmer who so captivated the world just a few months earlier.

Elvis Presley's Quote of the Day came at a time when he was in the ascendancy but reveals him to be surprisingly vulnerable, even as his legend is constructed around him. Presley was born January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, where his family lived in poverty and struggled to put food on the table. Theirs was a hand-to-mouth existence, and though Presley was emerging as a charismatic and larger-than-life teenager, they were still on welfare shortly before his contract with Sun Records finally gave the family some financial security.

With such a difficult upbringing, it is no surprise that Presley was anxious that his appeal might dry up, along with the newfound fame and fortune it had brought him. His worries may simply be written off as resulting from the traumatizing effects of his impoverished upbringing. But in fact, the 21-year-old showed a preternatural awareness that, as we've seen through the history of rock 'n' roll, success could indeed be fleeting. Time and again, musical careers have risen sharply before crashing back to earth almost overnight. From flop songs that tanked an artist's commercial prospects to albums that tarnished their reputation at a stroke, there are now countless cautionary tales for budding musicians to learn from.

But Presley's cautious appreciation of his own success was also bound in his Christian faith. It seems that he was willing to accept that what one receives as part of one's destiny can also be taken away, which undoubtedly set him in good stead for the obstacles that he encountered throughout his career.

"I've felt close to falling in love a couple of times. In fact, I almost was engaged twice before I got into show business. But I don't care enough for one girl to be identified with them. Honey, I prefer to date 'em all until I find the right one."

"I always criticize myself in films. When I attend a movie theater, I'll get up and leave during the numbers I don't like. Then I come back in after they're over."

"Sometimes when I walk into a room at home and see all those gold records hanging around the walls I think they must belong to another person. Not me. I just can't believe it's me."

"Who am I to sit here and knock someone else? If someone has strived for something, then it's okay. I don't dig in and question it. I never knock anyone who's successful."

"Your material can make you or break you. If you sing a good song, naturally it will sell. If you sing a bad one, it won't."

"When you're married you become aware of realities. Becoming a father made me realize a great deal more about life."