Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!
{{About|the Elvis Presley song|a similarly named song |Bye Bye Birdie}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Elvis Presley
| album = Loving You
| A-side = Party
| B-side = Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!
| released = 1957
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length =
| label = RCA
| writer = {{hlist|Aaron Schroeder|Ben Weisman}}
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| title = Party
| title2 = Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
"Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1957 motion picture Loving You.
History
The song was written by Aaron Schroeder and Ben Weisman.{{cite book|author=Wyborn Senna|title=The New Elvis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRJcBgAAQBAJ&q=%22Got+a+Lot+o%27+Livin%27+to+Do%22&pg=PT75|date=11 March 2015|publisher=Full Fathom Five Digital|isbn=978-1-63370-037-6|pages=75–}}{{cite book|author=Bar Biszick-Lockwood|title=Restless Giant: The Life and Times of Jean Aberbach and Hill and Range Songs|url=https://archive.org/details/restlessgiantlif00bisz|url-access=registration|quote=Got A Lot 'O Livin' To Do Ben Weisman Loving You.|year=2010|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-07694-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/restlessgiantlif00bisz/page/207 207]–}} The latter, a songwriter from New York, came (according to the book Elvis Day by Day, "presumably in hopes of seeing that his song, "Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do," [would] be included in the soundtrack“) to the recording studio in Hollywood where Presley was working on the songs for the movie.{{cite book|author1=Peter Guralnick|author2=Ernst Jorgensen|title=Elvis Day by Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xFAFE6BCXF4C&q=%22Got+A+Lot+%27O+Livin%27+To+Do%22+%22Ben+Weisman%22+%22Loving+You%22|year=1999|publisher=Ballantine Books|isbn=978-0-345-42089-3}}{{cite book|author=Jay Warner|title=On this Day in Music History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-vpcsdAEMc0C&q=%22Got+a+Lot+o%27+Livin%27+to+Do%22&pg=PA17|year=2004|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-634-06693-1|pages=17–}} Elvis Presley later recalled:
{{quote|I looked at him, smiled, asked his name, and why he was in the studio. He said he was Ben Weisman, and he had composed the song "Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do". I hollered at the guys to come out and we started playing the song. After that day, Ben and I became really good friends and he would wind up writing fifty-seven songs for me. Funny how chance meetings end up!{{cite book|author=Rebecca June|title=The King Or A Pauper A Story Told to Me by Elvis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqHGCQAAQBAJ&q=%22Got+A+Lot+%27O+Livin%27+To+Do%22+%22Ben+Weisman%22+%22Loving+You%22&pg=PA119|date=22 April 2015|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-329-00294-4|pages=119–}}}}
No other songwriter wrote as many songs for Presley as Ben Weisman did.
Reception
In Europe "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" was released as a single with "Party" on the other side.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/view/198386|title=Elvis Presley And The Jordanaires - Party at Discogs|website=Discogs |access-date=2016-12-14}} Both songs appeared on the UK Singles Chart (as published by the Official Charts Company): "Party" charted 15 weeks, peaking at number 2 for the week of October 10, while "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" charted 4 weeks, peaking at number 17 for the week of October 24.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13107/elvis-presley/|title=Elvis Presley - full Official Chart History|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=2016-12-14}}
Musical style and lyrics
The song is a sprightly,{{cite book|author=Patrick Humphries|title=Elvis The #1 Hits: The Secret History of the Classics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mza4wsTDEFsC&q=%22Got+a+Lot+o%27+Livin%27+to+Do%22&pg=PA40|date=2 March 2003|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|isbn=978-0-7407-3803-6|pages=40–}} speedy number{{cite book|author1=Ken Burke|author2=Dan Griffin|title=The Blue Moon Boys|url=https://archive.org/details/bluemoonboys00burk|url-access=registration|quote=Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do.|date=1 August 2006|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-56976-409-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bluemoonboys00burk/page/101 101]–}} Its lyrics include the line: "There's a moon that's big and bright".{{cite book|author=William D. Goodfellow|title=SongCite: An Index to Popular Songs, Supplement 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhnKAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Got+a+Lot+o%27+Livin%27+to+Do%22&pg=PA55|date=4 February 2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-135-68117-3|pages=55–}}
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |
| Chart (1957)
! Peak |
|---|
| UK Singles Chart (Official Charts Company)
| style="text-align:center;"| 17 |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Elvis Presley}}
{{Elvis Presley singles}}
{{authority control}}