Serious / Lonesome Tonight

Which version or mood of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" do you prefer?
Elvis usually sung it quite straight live until it came to the spoken verse- 1969 had the amazing Laughing Version, and it became almost a ritual from '76 onwards that Elvis (and Charlie) always had a lot of fun with it live. Charlie would always go into his little "gay" routine or start pulling faces- anything to make Elvis laugh!
And yet from the On Tour Outtakes we have a beautiful, sincere version! With Elvis very obviously thinking of Priscilla.
I would say 97% of ETAs when they sing "Lonesome Tonight" they make the spoken verse very humourous- why don't we do the touching, serious spoken verse more ofen?
Or do you mix it up a bit? There is a lot to be said for standing there as E did in '72 with your eyes closed, really speaking those words with feeling...

It's a great song and I don't do it often enough. I'd play it serious and straight. The one time I did sing it, was purely by chance as we lost all sound after a electrical problem where we were playing. I'd taught myself the most basic of chords for Are You Lonesome Tonight only days before, so I sat down and sang it, just me and the guitar. Probably the most scary thing I've ever done, but I bluffed my way through it and it went down a storm.

I always sing the serious, recorded version of the song, I think it is a beautiful song and always gets a good reaction

for me i will always see what crowed i have and if and only if i remeber the words i sing it right lmao it all depends on what you wont to do on the night but always have fun thats me

i sing it straight till the talky bit then depending on the crowd or where i am, but its always nice with a bit of humour in the middle find someone to pick on oops sorry sing to and ham it up a bit but then top it off with a big finish
always goes down well....
people forget elvis had a great sense of humour and loved too fool around so why not use that in your tribute.
dave dynamite ..........

ive just started including the live version of this song however i dont do the speaking bit i just sing it twice. however i always sing the lines do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair bit second time round and it always gets a laugh i do this in the 1st set and i find it a good ice breaker between me and the crowd. i sang it a couple of weeks back and i looked up there was the bigest bald headed man youve ever seen walking towards me just as i sang it as luck would have it he saw the funny side and he was walking towards me cause he wanted his picture taken with me. when ever my dads there i useually sing it straight to him as hes as bald as a coot and its a bit of a standing joke.

but yeah going back to the song i never really liked the talking bit i have to say it's a little cheezy and boring but i love the live laughing version how could anyone not laugh along when they hear this. i think theres a real feel good factor about this version of the song