Apparently the melody is based on Plaisir d’Amour, a French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini.
The King’s version was written in 1961 for the film Blue Hawaii by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss.
Here it is in the film, with Elvis barely able to suppress his laughter. They really should have done another take.
It got to No 1 in Britain but only No 2 in the US. Can you believe, it was kept out of the top slot by Joey Dee and the Starliters’ Peppermint Twist, which you can see here.
American record buyers should be ashamed.
Here Elvis sings it in Hawaii in 1973.