"The next thing I knew, I was out of the service and making movies again. My first picture was called, GI Blues. I thought I was still in the army"
About this Quote
GI Blues matters in the subtext because it wasn’t a gritty post-service reckoning; it was a glossy, safe, army-themed musical-comedy designed to fold his military credibility back into the Elvis brand. When he says he “thought I was still in the army,” he’s winking at the way the film keeps him enlisted in a sanitized fantasy version of service. The institution and the studio blur: both tell you where to stand, what to wear, and how to behave, and both turn identity into a role.
There’s also a quiet edge beneath the grin. Elvis is describing a kind of disorientation that comes with being a public property. His life moves in prepackaged chapters - Soldier Elvis, Movie Elvis - and the joke lands because it hints at a loss: even his return to freedom looks like another assignment.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Presley, Elvis. (2026, January 17). The next thing I knew, I was out of the service and making movies again. My first picture was called, GI Blues. I thought I was still in the army. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-next-thing-i-knew-i-was-out-of-the-service-33186/
Chicago Style
Presley, Elvis. "The next thing I knew, I was out of the service and making movies again. My first picture was called, GI Blues. I thought I was still in the army." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-next-thing-i-knew-i-was-out-of-the-service-33186/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The next thing I knew, I was out of the service and making movies again. My first picture was called, GI Blues. I thought I was still in the army." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-next-thing-i-knew-i-was-out-of-the-service-33186/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
