Kismet

Boy, Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett really outdid themselves on this one huh? To say the well ran dry on these writers is an understatement. Look at their earlier work, then look at 1962 onward. Elvis really needed fresh blood for his film songwriters.

From the first line of this song (from "Harum Scarum"), you know it is a doozy. Just a horrible opening line. Then it gets "better"! Kismet means fate or fortune and then suddenly we are treated to the line "kismet and I, were strangers"??? He was a stranger to fate??? Shouldn't Tepper and Bennett, wrote "true love and I were strangers"??? or something else??? I defend a lot of their work, but I can't defend this one. Horrible song, bad production and Elvis sings this one as if he is about to doze off. It follows the song "Mirage" on the soundtrack album and these two ballads just about put the listener to sleep too. The five songs on side A of this album make side A of "Clambake" and side B of "Girls! Girls! Girls!" sound like "Elvis Golden Records"!

Its a shame that Elvis' film career & soundtrack albums were at their all time worst when pop music was in the midst of an explosion that was reshaping the musical landscape once again. Songs and albums like this made Elvis seem passe to radio stations and most of the record buying public of the day.

This song isn't to bad at all, that is compared to the rest of the sorry soundtrack and film. Not a song that I ever play and one that is almost forgotten which it doesn't deserve to be.

It is not that I can't still be very disappointed in some of Elvis' music, but coming to it after the fact helps. In other words, in my mind, this song doesn't have to compete with the other songs from 1965 (Help by the Beatles, Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan and....hey! Crying in the Chapel by our man!) For me, this is just another of a big glut of mid-60s Elvis soundtrack songs that exist sort of outside of time. And even from that standpoint, this is no great song, but it isn't so bad really. As bad as the movie Harum Scarum is (and it might be my least fav of all Elvis movies) he looked and sounded great, and while most of the movie songs that pretended to be "rock" are pretty embarrassing, generally the ballads ranged from really good to pretty tolerable. I think this one is tolerable at least. I never seek it out, but I never skip it either.

I love the entire Harum Scarum soundtrack.

Well, I like it.

I like this soundtrack too. I saw this movie on a Saturday night double date during Christmas break 1965. The theater - the Loew's in Jersey City - was crowded and everyone seemed to really enjoy the movie. I played the soundtrack a lot at the time ( along with Rubber Soul, the Byrds, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Dylan, Stones, etc). I only play the soundtrack occasionally these days , but still enjoy it when I do.

I realize that this song and soundtrack had no artistic merit.Call me crazy but,I liked the song as well as most of the sountrack.I liked the eastern feel to the music.It was completely different than anything he had ever recorded.

I have always liked this song and it always finds its way on to my film compilations and playlists. The soundtrack with its middle eastern influence which I do like, is in its entirety not the best he has ever done, however I particularly enjoy this beguiling ballad..

In India they always loved Elvis movies, especially Harum Scarum. I enjoy Kishmet for what it is, a pretty ballad, well sung.

I've always liked this song and I've never skipped it. I admire the entire "Harum Scarum" soundtrack. It's a unique Elvis soundtrack due to the middle-eastern flavor of it. The entire "Harum Scarum" soundtrack was and will always be a welcome and great addition to Elvis' music catalog.

Possibly the best song from possibly Elvis's worst soundtrack. Romantic, ballad modestly attractive but far from a great tune. The best I can do for both the film and soundtrack is a "D". Passing but not very inspired

Harum Scarum may not be written down as a classic, but I've always enjoyed the album as a guilty pleasure. Especially enjoying the remix appearing in the Double Feature series. That release actually brought new life to that soundtrack! As for Kismet it was the first song I actually paid attention to when I first played the LP album back then. It's a pleasant little ballad and much better sung than Mirage. I'm also very fond of Animal Instinct, Wisdom Of The Ages, Shake That Tambouringe and Hey Little Girl.

Crap movie, crap soundtrack, crap song, but I still don't mind listening to this soundtrack on occasion. I think this was my absolute last LP back in the mid 1960's when I absolutely stopped purchasing Elvis Presley albums of any sort. Talk about garbage? This movie is the nadir of his career!

A decent ballad from a mediocre soundtrack. 3 stars for both the song and the soundtrack