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Indoor Fireworks is a great traditional country song. Heartfelt, but smart lyrics, excellent, sweetly sad vocals–it’s the whole package. From Setting the Woods on Fire:

…This should be no surprise, as Elvis was conscioulsy trying to write a Hank Williams song. Interviewed for the book Written In My Soul (by Bill Flanagan, 1986), Elvis humorously explained his goal in writing Indoor Fireworks:

“I tried to write one that had some chill in it. Like ‘May You Never Be Alone’ [by Hank Williams]. I was aiming up there. Whereas when I wrote ‘The Only Flame In Town’ I was only trying to write like Allen Toussaint. I was thinking, “How tough does Hank Williams ever get?” He didn’t ever shy away from the matter. If you’re going to be true to yourself you’ve got to say, “Could I say it as cold as Hank Williams did?” You have to keep reminding yourself how strong the really strong songs are.”

I think that’s very interesting, and I also think Indoor Fireworks is one of Elvis’s best country songs.

Here’s a link to a performance of the song with Lucinda Williams

And of course, the lyrics:

We play these parlour games
We play at make believe
When we get to the part where I say that I’m going to leave
Everybody loves a happy ending but we don’t even try
We go straight past pretending
To the part where everybody loves to cry

(chorus)