I Forgot To Remember To Forget

"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a country song written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers. It was recorded at Sun Studio on July 11, 1955, by Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Johnny Bernero on drums, and released on August 20, 1955, along with "Mystery Train" (Sun 223). It was rereleased by RCA Victor (#47-6357) in December 1955.

Moore's guitar had a Nashville steel guitar sound, and Black played a clip-clop rhythm. Elvis sang a brooding vocal. This is the closest the trio came to a traditional country song while at Sun.

The song reached the Billboard national country music chart #1 position on February 25, 1956 on the Billboard C&W Best Sellers in Stores chart, and remained there at #1 for 2 weeks, and spent 5 weeks at #1 on the Billboard C&W Most Played in Juke Boxes chart. The record reached #4 on the Billboard Most Played by Jockeys chart. It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a national known country music star. The song remained on the country charts for 39 weeks.

The flip side of this release, "Mystery Train", peaked at the #11 position on the national Billboard Country Chart.

A live version (from The Louisiana Hayride), the first of that song ever to have been found, was made available on YouTube on July 13, 2012, almost 57 years after being recorded by Elvis.

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the song in 1957 and the 1960s. Composer Charlie Feathers has also recorded it. The Beatles covered this song once for the BBC radio show, From Us To You, on 1 May 1964, which was included on the Live at the BBC compilation in 1994. Johnny Cash covered and released this song in 1959 on the Sun LP Greatest! and on the album The Survivors Live in 1981. B. J. Thomas included this song on his 1972 album, B. J. Thomas Country. Chuck Jackson, Ral Donner, Robert Gordon, Johnny Hallyday, The Deighton Family, Hicksville Bombers, and Wanda Jackson recorded this song as well. Chris Isaak also covered this song on his 2011 album, Beyond the Sun.

The song is referenced in the Modest Mouse song "A Different City", on their 2000 album The Moon & Antarctica.

The name of this song also appears as a quest in the video game Fallout: New Vegas where the Courier and Boone defend a small settlement from a full-scale attack while dealing with Boone's regret over a massacre that took place at that same settlement.