"Only Believe" is a song written by evangelist

Paul Rader Paul Alexander Rader (born March 14, 1934), is an American religious leader, who was the 15th General of the Salvation Army from 1994 to 1999, and was the President of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, from 2000 to 2006. Biography Born in N ...

. Elvis Presley released it in 1971 as a two-sided single with the song "

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy trans ...

" on the reverse side. Both songs were from the upcoming album '' Love Letters from Elvis''. On

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

the single charted as "Life / Only Believe", peaking at number 53.

Critical response

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' reviewed the single "Only Believe / Life" in its May 8, 1971 issue. The magazine characterizes the song "Life" as "a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

oriented ballad that builds into a heavy production."

Charts

: ^* as "Life / Only Believe"

References

{{Elvis Presley singles 1971 singles Elvis Presley songs RCA Records singles Gospel songs Rock ballads