Elton John: Singles (1969-1974)

Elton John Song Highlights (1969-1974)

Recorded: 1969-1974 Genre: pop/classic rock

Tracks: This page highlights singles and other significant songs released by Elton John from 1969 to 1974. Date indicates when the single was first released. Some of the links below go to other DMDB pages. Check out Elton John’s DMDB profile page for a full discography of his albums and singles. Elton John (1970) Border Song (3/20/70) Your Song (10/26/70) Take Me to the Pilot (B-side of “Your Song”) Friends (soundtrack, 1971) Friends (3/10/71) Tumbleweed Connection (1971) Country Comfort (album cut) Burn Down the Mission (album cut) Madman Across the Water (1971) Levon (11/29/71) Tiny Dancer (2/7/72) Razor Face (B-side of “Tiny Dancer”) Madman Across the Water Honky Château (1972) Rocket Man (3/31/72) Honky Cat (7/31/72) Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (1973) Crocodile Rock (10/27/72) Elderberry Wine (B-side of “Crocodile Rock”) Daniel (1/20/73) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (6/29/73) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (9/7/73) Candle in the Wind (2/4/74) Bennie and the Jets (2/4/74) Harmony (B-side of “Bennie and the Jets”) non-album single: Step into Christmas (11/11/73) Also check out the DMDB page for Elton John Song Highlights (1974-1977) Spotify Playlist All of the above songs are featured in my Elton John 1965-2017 playlist at Spotify.

Border Song Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 1/22/1970 at Trident Studios in London Released: 3/20/70 (single), Elton John (1970), Greatest Hits (1974) B-Side: “Bad Side of the Moon” First Charted: August 15, 1970 Peak: 92 BB, 69 CB, 91 HR, 20 CL, 34 CN, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 18.25 streaming About the Song: “The gospel inspiration dominates this short and spiritual ballad.” OR-68 Elton said, “’Border Song’…had a sort of funk and soulfulness that I’d picked up backing Patti LaBelle and Major Lance, but they also had a classical influence that seeped in from all those Saturday mornings where I’d been forced to study Chopin and Bartók.” OR-68 The soulfulness of the song became even more apparent when Aretha Franklin covered it on her 1972 Young, Gifted and Black album. Her version reached the top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was a top-5 R&B hit. She and Elton recorded a version of the song together in 1993 for her Duets album. Interestingly, while Bernie Taupin typically did all the lyrics and Elton the music, this was a rare example of Elton contributing lyrics. He added a third verse “about the reconciliation of mankind” OR-69 because it was too short. He also says, “That’s why the last verse is very mundane.” OR-68 Bernie, however, said the last verse “put it all in perspective” OR-68 and that “the song did not have much meaning until Elton involved himself in it.” OR-68 The first two verses were about “the malaise he felt on his arrival in London, where he had not immediately found his place.” OR-69

Your Song Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin (see lyrics here) Recorded: 1/22/70 at Trident Studios in London Released: 10/26/70 (single), Elton John (1970), Greatest Hits (1974), Your Songs (1985) B-Side: “Take Me to the Pilot,” “Into the Old Man’s Shoes” First Charted: November 21, 1970 Peak: 8 BB, 8 CB, 5 GR, 6 HR, 9 AC, 1 CL, 7 UK, 3 CN, 11 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 1.2 UK, 4.2 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 7.0 radio, 138.9 video, 1196.95 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Elton John established himself as one of the legendary singers in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, fed by a steady diet of lyrics supplied by Bernie Taupin in one of the great musical partnerships. While Elton didn’t write the words, “it was hard to imagine that he wasn’t singing from personal experience. ‘Your Song’ sounds as though it is emanating straight from his heart.” RY As is common with successful artists, the pair’s first hit was the one that become their most beloved. BBC Taupin was all of seventeen when he crafted the words over a breakfast of scrambled eggs at Elton’s mother’s house. TB “The words may be winsome and childlike, but the melody helps them sound truly sincere.” RY Still, it took four years before the song became a hit. BBC “Your Song,” released in conjunction with John’s second U.S. visit, TB finally gave them their breakthrough and “put Elton John on the map.” TC The song is built around “Elton’s uncomplicated music” BBC and “Taupin’s unpretentious lyrics,” BBC which, in this case, were “unusually direct.” TC The “hugely romantic, everyman love song” MC is “playfully self-referential, deliberately awkward, mock inarticulate.” MC No one but an awkward teenager, who as Taupin said, “had never got laid in his life,” BBC could have captured the striking innocence behind the song. BBC While Taupin insisted that the song wasn’t directed at anyone particularly, Elton has maintained that one of Bernie’s old girlfriends was the inspiration. RS500 Producer Gus Dudgeon and string arranger Paul Buckmeister also deserve some credit for the song. They were able to give the song “a lush soundscape that was neither saccharine middle-of-the-road nor too avant-garde.” TC

Take Me to the Pilot Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 1/22/70 at Trident Studios in London Released: 10/26/70 (B-side of “Your Song”), Elton John (1970), Your Songs (1985), Classic Elton John (1994) First Charted: March 5, 1988 (live version) Peak: 37 AC, 9 CL, 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 26.15 streaming About the Song: This was released as a single with “Your Song” as the B-side, but when the latter ended up being the success, “Take Me to the Pilot” was relegated to B-side status. OR-62 The song has a “cryptic reputation” which has meant for interesting interpretations. OR-62 “A variety of subjects are addressed in the lyrics, such as betrayal, the illusion of danger, and also confidence and boldness.” OR-62 However, Bernie has also joked that the song offered him a lot of self-confidence because it proved he could write anything and it would be accepted “even if the words don’t mean anything.” OR-62 His writing style was to jot “down phrases on paper until he found something that pleased him, somewhat in the working style of the surrealist poets. “Elton’s voice is the catalyst that propels the song’s rock ‘n’ roll energy.” OR-62 It is “nasal like James Taylor’s, rasping like Van Morrison’s” OR-62 and “takes center stage in the arrangement.” OR-62 The song also features “brilliantly surging strings, the gospel-inspired backing vocals, [and] Elton’s aggressive piano.” OR-62

Friends Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: September 1970 at Trident Studios in London Released: 3/10/71 (single), Friends (soundtrack, 1971), Your Songs (1985), Classic Elton John (1994) B-Side: “Honey Roll” First Charted: March 20, 1971 Peak: 34 BB, 17 CB, 26 GR, 23 HR, 17 AC, 24 CL, 13 CN, 96 AU, 25 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.97 streaming About the Song: After his self-titled, sophomore studio release, Elton contributed to the Friends soundtrack. The movie, originally called The Intimate Game but changed at Elton and Bernie’s suggestion, was about “the romance between two adolescents, Michelle and Paul, who leave Paris and become parents at a very young age.” OR-104 Bernie didn’t even bother reading the script, instead basing his lyrics just on a verbal summary given to him by the director, Lewis Gilbert. OR-104 Making the soundtrack proved more work than expected. Elton and the musicians spent five weeks playing live in front of the movie, creating 20-to-30-second snippets that would match the scenes. Elton hated it. In the end, Elton only recorded four songs for the album (although he also provided two songs intended for his next album); the other tracks were orchestral variations provided by Paul Buckmaster. OR-105

Burn Down the Mission Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 6/2/70 at Trident Studios in London Released: Tumbleweed Connection (1971), Your Songs (1985), Classic Elton John (1994) Peak: 9 CL, 15 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 13.72 streaming About the Song: This is “one of the most complex numbers ever composed by Elton John. Even though Bernie Taupin’s lyrics had systematically preceded the music since the beginning of their collaboration, de factor dictating the temperament of the songs, Elton never stuck as closely to Bernie’s lyrics, and to the intensity of the action, as he does in this story of class struggle.” OR-96 “The song tells of the descent of an oppressed individual, which eventually leads to revolt because he has no other motivation except to survive.” OR-96 “A gospel introduction with piano and voice sets the scene for the character’s presentation: an impoverished father who is held down by his social and economic status. His transition to action – setting fire to a rich man’s house – is described in the second verse.” OR-96 Elton said he “was significantly inspired by the singer Laura Nyro in breaking out of the rules of composition and mastering this melodic odyssey. ‘She was the first person, songwriting-wise, that there were no rules. There were tempo changes, there wasn’t a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/middle eight. She didn’t write in that kind of way. And that put in my mind that you didn’t have to write in that old template that everybody else did.’” OR-96

Country Comfort Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 6/11/70 at Trident Studios in London Released: Tumbleweed Connection (1971), Your Songs (1985) Peak: 47 CL, 26 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.74 streaming About the Song: “Country Comfort” could be viewed as “a naïve interpretation of American living by British people who had never been to the other side of the Atlantic, had it not been legitimized by the rural experiences of Bernie Taupin. They lyricist transposes the everyday life of his country childhood to the heart of the United States. He immerses the listener in the daily routine of farmers, compiling a veritable gallery of characters whose names and activities help them feel familiar.” OR-89 Of the music, Taupin said, “We put everything you’d find on a dozen country records on it. Steel guitars and fiddles. You name it.” OR-89 Then there were Elton’s vocals. “He took great trouble to create a country singing voice that bordered on caricature.” OR-89 “Contrived though it may seem, with its clichéd ingredients, ‘Country Comfort’ is a testimony to an admirable devotion to muscicality and craftsmanship.” OR-89 Note: even before “Country Comfort” saw release on Elton’s Tumbleweed Connection album, Rod Stewart released a version in June 1970 on his Gasoline Alley album. Both artists released the song as a single, but neither version charted.

Levon Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 2/27/71 at Trident Studios in London Released: 11/29/71 (single), Madman Across the Water (1971), Greatest Hits Volume II (1977), Classic Elton John (1994) B-Side: “Goodbye” First Charted: December 11, 1971 Peak: 24 BB, 17 CB, 28 GR, 21 HR, 4 CL, 6 CN, 94 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, -- video, 44.30 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Levon” is one of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “finest moments, in which musician and poet unite to create a masterpiece of mood and imagery.” RY “The fifteen-second piano introduction…is enough all by itself to guarantee immortality for the song. It contains some of the most hauntingly beautiful and evocative piano chords ever recorded.” RY “The words are difficult, if not impossible, to interpret” RY but “just because they’re opaque doesn’t mean they’re meaningless – at least not when Elton John Sings them…he somehow makes them sound as though they hold the secrets of the universe.” RY As for the name Levon, there is speculation that Bernie used it as an homage to Levon Helm, the drummer and singer with The Band, who was his idol. Bernie, however, says he just liked the name. OR-116 The lyrics tell a story about “an older man who was born poor but made his fortune selling balloons after fighting in an unnamed war. His son, whose first name is Jesus, does not want to have anything to do with him…He prefers to watch them fly away.” OR-116 On a grand scale, this is about “intergenerational conflict that arose in the 1970s between the Greatest Generation (those born between 1905 and 1925) and the following one, which was attracted to the values of counterculture.” OR-116 The song features Rick Wakeman (who would join Yes by year’s end) on Hammond organ. Elton liked his work on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and reached out to him. “Wakeman’s keyboard layers are inserted prior to the ascension of the refrain.” OR-117 This leads into the orchestra which producer Gus Dudgeon called “one of Paul [Buckmaster]’s best arrangements of all time.” OR-117

Tiny Dancer Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin (see lyrics here) Recorded: 8/9/71 at Trident Studios in London Released: 2/7/72 (single), Madman Across the Water (1971), Your Songs (1985), Greatest Hits Volume II (1992 reissue), Classic Elton John (1994) B-Side: “Razor Face” First Charted: March 4, 1972 Peak: 41 BB, 29 CB, 32 HR, 35 AC, 1 CL, 19 CN, 13 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 1.8 UK, 7.29 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 201.37 video, 730.57 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Tiny Dancer,” the second single from the 1971 album Madman Across the Water, stalled at #41 in the U.S. Despite its low peak in the U.S. and failure to even get a single release in the UK, “Tiny Dancer” has become one of Elton’s most iconic songs. Songfacts.com suggests, “part of the song’s enduring popularity owes to how it was never overplayed.” SF Perhaps not at the time, but it has amassed more than 2 million plays on radio over the years. It has also become one of his biggest sellers, ranking as one of his top 7 in the UK and top 3 in the United States. Rolling Stone ranked it as one of the 500 greatest songs of all time in 2003, ranking it as high as #47 on their 2021 update of the list. The song was given a boost in 2000 because of its appearance in the movie Almost Famous, specifically a scene on a tour bus when everyone starts singing along to “Tiny Dancer.” Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg called Elton and said, “There’s a scene in the film which is going to make ‘Tiny Dancer’ a hit all over again.” SF Prior to that, Elton said the song didn’t always get a great reaction when he played it live, but after that it became a regular part of his setlists. SF Bernie Taupin wrote the song about Maxine Feibelman, his first wife. RS500 As she said, “I had been into ballet as a little girl and sewed patches on Elton’s jackets and jeans.” WK Regarding the latter, the song refers to her as the seamstress for the band. It also says she married a music man, which clearly refers to Taupin. Despite all that, Taupin has said the song isn’t about her but his reflection on his first visit to the United States and specifically the women he saw in California. SF DJ Ironik reworked the song as “Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)” in 2009 and took it to #3 in the UK. An official video for the song was finally made in 2017. The song was revised again in 2022 as “Hold Me Closer,” a duet between Elton John and Britney Spears. It reached #3 in the UK and #6 in the United States.

Razor Face Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 8/9/71 at Trident Studios in London Released: 2/7/72 (B-side of “Tiny Dancer”), Madman Across the Water (1971), Your Songs (1985) Peak: 47 CL, 29 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.48 streaming About the Song: In “Razor Face,” Elton “seems to adopt the role of a young man seeking an older, reassuring figure or divine grace…Is he scorning his destiny as a has-been, which he finds pathetic? Or, more likely, is he trying to show himself as being empathetic toward a paternal figure? In any case, he fully assumes his affection for the Razor Face of the title, his ‘old friend.’” OR-118 “All kinds of hypotheses have circulated concerning the real meaning of these words, from a disoriented Vietnam War veteran trying to find a place for himself upon returning home, to an older homosexual looking for a younger companion, to cocaine users chasing lines with a razor blade.” OR-118 “’Razor Face’ is a very organic song, without superfluous arrangement, or big backing vocals. It has a very live sound, due partly to Caleb Quaye’s electric guitar…as well as to the rock-solid rhythm section provided by Roger Pop and David Glover, and due also to a very clean production.” OR-118

Madman Across the Water Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 5/8/70 and 8/14/71 at Trident Studios in London Released: Madman Across the Water (1971), Classic Elton John (1994) Peak: 6 CL, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 10.53 streaming About the Song: This song first surfaced during the sessions for Elton’s Tumbleweed Connection album in 1970. Due to its eight-minute run time, it was excised from the album. Producer Gus Dudgeon was not a fan of the song, saying, “It came out sounding like Led Zeppelin playing Elton John. A bit schizophrenic and boring.” OR-119 The newer version featured on the album of the same name finds guitarist Davey Johnstone contributing “a more solid structure that was missing from the earlier attempt. Its warmth – clearly audible on the strumming of the strings – contrasts with the gliding riff laid down by Mick Ronson. The creative madness of the guitarists infects the rest of the players, who seek to make the song as strange as possible.” OR-119

Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Time) Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin (see lyrics here) Recorded: 1/16/72 at Château d'Hérouville in France Released: 3/31/72 (single), Honky Château (1972), Greatest Hits (1974) B-Side: “Susie (Dramas)” First Charted: April 22, 1972 Peak: 6 BB, 11 CB, 5 GR, 6 HR, 39 AC, 1 CL, 2 UK, 8 CN, 13 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 1.8 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 3.0 radio, 141.9 video, 1515.96 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Honky Château was Elton John’s fourth top-10 album in the United States and first in a run of six platinum-selling chart-toppers. The album was preceded by lead single “Rocket Man,” which became Elton John’s second top-10 hit in both the United States and UK. The song traversed similar territory to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” released three years earlier. Both songs were “about a lonely dude drifting through space,” UCR but Bernie Taupin, who wrote the words to Elton’s song, said it wasn’t an influence. Instead, he said he was inspired by the short story “The Rocket Man” in the 1951 anthology The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. The story “is told from the perspective of a child, whose astronaut father has mixed feelings at leaving his family in order to do his job.” SF That story also inspired the 1970 song “Rocket Man” by Pearls Before Swine, which Taupin acknowledged as an influence. That song took the perspective of “a child [who] can no longer look at the stars after his astronaut father perishes in space. SF Taupin shaped a story of “a man who is sent to live in space as part of a scientific experiment.” SF The Mars-bound astronaut is conflicted about leaving home. Taupin “emphasize the personal over the sci-fi” UCR with lyrics about the astronaut’s wife packing his bags and how Mars isn’t the kind of place to raise your kids. The song has also been interpreted as a commentary on “how rock stars are isolated…from the real world.” SF “John’s melody underscores the words with a melancholy, wistful tone, while the production brings in a light element of futuristic sheen, never abandoning that fragile, perfect melody.” UCR Kate Bush, who recorded the song for the 1991 Two Rooms tribute album to John and Taupin, said this is her favorite song of all time. She said, “I remember buying this when it came out as a single…I couldn’t stop playing it – I loved it so much. Most artists in the mid-seventies played guitar but Elton played piano and I dreamed of being able to play like him.” SF

Honky Cat Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 1/17/72 at Château d'Hérouville in France Released: 7/31/72 (single), Honky Château (1972), Greatest Hits (1974), Classic Elton John (1994) B-Side: “Slave” First Charted: August 12, 1972 Peak: 8 BB, 18 CB, 6 GR, 7 HR, 6 AC, 3 CL, 31 UK, 10 CN, 78 AU, 9 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, -- video, 63.14 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Bernie’s lyrics explore “how he felt when he left his native countryside for the magnetism of London.” OR-134 He is the “’bumpkin’ struggling to find his way in the city, and who strangers encourage to return to his backwater hometown in the extensive refrain. But he will do nothing of the sort!” OR-134 Musically, the song is a “relaxed…number with a syncopated rhythm that’s full of spontaneity and very much inspired by the musical scene of New Orleans.” OR-134 They brought in a quartet of French horn players and had them play live. However, the studio wasn’t conducive to this approach so a box had to be built around the piano with holes for microphones! OR-134

Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: January 1972 at Château d'Hérouville in France Released: Honky Château (1972), Classic Elton John (1994) Peak: 8 CL, 15 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 65.55 streaming About the Song: “The poignant ballad ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’ was written by Bernie after his first visit to New York in 1970.” OR-148 Hearing a gunshot near his hotel window had a particularly strong impact on him. He was also inspired by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector’s song “Spanish Harlem” (recorded by Ben E. King) which suggests “metaphorically that a rose grew in the notoriously violent district of Harlem.” OR-148 The song was given “a minimalist arrangement” to “stay true to the melancholy heart of Bernie’s lyrics.” OR-148 “With a full, warm acoustic guitar and a very beautiful line played by the mandolin, Davey Johnstone was in his usual folk garden, illuminating the melody crafted by Elton John.” OR-148 Throughout the song, Elton “pick[s] out high notes without ever giving the impression of forcing.” OR-148 In addition, he doubles as the backing vocal while Dee Murray “graciously contented himself with playing the basic bass line.” OR-148

Crocodile Rock Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: June – July 1972 at Château d'Hérouville in France Released: 10/27/72 (UK single), 11/20/72 (US single), Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (1973), Greatest Hits (1974), Classic Elton John (1994) B-Side: “Elderberry Wine” First Charted: November 4, 1972 Peak: 13 BB, 12 CB, 13 GR, 12 HR, 11 AC, 1 CL, 5 UK, 14 CN, 2 AU, 9 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.6 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 3.0 radio, -- video, 422.07 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “’Crocodile Rock’ reveals a stark change in Bernie Taupin’s writing. Here, there are none of the cryptic phrases, no unidentified characters appearing in the story out of nowhere.” OR-168 Instead “he calls upon a recent collective memory that can speak to a greater number of people.” OR-169 The song tells “the story of a man who grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s and went often to a restaurant where people danced an obscure dance called the Crocodile Rock.” RC-76 While it was fictitious, Vernie creates “an imagined past” for this song with the narrator claiming to “have had a passion for [it] at a time when all anyone is listening to is ‘Rock Around the Clock’ by Bill Haley.” OR-168 Bernie and Elton were also inspired by “Eagle Rock,” a #1 hit in Australia by Daddy Cool. Musically, Elton John followed suit by embracing inspiration from “Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny & the Hurricanes.” OR-169 Vocally, the song borrows from artists like Bobby Vee and Del Shannon. OR-169

Elderberry Wine Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: June 1972 at Château d'Hérouville in France Released: 10/27/72 (B-side of “Crocodile Rock”), Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (1973) Peak: 47 CL, 30 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.98 streaming About the Song: “Elderberry Wine” boasts “a deliberate divergence between a text that is plaintively emphatic, and a soaring, almost joyful melody.” OR-162 “The listener is carried along by this vigorous rock music, while Bernie depicts a man destroyed by the absence of his wife, who had left him nearly a year ago. The lyricist shows skill in describing what he has left around him – a dog, a trunk, some letters – all the better to evoke the vacuum left by the woman who is no longer there.” OR-162

Daniel Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 6/10/72 at Château d'Hérouville in France Released: 1/20/1973 (single), Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (1973) B-Side: “Skyline Pigeon” Peak: 2 BB, 2 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 12 AC, 1 CL, 4 UK, 12 CN, 7 AU, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 6.0 radio, -- video, 229.72 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Bernie Taupin wrote this song about a man who returns home from the Vietnam War. “Unlike the many veterans who return home traumatized and alone, Daniel is feted upon his return, but all he seeks is some kind of normality after the atrocities her experienced.” OR-158 Taupin said the character just wanted “to get back to the life he’d led before. I wanted to write something that was sympathetic to the people that came home.” RC-82 However, Bernie has said that “Daniel” was his most mis-interpreted song up to that point in his career. He “adopts the perspective of Daniel’s younger brother, rather than that of the war hero himself. For some, this ‘brother’ is actually a euphemism for lover.” OR-159 Bernie and Elton were surprised at the speculation, given that they’d done previous songs where the subject of Elton John’s homosexuality was much more obvious. OR-159 The instrumentation was “recorded in only two takes to retain the song’s natural drive.” OR-159 “The piece has an accomplished gentleness with Davey Johnstone’s acoustic guitar and banjo.” OR-160 “It is also adorned with a flute solo played by Elton John himself…on the Mellotron.” OR-160 To get a rougher vocal sound, producer Gus Dudgeon roused Elton out of bed early in the morning and immediately got him in front of a microphone. His “voice, still fairly gravelly and rasping, did not have its usual clarity, but it instantly injected a dose of drama.” OR-160

Step into Christmas Elton John

Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: 11/11/73 at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London Released: 11/23/73 (single), Caribou (1995 reissue) B-Side: “Ho Ho Ho (Who’d Be a Turkey at Christmas)” Peak: 56 CB, 90 HR, 20 CL, 8 UK, 18 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 2.40 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 31.0 video, 429.81 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Without dipping into the stereotype of church bell-ridden arrangements, ‘Step into Christmas’ perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Christmas with its perky melody and regressive, catchy refrain that lends itself to being sung at the top of one’s voice. Envisaged as a light and inconsequential piece, even as a joke – in the spirit of the Christmas songs issued by the Beatles for members of their fan club – this would be something to be wrapped in double-quick time.” OR-226

Resources/References: BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 76, 82, and 171-2. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 827. MC Neil McCormack (3/13/09). Telegraph.co.uk “100 Greatest Songs of All Time” OR Romuland Olliver and Olivier Roubin (2023). Elton John: All the Songs. Black Dog Leventhal Publishers: New York. RS500 Rolling Stone (2003). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” RY Thomas Ryan (1996). American Hit Radio: A History of Popular Singles From 1955 to the Present. Prima Publishing: Rocklin, CA. Pages 394-5 and 432-3. SF Songfacts page for “Tiny Dancer” SF Songfacts page for “Rocket Man” TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 123. UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” WK Wikipedia page for “Tiny Dancer” WK Wikipedia page for “Rocket Man” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 6/1/2026; last updated 6/10/2026.