Singles |
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Recorded: 1969-1974 Genre: pop/classic rock |
Tracks:This page highlights singles 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.
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Border SongElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: January 1970 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:A
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Your SongElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin (see lyrics here) Recorded: January 22, 1970 Released: 10/26/70 (single), Elton John (1970), Greatest Hits (1974) 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).
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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. The two met by chance when both responded to a talent ad placed by Liberty Records in New Musical Express. TB The label wasn’t overly impressed with either of them individually, but saw potential in pairing them. They hit it off immediately “and one of pop’s most enduring collaborations was born.” BBCAs 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 Still, it took four years before the song became a hit. BBC In the meantime, Elton released three albums and five singles. TB “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 |
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FriendsElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: September 1970 Released: 3/10/71 (single), Friends (soundtrack, 1971) 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:A
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LevonElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: February 27, 1971 Released: 11/29/71 (single), Madman Across the Water (1971) 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).
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About the Song:A
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Tiny DancerElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin (see lyrics here) Recorded: August 9, 1971 Released: 2/7/72 (single), Madman Across the Water (1971) 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).
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About the Song:Elton John’s breakthrough came in 1970 with “Your Song,” a top-10 hit in the United States and UK. He followed it up with a couple of U.S. top-40 hits (“Friends,” #34, and “Levon,” #24) in 1971. He then stalled at #41 with “Tiny Dancer,” the second single from the 1971 album Madman Across the Water. While such a downward trajectory might suggest one’s career had peaked, that was far from the case for Elton John, who went on to land six #1 songs during the 1970s and was named the #1 artist of the decade by Billboard magazine.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, who has written lyrics for most of Elton John’s hits through the years, 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. The song was revised again in 2022 as “Hold Me Closer.” An official video for the song was finally made in 2017. This time it was a duet between Elton John and Britney Spears. It reached #3 in the UK and #6 in the United States.
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Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Time)Elton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin (see lyrics here) Recorded: January 16, 1972 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).
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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 |
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Honky CatElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: January 17, 1972 Released: 7/31/72 (single), Honky Château (1972), Greatest Hits (1974) 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, -- streaming |
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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About the Song:A
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Crocodile RockElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: June – July 1972 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) 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).
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About the Song:A
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DanielElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: June 10, 1972 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).
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Step into ChristmasElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: November 11, 1973 Released: November 23, 1973 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).
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Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on MeElton John |
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Recorded: January 1974 Released: 5/20/74 (single), Caribou (1974), Greatest Hits (1974) B-Side: “Sick City” First Charted: June 1, 1974 Peak: 2 BB, 11 CB, 2 GR, 11 HR, 2 RR, 3 AC, 1 CL, 16 UK, 12 CN, 13 AU, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 51.60 video, 102.50 streaming |
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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About the Song:A
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Resources/References:
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First posted 6/1/2026. |
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