The Sun Won't Be Going Down on Elton for a Long Time

I haven’t always been a huge Elton John fan, but I started to develop an appreciation for his music around the time The Lion King came out. We had several of his records, and I no doubt had listened to them at some point, but it was really Disney that turned me on to Elton John. Well, and my brother Benjamin. He was, at one point, just as obsessed with Elton John as I am with Simon and Garfunkel – though he’ll deny it heartily now - so we listened to a lot of Elton around out house. This Greatest Hits album contains most of my favorite songs of his, other than those from The Lion King, of course.

Your Song - I just learned that this was Elton’s first big hit. It was the first Elton song my dad ever heard (back when it first hit the US airwaves), and it was the first Elton song Benjamin learned to play on his guitar. This beautiful love song features gorgeous piano accompaniment and tender lyrics, showing a man who is deeply in love and struggling for the adequate means to express his affection. “I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do. My gift is my song, and this one’s for you… I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you’re in the world.” I don’t know about her, but I don’t mind at all!

Daniel - This song seems to have a touch of a calypso feel to it. It’s a very nice song, a tribute to the speaker’s older brother who is “travelin’ tonight on a plane,” and he is sorry to see him go. “I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much.” I’ve also heard Anne Murray do a nice cover of this song.

Honky Cat - This one is upbeat and rather raucous, with Elton really tearing up the keyboard. It’s the tale of a young man from out in the country looking for a new life in the city despite being discouraged from this course of action by everyone he knows. “They said get back honky cat, better get back to the woods. Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways and, oh, the change is gonna do me good.”

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Really great, dynamic song, sorta the opposite of Honky Cat in that this is a guy fed up with the cynicism of big city life and looking for an escape to a simpler way of living. “So goodbye yellow brick road where the dogs of society howl. You can’t plant me in your penthouse. I’m going back to my plough. Back to the howling old owl in the woods, hunting the horny back toad. Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road.” His wistful, high-pitched “ah-ah-ah”s leading into and out of the chorus add an especially nice touch to the song. His upper register gets a good workout on this song, and he sounds just as great on the high notes as on the lower ones.

Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting - The loudest song on the album, he’s half-screaming throughout. He’s a young guy full of energy looking for a release now that it’s the weekend. He’s going to get himself good and drunk and make as much trouble as possible. “It’s 7:00 and I wanna rock, wanna get a belly full of beer.”

Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Long Time - Elton goes astronomical with this pensive soliloquy by an astronaut missing his family as he’s hurtling through space. At least I’ve always taken it at face value; I suppose he could be speaking metaphorically. Either way, it’s a nice song. “I think it’s gonna be a long, long time till touch-down brings me ‘round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home.”

Bennie and the Jets - A slower song, but not pretty; it’s a hip tune where he pounds out the chords with acute articulation. A song about going to see a rock band. For some reason I thought for years that it was about baseball; who knows where I got that idea? “Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful. Oh, Bennie, she's really keen. She's got electric boots a mohair suit. You know I read it in a magazine.”

Candle in the Wind - A really beautiful song, though also with an axe to grind. I actually prefer the tribute to Princess Diana with its gentle lyrics, elegant piano, and swooping violins, not to mention the depth of emotion apparent in Elton’s vocals. But this original hit, a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, is a great song. While he sings of his admiration for her (“I would have liked to have loved you, but I was just a kid. Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did.”), he spends a majority of the time focusing on how she was misunderstood and abused. “Even when you died, oh, the press still hounded you. All the papers had to say was that Marilyn was found in the nude.” The electric guitar adds a harsh tone that underscores the lyrics.

Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me - I’ve always liked this song, but since it was the song that won Clay Aiken the popular vote in American Idol’s Wild Card show and turned him from an underdog to a teen idol, it’s become one of my very favorite Elton tunes. In my opinion, Clay’s live version of the song, that segment anyway, exceeds even Elton John’s vocals. Definitely one of his finest moments on the show… but I digress. Elton sounds fantastic on this pleading love song, and I love the piano introduction. It’s a dynamic song, starting off rather quiet and building up to the chorus with increased intensity. Some really nice lyrics too. “I can’t light no more of your darkness. All my pictures seem to fade to black and white. I’m growin’ tired, and time stands still before me, frozen here on the ladder of my life.”

Border Song - A slow, rather mournful-sounding song. The speaker is tired of all the prejudice and injustice in the world and just wants to see some peace. “Holy Moses, I have been deceived. Holy Moses, let us live in peace. Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease.”

Crocodile Rock - One of Elton’s most enjoyable songs, it is very upbeat and recalls a time when life and music were both a little simpler. It’s nostalgic and, though there is some mourning the loss of the way things were, it focuses on the joy of those memories rather than the loss. Reminds me a bit of American Pie in its yearning for an earlier time in musical history. Very fun song. “Croc rockin’ was somethin’ shockin’ when your feet just can’t keep still. I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will.” I always get a kick out of singing along with his “la la la”s on the chorus, though I always wind up sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher, much to the annoyance of my brother…

Well, that’s it for Elton. These are only a few of his big hits, of course, but it’s a very good representation of his best work. Great for long-time fans or those just looking to see what this pop star with the funny glasses is all about.