Bernie Taupin Is A Godawful Lyricist Whose Lyrics Sound Amazing Coming Out Of Elton John's Mouth — ILM ARTIST POLL #41: ELTON JOHN

Elton would also've been a great subject for that The Eagles project, except it'd take about two years

"Mellow" in my top fifteen.

haha never picked out all the words to it either

''Don't forget the beer, my little dear / it helps to sow the mellow seed''

Yeah, Mellow is definitely one of his best pre GYBR tracks (which seems like as good a place as any to break up his 70s output).

i didnt have room to vote for Mellow but I love it

xpost I love Crocodile Rock but didn't vote for it. I really like how it's tucked away at the end of the album too, it just seems to really work before High Flying Bird.

One thing I like about Crocodile Rock that I haven't mentioned is the weird insistence on this ONE dance, perhaps even a secret dance, something our narrator and Suzie got up to while other kids were doing something else. That the ''rock just died'' and Suzie takes off isn't played for tragedy either, this isn't a full-on coming-of-age nostalgia trip (although I do rep for ''Night Moves''), but the bite in the chorus suggests either that he's still sort of bent out of shape about this turn of events, or maybe that the Crocodile Rock was always a little more dangerous than the falsetto and the wimpy organ would have you believe. I dunno, I don't think it's brilliant or great, but it's got a little more variety and interest than an off-the-shelf blue jeans and cornflakes bit.

this (Bullet) is a great song, 'though the arrangement on RoTW is a bit heavy handed ... When Elton did it solo live, with just piano, that's what sold the song for me.

elton never gets enough credit for what a great live performer he is, and, yeah, he can easily sell just about any song in his catalog by sitting alone at a piano.

33. "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" (1988) [123 points, 7 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyi9AbfUa1E

Didn't think about "Mellow" when compiling my ballot, but very happy to see it place.

A propos of nothing, I really regret not re-listening to Blue Moves before voting now. I fear that nothing from it is going to place (except maybe "Sorry Seems...") which is just wrong.

The TLFZ singles were ones that I was familiar with, and Sad Songs from Breaking Hearts as well, I guess, but I Don't Wanna was the first one to come around at an age where I was paying attention to radio WHILE an Elton single was in heavy rotation and I can't hear it even now without feeling 14 years old.

Which is a good thing.

"I Don't Wanna..." is his biggest eighties hit yet I don't hear it much.

I love the programmed finger snaps and the gusto with which he sings.

32. "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-1934)" (1973) [124 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y3EMjrjIqk

also: Elton piano solo in 1988!

as pop guys go, he is a great piano player, but that 1988 solo is kinda terrible.

A propos of nothing, I really regret not re-listening to Blue Moves before voting now. I fear that nothing from it is going to place (except maybe "Sorry Seems...") which is just wrong.

― Jeff W, Wednesday, August 21, 2013 1:34 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Blue Moves would be my pick for better-than-its-reputation EJ album

31. "All The Young Girls Love Alice" (1973) [129 points, 7 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40A816ZPujw

31 	All The Girls Love Alice 		7 	129
32 	The Ballad Of Danny Bailey 		5 	124
33 	I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That 		7 	123
34 	Mellow 		7 	115
35 	Crocodile Rock 		5 	113
36 	My Father's Gun 		5 	111
37 	High Flying Bird 		4 	108
38 	I've Seen That Movie Too 		5 	95
39 	Razor Face 		4 	93
40 	I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) 		5 	90
41 	The Last Song 		4 	89
42 	We All Fall In Love Sometimes 	1 	3 	87
43 	Where To Now St. Peter? 		4 	85
44 	Island Girl 		5 	84
45 	Are You Ready For Love? 		4 	83
45 	Holiday Inn 		4 	83
47 	Blue Eyes 		3 	83
48 	Border Song 		5 	82
49 	Too Low For Zero 		4 	81
50 	Little Jeannie 		4 	73

...so far

for the official record, actual title "all the girls love alice."

love the drop-out choruses.

made my ballot

Yeah, that's how I had it on the spreadsheet, but then I started looking up youtubes and they all added the "young" and I got discombobulated.

30. "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" (1975) [131 points, 6 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-7meAF-_g

overlooked in the discussion upthread of elton's album artwork is how awesome the inner gatefold artwork of GYBR is.

http://rgcred.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/elton-john-goodbye-yellow-brick-road-inside.jpg

"from the end of the world to your town"! the unexpected change into the chorus at 2:32 is thrilling. (also, first chorus at 2:32!)

29. "Harmony" (1973) [138 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh123TonnOc

The Tiny Dancer first chorus must be even later?

three of my favorites in a row. this one, as tom cruise would say, had me at "hello." that weird percussion pickup into that opening "hello." those lush piano chords. the cold warmth of that vocal. mmmmmmmm.

ha! 2:33 for "tiny dancer."

"Harmony" is sooooo gorgeous. I asked this guy at a bar a year ago – who claimed to know "a lot" of Elton songs – to play it. He had no idea what I was talking about.

Harmony is an incredible ending to that album, it just starts off as this understated and sad sounding song but then those big backing vocals come in on the chorus and totally change the mood of the song. The last 40 seconds are quite special too. It joined High Flying Bird in my top three. My number one will hopefully be very high up in the list.

SHAKEY GET IN HERE I WANT YOU TO LAUGH AT "HARMONY"

28. "Tower Of Babel" (1975) [139 points, 6 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpCigLI4ryo

sorry I had a meeting will try to catch up

The inspiration for "Crocodile Rock":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l_1UB2p13o

27. "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" (1974) [147 points, 7 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rijQG1zlp7s

The b-side to this single, "Sick City," is the better side imo.

26. "Amoreena" (1970) [173 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyayz5SGPoM

the simile in the chorus ("losing everything is like the sun going down on me") is, even for bernie taupin, not good.

I like Amoreena, I think, but I did everything i could to keep it off my ballot because I'm not 100% sure that I don't just like the film

25. "Sacrifice" (1989) [183 points, 9 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrLkTZrPZA4

i was the #1 vote for "Amoreena." and Dog Day Afternoon had nothing to do with that fwiw.

24. "Candle In The Wind" (1973/87) [201 points, 11 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoOhnrjdYOc

I combined votes for the album and 1987 live versions in the instances where a voter stipulated a specific version (which was rare).

the decade(s)-later ubiquity of "Candle" and "Tiny Dancer" kinda makes me wonder what other relatively minor '70s songs might someday stumble into becoming cultural touchstones way after the fact.

This is the flipside of the coin with Don't Let The Sun...a song I've heard a million times that still holds up when I listen, whereas Don't Let The Sun is weaksauce to begin with and only gets worse every time.

I mean, even Candle In The Wind '97 couldn't permanently tarnish Candle In The Wind.

yeah...i don't think it would've been much higher in this poll if the '97 version had never happened.

Puff Daddy took so much shit for remixing someone else's song to mourn his dead friend in '97, Elton John got away with remixing his own song.

23. "Elderberry Wine" (1972) [214 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EtZoMR4nN8

I just can't listen to the original of Candle In The Wind, sadly the damage has been done by the 97 version. It's impossible to say how I'd feel about it if that version didn't exist. I don't like Your Song either, I've always kind of put those two songs together.

elton's piano on "elderberry wine" does a really nice glam guitar impression.