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

Too Low For Zero -
lyrics to this are pretty good actually, although totally unrelated to the feel of the music. I suppose that could be intentional but just makes me think that it's the kind of thing Steely Dan or Bryan Ferry would do in a much different and better way. melodically basic but serviceable, wears out its welcome at 6 minutes, that's for sure. strange song to play at Live Aid or whatever that show is. backing band is atrocious.

xxpost yeah, good call re: orbison! it feels legit sad not just 'ahm in lurve with a gurl who has blue eyes'

couldn't bring myself to vote for "blue eyes." it's monumental in my memories. that melody. that vocal. but ouch that lyric. gary osborne, who wrote it, does not hold a candle in the wind to bernie taupin. i complain about bernie as much as the next guy, but his words really do sound good coming out of elton's mouth. gary's words somehow sound even worse when subjected to as good a melody and vocal performance as this.

Border Song
why is he appealling to Moses, I don't get it. the bad water/back to the border bit makes it sound like he went to Tijuana and got diarrhea. first he complains about being around people who aren't like him and then he wants to live in peace... what? the inscrutability here is pretty irritating. as torch songs go the piano refrain is fine, melody is sort of just there, feel like the backing gospel vocals are there to give the song an emotional heft that the narrator and lead vocal line can't deliver by themselves. not bad but pretty unremarkable.

the bad water/back to the border bit makes it sound like he went to Tijuana and got diarrhea.

HA!

"harmony," which i did vote for, is what "blue eyes" would sound like if bernie taupin was there.

Blue Eyes
uh the word "blue" doing a lot of heavy lifting here. godawful synth sounds, like the opening theme to some 80s daytime soap. vocal performance seems like the saving grace, something affecting in his dips into his lower and upper registers here and there. again not really impressed with the melody, so many times it feels like Elton's building up to a halfway decent hook or refrain and then things just... peter out.

TIE-45. "Are You Ready For Love?" (1977) [83 points, 4 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jw7MtB2fm0

^ This is an awesome song that I may have skimmed right past when doing my listening. I'm LOVING IT right now.

Are You Ready For Love?

pretty good Philly soul feel, can totally hear the Spinners or the Chi-Lites rockin this. fairly standard straightforward lyrics nothing special, but a thankful respite from the incoherent nonsense he's usually working with. needs more of the goofy squelchin synth sounds from the end. it seems a bit slight, a throwaway, not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's from the sessions he did with Thom Bell in Philadelphia, so your ear is serving you well.

I dunno why you guys (ahem Shakey) are concentrating for better or worse on lyrics. "Blue Eyes" is about John's vocal and the keyboard harmonics.

eh I'm a 50/50 kind of listener

TIE-45. "Holiday Inn" (1971) [83 points, 4 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=666JAioPDhM

shakey will be playing the role of Simon Cowell for this rollout

here's one I don't know.

I'm a fan of pointless sitar.

There's just so much you can say when a song's lyrical premise is eye color. I voted for "Blue Eyes" for the great melody, and good vocal delivery even if the lyrics are unexceptional.

I like alot of stuff from the Thom Bell sessions, but none stood out enough to make my ballot.

"Holiday Inn" probably would have made my top 25

Gary Osborne's lyrics for "Blue Eyes" are just right: they don't strain, they decorate the melody.

Holiday Inn
This is pretty good! The orchestra breakdowns, the fake sitar, the mandolin picking running through the whole thing. The arrangement effectively shifts the parts of the composition around instead of just relying on bombast or repetition. sentiment of the song isn't all that compelling but whatever, the world always needs another song about world-weary musicians amirite...

Yeah, it's the 'Wanted Dead or Alive' of its day.

Are You Ready For Love? got a second life in the UK circa five years ago thanks to a remix (for no obvious reason). Thought that might've got it a few more votes tbh, it's excellent.

44. "Island Girl" (1975) [84 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml9K8K8KwpY

oh dear

wow fuck this song

lol yeah, pretty much

Forget the lyrics. The arrangement makes my skin crawl.

I was gonna say it's at least partially redeemed by the musical arrangement but then the marimba came in lol

I kinda like the electric slide guitar part (v Mick Ronson) but the rest ugh what were you 5 voters thinking

43. "Where To Now St. Peter?" (1970) [85 points, 4 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHLQg4VfqE

I love ROTW but it's pretty much his New Jersey. "Island Girl" his last instant #1.

"island girl" is is also a case of elton uncharacteristically getting tripped up by taupin's lyrics. "in the big ci - i - tee" doesn't scan and doesn't work.

and um yeah that marimba.

yes! the first line of "st. peter" makes better use of the word "blue" than all of "blue eyes," and is its equal melodically.

I still wonder what it's like to sit down and write lyrics without music as if they were poetry. Maybe Taupin believes they are.

Where To Now St. Peter?

this feels like it was written for the opening montage of some 70s bildungsroman film. production touches are a little hamhanded, could be worse I guess. shitty sub-Dylan imagery but fcc OTM about that opening "blue" bit.

island girl ugh ugh ugh

WHY IS HE SCREAMING

he's so confused by the cee-i-tee

and the harmonies: ISLAND GIRR-HER-HER-HERRLL

My affection for "Island Girl" is no doubt heightened by its presence on the Sun Jammin' comp that spent a fair it of time in my parents car when I was a kid.

EYE!LAND! GIRL!

42. "We All Fall In Love Sometimes" (1975) [87 points, 3 votes, 1 first place vote]

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

never heard "Little Jeannie" before, i like this. can someone make me a playlist of groovy Elton electric piano and horns songs? he has to have an album's worth of tracks like this, right?

just go to the dentist enough times

We All Fall... seems very McCartney/Wings to me. I'm sure there was some degree of mutual admiration.

The Jeff Buckley version someone posted in the voting thread was the most overwrought rendering of anything I've ever heard. pee-yew

I'd like to know if there was any Macca-Reginald connection. Elton and Lennon were the chums.

Well I love both of them. Up yours, Fever.

:D

Was my no.1 of course, feel like I've made a difference for once. For me it's the beautiful lyrics and melody for once aligning perfectly.

I posted the Jeff Buckley cover, and I may well like his version better. Some of his covers are overwrought ("The Way Young Lovers Do"), but not this one. Also voted for Elton's original version.