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

oh man I totally forgot about The Last Song

it's pretty lovely imo

btw let's remember who we're dealing with:

Elton John is the 3rd most successful male solo artist of all time worldwide regarding total available certified amount of sold records (worldwide) /after Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson/[15] and the 3rd most successful solo artist of all time in the US regarding total available certified amount of sold records (in the US) /after Elvis Presley and Garth Brooks/.[15] John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1994) and, with Bernie Taupin, into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992). In 2013 John and Taupin received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2008 John was ranked the 3rd most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists",[16] making him the most successful male solo artist in the history of the chart. John was also ranked #6 artist with most weeks at No. 1, #6 artist with most 100 hits, #10 artist with most No. 1s of all-Time and #2 artist with most No. 1s in '70s, among others. His '97 single "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" is one of spending the most weeks and no. 1 on Billboard Charts. It is also one of the best selling records ever. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, with certified sales it is "the best-selling single of all time."[17][18] The Guinness World Records 2009 states that the song is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies" and is the best-selling single worldwide of all time.[19][20] John's most successful studio album is his sixth studio album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which has sold over 31 million times worldwide

[Holiday Inn] 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...

― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 20 August 2013

OTM! I had a post that somehow never posted in the voting thread that said p much exactly this, but less well. Like, based on arrangement and melody it's a minor masterpiece equal to anything outside of the probable top 5 in this poll, but subject matter drags it out of the Greatest Hits running. PROTIP: this track really rewards headphone listening.

I'm thrilled that ''Holiday Inn'' made it. When I was just starting to get into EJ, I was working at one, so it was less 'weary rockers' and more 'weary working stiffs.' I realize there is little in the song to sustain this but I do agree about the lushness of the recording. And as far as the weary rockers thing goes, I like how little Taupin's lyrics really bother with it; we've got airports, limos, and a hotel but there's no girlfriends back home (save it for Rocket Man), no fights with the locals (save it for Texan Love Song), no disinterested crowds (save it for Bitter Fingers, although generally, Elton's crowds are always interested). Even the title line is vaguer than it might be: ''you ain't seen nothin''' - so, what? Is it a great hotel? They're not exactly the lap of luxury, but maybe our rockers aren't as weary and world-wise as they think, they're still teenagers practically, impressed by even the idea of a standardized franchise hotel (they even have a pool!). Or maybe it is weariness, ''you ain't seen nothin'' like ''you ain't had troubles,'' which is certainly how I felt when I was hauling around room service trays and struggling to seduce front-desk girls. Of course someone less sold on BT/EJ might see this characteristic vagueness as a weakness of would-be poetry, but as elsewhere, I think Elton is able to give it enough color and shade, despite a few of his still-distracting vocal affectations (''...where you're NOT EVEN TAHRRRRED!''), to let the vagueness work in its favor, to catch emotions like a Rorschach blot. The arrangement works the same way: is it a pastoral hoe-down or a thunderous epic?

Not Elton's masterpiece, but it sort of encapsulates so much of what works about his deep cuts, and why I think it's an error to think of him primarily as a singles artist. If the albums are (mostly) collections of songs rather than Statements, the songs still often aspire to being more than not-quite-good-enough-for-singles.

His ''Lucy'' is the other one in this batch which I voted for. Didn't expect it to make the cut tbh. If its showmanship undermines the dreamy childlike ambitions of the original, it maybe comes closer to mid-Seventies, Lost Weekend Lennon than anything Lennon himself did (musically or personally): it's not the Sixties hope of young adults to return to childhood, but the Seventies insistence that childlike fun and party pleasure can follow into one's Thirties in one grand, dazzling ball, with no hangover and no wrecked families along the way. I have more to say but it's time for work over here...

"We All Fall In Love Sometimes" has been today's discovery. Strong vocal, excellent guitar picking.

and the mellotron! Subtle embellishment.

His ''Lucy'' is the other one in this batch which I voted for. Didn't expect it to make the cut tbh.

It actually made the most-hated list, fwiw.

yeah i voted for it for most hated. not that wild about the original truth be told. of the big, ill advised covers of legendary rock songs elton released as singles i think i might like (or 'like') 'pinball wizard' most, it at least has the tie-in to the movie, i can enjoy it like a lesser track from 'grease' or whatever. plus the shoes.

as much as I love Elton you couldn't pay me enough money to listen to Pinball Wizard

I can't. I just... I can't

Hahhahaa oops re: most hated. Well I stand by it. Sooo, jooo much better than ''Pinball Wizard,'' which both mangles the song and happens to be nigh unlistenable as well. SHAH PLAS A MEEN PIN-BAULL!!! Jesus, man, just shut the fuck up. I do sorta get the 'Grease' argument though, it's like the shit from the Sgt. Pepper's movie.

Hopefully we can agree that ''Johnny B. Goode'' is dire.

Er, ''soooo,'' not ''joooo''

As much as a few of the '70s hits annoy me ("Daniel", "Crocodile Rock", "Island Girl") they're minor annoyances; I just can't outright hate 'em. The craft and dedication he put into them are perceptible. Can't say the same of the later dreck, however.

yeah tbh a real 'worst' list would be composed of certain album tracks from the carter and reagan administrations

http://artistresearcher.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/captain-fantastic-elton-john-pinball-hire.jpg?w=480

I thought I was the Bally table king....

Would Play.

They had one of these in the arcade I went to when I was in middle school. Can't remember if I actually played it though.

None of my 3 worst charted, so I'll list them here:
Ego
Bite Your Lip
Heartache All Over The World

Also voted "Crocodile Rock" on my Top 20. Maybe it has something to do with living through AM radio in the 70's. When Elton ruled the format.

Hi..

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(...)
― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 20 August 2013 20:39 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also, someone upthread noted the song's revival thanks to a remix, I'm fairly sure it's the exact same version as before.

Also, maybe hindsight comes into play, but the most remarkable thing about it is it seems to be about 'turning' some object of affection to Elt's 'way of thinking'.. "I'll write a symphony, just for you and me, if you let me love you" like, sort of "you never know, you might enjoy it", which is quite possibly why it rang clearer in these 'enlightened times'

There was a bunch of these 'philly soul' things that got revived, Leo Sayer's "Thunder in my heart" was the other one but that was truncated to a couple of lines from the original song (the musical feel remained), which was annoying as it's a really great song..

And yes, I remember that pinball machine..

would tilt

xp
Leo original lives on at Radio 2, Mark. Ken Bruce plays it about once a week!

btw, proposed replacements for the bummer thread title:

Huntin' That Horny Back POLLed
She POLLed My Songs Last Night, Preflight
Voting Seems To Be The Hardest POLL
Cir-POLL of Life
I Feel Like A Ballot In The POLL of ILM
Solar POLLstige A Gammon
I Thank The Lord For The People I Have POLLed
POLL Me Closer, ILXor
POLLadelphia Freedom, I Luh Huh Huhv You...Yes I Do

admittedly those are some of my worst ever, but still. much love to johnny fever but it's weird for the laudatory poll to be built on a foundation of tears. hard to write a song with bitter fingers, etc.

I Feel Like A Ballot In The POLL of ILM
^this one I can get behind

And there's no-one there to raise them ... if you POLL

POLL some funk of your own
and it's no sacrifice, just a simple POLL
POLL me closer, Tiny ILXOR

but I did like: "Solar POLLstige A Gammon"

Xxpost Maybe ''...In The Ballot of Elton John,'' I guess.

haha ''POLL some funk of your own, ilxor'' was the name of one of my pre-ballot playlists!

I submitted an all-'70s ballot and I'm a casual fan but I have to say I'm really struggling with the '80s tracks here, Shakey otm about most of these (although my own most hated track was 'Made in England').

On the other hand 'Holiday Inn' placing is a welcome surprise.

POLL some funk of your own
POLL me closer, Tiny ILXOR

^^ one of these

In all honesty, I've never understood the compulsion to force "poll" puns into poll titles. There's so much more you can do with someone's lyrics.

ask Elton.

Yeah, I guess an Elton John poll wasn't the best time to make that point.

Can Bernie fax us a poll title?

Well, A Few Of The Lyrics, Well, They've Got Me Quite Cross: An Elton John Poll

...but then again, no.

But Then Again, POLL.

Life isn't everything... there's also the Elton John Poll Results!

When are you gonna come down, When are you going to POLL

IN FACT, IT'S POLLED AS HELL

(for the record i read the thread title as laudatory and I am 100% okay with it and don't get the fuss but if there's an opportunity to play the Lowest Form of Humor game damn if i'm not gonna play it)

40. "I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)" (1975) [90 points, 5 votes]

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

one of his best ballads

Almost voted for it, but--brace yourself, there's a great joke coming up here--couldn't quite pull the trigger. I used to like it, did something I don't normally do before voting--gave it a listen--and it wasn't quite as strong as I'd remembered.

39. "Razor Face" (1971) [93 points, 4 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqUZmJIK6n4

xp
Agreed this (Bullet) is a great song, 'though the arrangement on RoTW is a bit heavy handed. Tries to the same trick pulled off so effortlessly with "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" but it doesn't quite work this time. When Elton did it solo live, with just piano, that's what sold the song for me.

38. "I've Seen That Movie Too" (1973) [95 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMJtNwHNM5k

"I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)"
"like a corn in a field"?! gtfo with that shit. The first verse seems sonically reminiscent of Paul Simon to my ears, with the bass/piano/vibes combo (although Simon would never do that leap into the falsetto in the chorus - too melodramatic for him - it works well for Elton). Of course by the time we get around to the third chorus we're in more bombastic territory. Listening to Elton's ballads I usually have a hard time not hearing them more as Broadway than as rock, the schmaltz and heavy-handedness seems of a particularly stage-show like theatricality. Lyrically this isn't bad for Taupin. I don't get the titular image but apart from that it scans well.

"Razor Face"
Realizing that I prefer it when Elton gets shrill with the falsetto + harmonies. I dunno why, can't put my finger on who it reminds me of. This is good though, has that mid-tempo 70s throb, nice guitar work. Unnecessary accordian, not sure what that's supposed to be evocative of (old people?), seems out of place in the arrangement.

Realizing that I prefer it when Elton gets shrill with the falsetto + harmonies

which he does on "Robert Ford" on the "I know what a paid assassin is" bit

"I've Seen That Movie Too"
I think I dozed off about halfway through this, so repetitious. what is that, six choruses at the end? wtf. briefly roused by the backwards guitar screeching in the middle and for once the lyrics aren't terrible they're actually a bit clever with the bitterness.