Funny Song I Guess Thats Why They Call Them the Blues Hockey Team
l. Island Daughter (1975)
One of Elton'due south most joyous tunes, but the toe-crimper lyrics ("Island girl, what y'all wanting with the white human being'due south world?") are presumably why he retired this unmarried from live shows in 1990.
49. Part-Fourth dimension Honey (1978)
Elton starts a half-dozen-year interruption from otherwise career-long songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. New lyricist Gary Osbourne doesn't yet conjure the same magic.
48. Honky Cat (1972)
Overshadowed by Honky Chateau's bigger hit, Rocket Homo, this brassier single finds Elton in playful mood: "Time to potable whisky!"
47. Come Back Baby (with Bluesology) (1965)
Recorded when Sir Elton Hercules John was still Pinner, Middlesex teenager Reg Dwight, a classically trained pub pianist and occasional session musician. A fine early career effort from his youthful rhythm and dejection outfit.
46. The Ballad of Blind Tom (2013)
From late flow, minimalist precious stone The Diving Lath, EJ evokes the poetry and spiralling piano runs of his early years with this lovely insight into the heed of a blind Deep South bluesman.
45. Delight (1995)
A touching song from Made in England, which finds Elton in the function of elder statesman with aught to prove except his chapters for love, and pleading "let me abound old with you".
44. When Love Is Dying (with Leon Russell) (2010)
Elton's get-go ever U.s.a. performance was supporting the late Leon Russell, who shared vocal tips and decades later, joined Elton for the album The Union. This is a cute song near a fading beloved.
43. Believe (1995)
With the crazy outfits, barmy glasses and wheelbarrows of cocaine of the 70s far backside him, the post-throat op Elton uses his deeper range and older man's gravitas to maximum event.
42. Dan Dare (Pilot of the Futurity) (1975)
Three years after Rocket Man, space travel once again provides inspiration via 1950s comic character Dan Cartel. The song was i of the first to use the talkbox, a wacky effects-pedal.
41. Blueish Eyes (1982)
A mid-career, Grammy-nominated precious stone, laden with dollops of trademark melancholy ("Blue eyes … holding back the tears, property back the pain.")
forty. Grayness Seal (1973)
This lesser-known cutting from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road showcases like piano skills to those Elton brought to his version of the Who'south Pinball Sorcerer in the film Tommy. A vintage 70s Dr Marten'south-stomping ballad.
39. All the Immature Girls Love Alice (1973)
According to some liner notes, this driving rocker from Bye Xanthous Brick Road was penned about Alice Cooper earlier being hurriedly rewritten to be about a tragic lesbian schoolgirl sex worker. Righty-o.
38. Circle of Life (1994)
A trademark big ballad from the blithe Disney film, The Lion Male monarch, with lyrics by Tim Rice, who recalls how Elton produced a "stunning demo" from the written words in simply 90 minutes. A true pro.
37. Little Jeanie (1980)
After the disastrously-received disco experiment of 1979's Victim of Beloved, new songwriting partner Gary Osbourne helps Elton relocate his soft-rock mojo and render to the US top v. Elton celebrates with a free concert in Central Park, dressed as Donald Duck. Obviously.
36. Nikita (1985)
One of Elton's richest vocals, this trans-Atlantic hit tells of a doomed love for an eastern European border guard. The synthesizer solo is equally dated as shoulder pads, mind.
35. This Railroad train Don't Finish There Anymore (2001)
From the film Songs from the West Declension – starring Justin Timberlake every bit peak glam lunacy era Elton – is this prime Elton ballad. Get the scarves out.
34. Elderberry Wine (1973)
Vivid Bernie hasn't dropped many lyrical clunkers such as: "You aimed to delight me / Cooked blackeyed peas me", but otherwise this sax-blaring, piano-thumping retro rocker from Don't Shoot Me, I'thou Simply the Piano Player is glorious.
33. Don't Let the Sun Go Downwards on Me (with George Michael) (1991)
This trademark big ballad near unrequited love was initially a hit in 1974 before the combined star power of Thou&East gave them a trans-Atlantic 90s No.1.
32. Skyline Dove (1969)
Elton'south fortunes initially upped after meeting his lyricist of many decades, Bernie Taupin, through an advert. Elton (on harpsichord here) later re-recorded this stirring, hymn-like song, which he has described as "the first one of ours we got excited about".
31. Can You Experience the Love Tonight? (1994)
This song was too written with Tim Rice for The Lion King, where it is initially sung by a meerkat and a warthog. Elton decided it deserved more than one-act, and his version scored a striking, an Oscar and a Grammy.
30. Edge Song (1970)
The first Elton John song to nautical chart (albeit low) in united states, this gospel-influenced spiritual was nevertheless later covered past Aretha Franklin. The two stars' 1993 TV duet is a treat.
29. I Guess That'southward Why They Call It the Dejection (1983)
Following a six-yr gap subsequently 1978's disappointing Also Low for Nada, Elton and Bernie get dorsum to work in fashion, with Stevie Wonder on bluesy harmonica and the rejuvenated vocalist "rolling like thunder under the covers", the devil.
28. Lamentable Songs (Say So Much) (1984)
As these fifty songs make clear, Elton likes a weepie. This local radio playlist staple is a timeless anthem to the strangely uplifting power of melancholy songs. "Turn 'em up!"
27. I'm Still Standing (1983)
Elton made so many peachy records in the 70s that his 80s efforts can be overshadowed, simply this piano-bashing celebration of endurance is such a signature tune that some shops have fifty-fifty sold I'k Still Standing underpants.
26. Madman Across the Water (1971)
Elton describes this musically complex album title track as "one of Bernie Taupin'due south eeriest lyrics" – it'due south certainly odd, written from the mindset of a lad gone insane.
25. I Desire Love (2001)
Sent viral by a stunning one-take video featuring a mail service-rehab Robert Downey Jr, this magnificent, Beatles-y ballad nigh love later addiction is presumably from Elton's heart.
24. Daniel (1973)
Another lovely ballad and one of Elton's biggest, most popular hits. The "Daniel, you're a star!" vocal flourish is glorious.
23. Don't Become Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee) (1976)
"Baby you're not my type," quips Bradford singer Kiki Dee, affectionately cheekily, in the year Elton came out as bisexual. Two years later, Elton performed his outset British No1 on the Muppet Show, with Miss Piggy, who probably wasn't his type either.
22. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Haemorrhage (1973)
An 11-minute instrumental/vocal segue in which Elton displays an unlikely penchant for prog rock and gives Welsh post-hardcore rockers Funeral For a Friend their band name. Issue!
21. Footstep Into Christmas (1973)
One of the catchiest Xmas hits, from an era when Slade, Wizzard et al covered the nation in festive glitter.
20. Ego (1978)
By the late 70s, Elton was a mess: bulimic, suffering seizures, and gorging on coke, whisky, pornography and ice-cream, his career in nosedive. Opinions differ whether this Queen-ish No 34 minor hit addresses Elton'southward own megalomania or is a dig at rival David Bowie, only wired energy makes this bottom hit a dramatic certificate of tensions at the superlative.
19. The Bowwow Is Back (1974)
Elton is famous for his tantrums, and a particularly grumpy one led Bernie's so wife, Maxine Feibelman, to exclaim, "Uh-oh, the bitch is back!" Bernie loved the phrase then much he turned it into this pithy difficult rocker (featuring John Lennon on tambourine and the Belfry Of Ability horns), almost which Elton chuckles, "I suppose it's my theme song."
18. Crocodile Rock (1972)
"I remember when rock was young, me and Susie had so much fun," sings Elton in this playful, uptempo old-fashioned rocker that pays touching merely fun homage to the rock'n'curlicue era that inspired him.
17. Levon (1971)
Producer Gus Dudgeon always claimed that this gritty song almost escape was inspired past Levon Helm, drummer from the Band, whose 1968 album Music From Big Pink had a big impact on Elton and Bernie. Just the lyricist insists he "simply liked the name". Elton does too, naming his first son (with husband David Furnish, via a surrogate female parent) Zachary Levon Furnish-John.
16. Rotten Peaches (1971)
Elton and Bernie barely put a human foot or note incorrect between 1970'southward Elton John and 1975's Captain Fantastic and the Dark-brown Dirt Cowboy, producing so many bully songs that some almost got trampled in the rush. This bottom-known story of a prisoner, missing dwelling house, is an underrated gem from Madman Across the Water.
15. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (1975)
This nighttime, seven-minute striking revisits Elton's suicidal late 1960s feelings as a struggling, musician engaged to be married. The "someone" is musician friend Long John Baldry, who offered advice. Ironically, shortly after the vocal's release, an over again stressed-out Elton took threescore Valium pills, dived into a pool and yelled, "I'chiliad going to dice!"
xiv. Sacrifice (1989)
At that place is a haunting maturity to Elton's mid-to-tardily career textile, although his first British solo No i (in 1990) flopped, bizarrely, on initial release. An Elton and Bernie personal favourite, this sublime ballad bookends Elton first hitting, Your Vocal: past at present, the couple in the lyrics accept married, drifted autonomously, and are breaking up.
13. Philadelphia Liberty (1975)
Much has been rightly written about David Bowie'due south impeccable shapeshift from glam rock to "plastic soul" with Immature Americans, just Elton did a similar thing the calendar month before. This strings-peppered homage to Philly soul (and the Philadelphia Freedoms tennis squad) was his fourth Us No 1.
12. Are You Ready for Beloved (remix) (2003)
Recorded with Stylistics producer Thom Bong, this ace disco cutting from the fag end of Elton's Philly soul period flopped on release in 1979. Years later, DJ Ashley Beedle shortened the 8-infinitesimal song, remixed it with a contemporary club feel and gave the bang-up human being an unexpected fifth British No i.
11. Candle in the Air current (1974)
Ubiquity shouldn't sully the innocent purity of this haunting ballad well-nigh a vulnerable Marilyn Monroe, as worshipped by a "child" from afar. Xx-3 years subsequently, a visibly upset Elton sang a rewritten version at close friend Princess Diana's funeral, which was after released to become the biggest-selling UK single e'er.
10. Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) (1982)
Elton famously sang Whatever Gets Yous Through the Night with his friend John Lennon at Madison Square Garden in 1974. Viii years afterward, the "garden" stands empty as the onetime Beatle'southward 1980 shooting provides melancholy inspiration for i of Elton's most affecting ballads. He still performs it.
nine. Song for Guy (1978)
Elton'south strangest hit, penned equally he imagined looking down at his dead body. The next day, he was told that his 17-twelvemonth old messenger boy, Guy Burchett, had been killed on his bike 24 hours before. The (mostly) instrumental's sole words – "Life isn't everything" – glide over one of his virtually heartbreaking, haunting melodies.
8. Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word (1976)
"What do I have to do to brand y'all love me?" sings Elton, perhaps the most disconsolate opening line of his career. By the mid-70s, touring and drug employ were taking a toll, just Elton and Bernie both contribute lyrics to a song nigh dying dear that'southward as beautiful every bit it is lamentable.
7. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (1972)
Mystifyingly, ane of Elton'due south personal favourite songs was never released as a single. The dazzling wordplay addresses the law-breaking, hustlers and characters Bernie encountered in New York – "Subway'due south no fashion for a good man to become downwardly / Rich homo can ride and the hobo he can drown" – and the melody is 1 of EJ's very best.
6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Huge, wistful ballads are Elton's stock in trade, and they don't come much ameliorate than this title track of his 31m-selling double anthology. Bernie's childhood memories of the film The Wizard of Oz fuel this song about disillusion with the "penthouse" existence and yearning for simpler comforts.
v. Bennie and the Jets (1974)
Elton felt this staccato pianoforte-driven epic was too far-out to release as a single, but unlikely support from soul and R&B stations made it a US No i. Bernie's sharply-observed lyrics ("electrical boots, a mohair accommodate") imagine what he in one case described as a "futuristic rock'due north'whorl ring of androids fronted by some androgynous, Helmut Lang-mode beauty". That sounds like Janelle Monáe.
four. Your Song (1970)
This i of Elton'southward most-loved songs ever began as a apprehensive B-side (to Take Me to the Airplane pilot) earlier radio stations flipped it, triggering the golden run of hits which turned Elton into the earth's biggest popular star. In subsequent decades, endless couples have taken his advice to "tell everybody, this is your song".
3. Sabbatum Dark's Alright for Fighting (1973)
Elton is primarily known every bit a balladeer, not a rocker, but this stomping classic from Goodbye Yellow Brick Route can get any joint jumping. Davey Johnstone'southward immortal guitar riff fires a typical weekend raucous ruckus: "It'southward 7 o'clock and I wanna rock, want to get a belly full of beer."
2. Rocket Homo (I Remember It's Going To Exist a Long, Long Time) (1972)
Although the line "I'yard gonna be high as a kite by then" seems to anticipate Elton's subsequent cocaine use, this mighty 70s space travel anthem was inspired when Bernie spied something in the dark heaven. It also seems to predict Elton's mercurial trajectory from awkward, bespectacled, music-obsessed schoolkid to stratosphere-conquering, glam-outfitted popular astronaut.
ane. Tiny Dancer (1971)
Information technology flopped when information technology was released every bit a unmarried in the US, just this half-dozen-infinitesimal track became i of Elton's best-loved songs afterwards featuring in Cameron Crowe'due south 2000 moving picture Almost Famous. It's now weirdly ubiquitous in popular culture, referenced in song by David Guetta and Lana Del Rey, covered past Dave Grohl, and in a 2015 John Lewis advertisement (with a rumoured reappearance this year). When Ed Sheeran sings (in Castle on the Hill) of "driving at 90 down those country lanes", Tiny Dancer, inevitably, is the song playing in the car. Maybe the anthemic tune and Bernie's poignant depiction of costless-spirited California girls in the 1970s speaks to our timeless yearning for liberation.
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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/sep/13/elton-johns-50-greatest-songs-ranked
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