4/11/15 Elton John

[Tyler Zahnke]

What is your favorite Elton John song?

[glennny]

I believe there must be a song of his I like. I cringe at a lot of his songs. He's made some of the worst songs in popular music. : My Song, Candle in the Wind, Bennie and the Jets, Crocodile Rock. He's a great vocalist, good player. I guess I kinda like Honky Cat. I'm interested in what people point me to. I was never compelled to buy an album, and I've never really been impressed with his songs.

Honky Cat is my best answer.

[user]

And he shall be "Levon", and he shall be a good man...

Nearly tied with "Nikita" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", but this one wins by a hair. But I agree with glennny that a lot of his stuff ain't so great; "Benny and the Jets" used to be one of my hands-down least favorite classic rock songs, that is until I heard Biz Markie and the Beastie Boys do it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

You two are eff wording nuts. Bennie and the Jets, hands down. I never really understood what he was singing, but the groove, damn, the groove, ladies and gents. "she's got electric boobs, and more hair shoes, you know I read it in a magazeeeEEEEEEeeee eeeeeeene. B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets"
...he's obviously singing about a lady robot with a lot of hairy shoes, duh!

[user]

You two are eff wording nuts.

Hey man, I've sort of come around, sort of. I always compared it to VH's "Runnin' with the Devil". They both have this horrible plodding drag to them, like the songs are slowly rolling down a hot sidewalk, baking in the summer sun and groaning about it. Uggggnnnnhhhh... B-B-B-Benny and the Jets, plod. plod. plod. Gaahhhhhhhhh. But like I said I've come around. Sort of.

[Niveous]

I've gotta agree with BLT. B-B-B-Bennie and the Jetssssss. (Gotta include the hiss at the end).

[johndisk0]

Benny and the Jets all the way.

-jd0

[rone rivendale]

Crocodile Rock. Funny thing I just recently learned that he was the one who sang it a week or so ago.

[Billy's Little Trip]

For those with a wife/gf and were forced to sit through 27 dresses, the one and only scene that made my day.
They pretty much got every verse lyric wrong....as we all have until the interwebz.

[youtube]/d_WJgq76N-Y[/youtube]

[glennny]

You all disappoint me, I was perfectly open minded about hearing some non radio staple gem deep cut from an old album, but all you guys like is Bennie and the Jets.

So the best thing about Elton John is he looks cool on the TRex video for Bang a Gong.

[Albatross]

I like "Love Lies Bleeding" a lot, although I admit I'd never heard it until I heard Dream Theater's cover.

[fluffy]

Is Rocket Man one of his? If so I like that one.

[Tyler Zahnke]

My favorite is not "Benny and the Jets", though it is close. I like "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", "Yellow Brick Road", "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues", "This Is Your Song", and "The Bitch Is Back". One favorite: "This Is Your Song"! Especially when Turpster spoofed it about World of Warcraft:
So you can tell everybody this is your song,
Because you're not imba, or even that strong.
So you can qq, so you can qq, qq all day long,
Warcraft would be better if you were just gone.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Is Rocket Man one of his? If so I like that one.

Nice try, fruit loops.

[fluffy]

no seriously I don't know any of his music except that one

[Caravan Ray]

Not a big fan. But yeah - Benny is cool. And Saturday Nights All Right.

[Billy's Little Trip]

no seriously I don't know any of his music except that one

I just realized that my comment could be taken the wrong way. It was a Howard Wolowitz reference. But I'm pretty sure you knew that.

[fluffy]

I did not, because I do not watch that terrible, terrible show.

[Billy's Little Trip]

^ Well, all the other astronauts have cool nicknames and Howard wanted the nickname Rocket Man before he went into space. So he made that song his ringtone and had Raj call him during a Skype call with the head astronaut guy. But Howard's mom called him down for breakfast during the skype and......eff it, just watch it, ugh!

[youtube]/-R1VakBLD1s[/youtube]

[JonPorobil]

Elton John means more to me personally than any other artist asked about so far in these forums. Therefore it's especially difficult for me to pick a single favorite, even more so than it was for The Beatles or Stevie Wonder.

Growing up, I didn't know much about Elton John, other than that he'd done a few songs that I'd heard on the Classic Rock radio station and liked. One day when I was 14, I went with my whole family to see Billy Joel and Elton John on their double-headlining tour, and Elton went first. He came out in a turquoise sequinned suit, singing "Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me," and I became a lifelong fan. Is "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" my favorite Elton John song? That's a really strong memory and emotional association, but I think not.

Where do you start with Elton? The breakout his from his self-titled sophomore album was "Your Song," and that's as tender and poetic a ballad as I've ever heard on the radio. "If I were a sculptor... but then again, no," lyricist Bernie Taupin prevaricates like someone whose emotions have rendered him genuinely unsure what he's saying. But is that the best Elton John song? I love it, but probably not.

Of course, there's the double-album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which contains probably the highest volume of his most recognizeable songs, like "Candle in the Wind," "Bennie and the Jets," "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting," and the title track. All great songs in their own way, but I'm not sure any of those qualify as my favorite either.

It's funny, when you ask about the "best" or "favorite" of these classic rock legends, we think about the material from their heydays. Elton John came out with a little-known debut in 1969, got popular in the early 70s, had a smattering of hits and very little critical acclaim in the 80s and 90s... But actually my favorite Elton John album is Songs from the West Coast, which came out late in his career, in 2001. Something about hearing Elton reunited with his lyricist after a number of years, working again with Paul Buckmaster, reinvigorated with inspiration... I don't know what the magic was on that album, but it was exciting to listen to (and, if we're being honest, possibly the last good album he ever released). So if I'm picking a favorite, I think it's going to have to be the closing track from that album, a meditation on getting old called "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore." It also had a great music video with Justin Timberlake in full makeup to look like 70s-era Elton, running around backstage and lip-syncing the lyrics to the song:

[josh]

"Yellow Brick Road"... no contest. That whole album is so good! "Funeral for a Friend" is such a great way to start it!

[HeuristicsInc]

this is another guy whose voice i just cannot stand. blech! is there some similar quality between elton, and u2, and ummm decemberists and the guy from the b-52's?
-bill