Bernie and Elton
I'm sitting here listening to Elton John singing "Benny and the Jets", and it occurs to me: Does anybody know what the hell Bernie Taupin's writing about in any of Elton's songs? I mean, okay, I get the fact that Elton saw Marilyn "as something more than sexual". He's gay after all. I wonder if he could say the same thing about Carrie Grant. But, seriously, "Rocket Man... Burnin' out a fuse up here alone"? What is that?

Maybe it's the way Elton sings. I dare any one of you to sing an Elton song front to back without stumbling across a set of lyrics somewhere in the song that you've just never been able to decipher. Who hasn't been driving along an empty highway, deleriously singing along with "Yellow Brick Road" and arrived at the chorus as follows:

"Good-bye yellow brick road, with the dak thaough tatyity haow." What the heck is he singing there? And, then you get to the words you do understand and he's talking about owls and huntin' toads. Do you honestly expect me to believe Elton's ever hunted horny black taoads?

From "This Song's Got No Title"
"And each day I learn just a little bit more
I don't know why but I do know what for
If we're all goin' somewhere, let's get there soon
boy this song's got no title just words and a tune."

They could be the words to every song, and I wouldn't know any better or worse.

So, yeah, I love the music. I sing as many words as I can. But as I progress through my thirties, I think it's time to confess that, despite the passion of my private accompaniment, I haven't got the foggiest notion what I've been singing about all these years.

- served up by Nomad @ 6:28 PM