This song is so gorgeous it’s excruciating.
Since posting the video for “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” on Sunday night I’ve been listening to the early Elton John, particularly the songs he co-wrote with Bernie Taupin. I realize that I’ve never really paid attention to Elton John and now I’m making up for it. When I was a kid he was the silly man with the glasses singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Kiki Dee. We could never hear that name without being convulsed with laughter. Kids.
“Daniel”, “Your Song” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” were already classic rock radio staples and “Skyline Pigeon” was what one-legged one-eyed guitarists with screeching amps sang on overpasses and underpasses in Manila. (Along with “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, which is no longer on the overpass-underpass playlist but which you can still hear live in London tube stations.) When I got my first Walkman and started buying my own music the Elton and Bernie partnership had split up and Elton was doing stuff like “Nikita” and “I’m Still Standing”. Which I did not care for. Then came “That’s What Friends Are For” (Uck) and what Ricky calls “the anthemic” stuff like the music for the Lion King. Pass.
Sir Elton’s music often turns up in movies—I remember a conversation about “Rocket Man” in Michael Bay’s The Rock. (All of Michael Bay’s movies are stupid but some I love and some I loathe.) “Your Song” was sung several times in Moulin Rouge (German Moreno staged better musical medleys than Baz Luhrmann) and “Tiny Dancer” has a key role in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. What else are you going to sing together on a bus? Crowe’s movie is also where I heard “Mona Lisas” for the first time.
In Scorpio Nights the drunken neighbors burst into the chorus of “Skyline Pigeon”, unaware of the events in the guard’s room.
Kermit reminded me of Two Rooms, the documentary on how John and Taupin worked together (never in the same room), which reminded me of that tribute album in which Sting did “Come Down In Time”. I looked up the original. Here it is.
Dammit.
We had a discussion on what the line “Come down in time” means. I think it means “Don’t be late” or “Show up at exactly the right moment.” Love, be it for a human being or a piece of music, is often a matter of timing.
“You listen in slack-jawed wonder — realizing that “Come Down in Time,” alone, could have established the legend of any lesser artist.” Read an appreciation by Nick Deriso.
P.S. “That’s What Friends Are For” is to Elton John as “I Just Called To Say I Love You” is to Stevie Wonder. Yiiiiii. Wait, Stevie co-wrote “That’s What…” As did Burt Bacharach. Aiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
July 20th, 2011 at 14:18
The first Elton John record I bought was the 45 rpm single of Michelle’s Song from the movie Friends. I was probably 10. A few years ago, I was able to find the soundtrack LP in the basement of Makati Cinema Square. A bit scratchy, but loved it. I wish they would reissue it. Elton’s voice was quite different then. Lighter and fresh.
July 20th, 2011 at 17:49
Dont forget- many of his songs also feature in the animated film Gnomeo and Juliet which he co-produced. Wait. That was a largely forgettable film. Scrap that.
July 20th, 2011 at 18:17
You have to watch Gnomeo & Juliet, then. Elton John is all over the place. Alos, James McAvoy is basically a ceramic figure in this but any manifestation of his presence is always a good thing.
July 20th, 2011 at 19:16
Speaking of Skyline Pigeon, I remember when we were in a videoke house where the guy from the next table was singing “Skyline pigeon swimming in the ocean, waiting for a way…and he spread his wings…” bwa.ha.ha. buti hindi nalunod ang pigeon!
July 20th, 2011 at 20:55
I have hilarious memories of completely sober parish priests turning into karaoke-machine hogs because of “Skyline Pigeon.” True story.
Also, as much as I love Burt Bacharach (yes, sue me, please), I refuse to acknowledge “That’s What Friends Are For” as part of his work. This one I have to blame on Carole Bayer Sager, who was married to Burt when she co-wrote this with him and Stevie.
July 20th, 2011 at 23:14
At the first BPO company I worked for, we had a party for the director of operations, who happens to be a huge Elton John fan. We did an impromptu song number of Your Song (it was his favorite).
I was so embarrassed that I covered my face with the lyric sheet while singing hahaha!
July 20th, 2011 at 23:36
That’s the same way I feel about Vienna Teng. Of course there may be people who think her songs are pretentious or schlocky, but I blow raspberries at them.
July 21st, 2011 at 03:13
My favorite is Someone Saved My Life Tonight. It was put to good use in the trailer for Little Manhattan. I love Ate Elton…
July 21st, 2011 at 05:58
I’m listening to the song while reading the Guardian article about sexual violence in Africa posted in the comments section of your other article. It’s like 50% awe for the song and 50% loathing for the horrible story of the victim. My face is in a state of smile-cringe.
In college, the place we were renting in Krus na Ligas was near a videoke joint. Every night a patron would sing the Elton classic as “Skyline Penguin”.
July 21st, 2011 at 21:09
Rolling Stone had a survey on who’s the reigning Queen of Pop. Of course, my mother, Madonna, was number one with 4x as many votes as Gaga. Sir Elton was somewhere on number 8 or 9, I think.