Elton John (original) (raw)
I'm still standing, better than I ever did.
~ I'm Still Standing
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, CH (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, record producer, and occasional actor.
- Welcome to the world of bullshit, my dear. You have arrived.
- Advice to a young John Mayer, when Mayer was first attacked in the tabloids
- Young, Richard (July 19, 2007) "John Mayer MSM Interview, v.2007" MyStupidMouth.com Retrieved July 25, 2007.
- The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision. It’s just a means to an end. We’re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that’s not going to happen with people blogging on the internet. I mean, get out there, communicate. Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the internet. Let’s get out in the streets and march and protest instead of sitting at home and blogging. I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span. There’s too much technology available. I’m sure, as far as music goes, it would be much more interesting than it is today.
- Elton John, blaming the internet for destroying good music (2 August 2007)
- Chefs aren't celebrities: they're chefs.
- Ridiculing the idea of "celebrity chefs"; quoted in the Evening Standard, Tue 1 May 2012, p. 16
- Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.
Sixty things for Sir Elton's 60th (2007)
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Sixty things for Sir Elton's 60th (March 23, 2007)
- People should be very free with sex, but they should draw the line at goats.
- from 1976 interview with Rolling Stone magazine
- It's very important to have two tiaras when you're on the road, you never know when you'll be invited to something really formal.
- Sometimes when I'm flying over the Alps I think, 'that's like all the cocaine I sniffed.
- He is Mr Piano Man, I am Miss Piano Man.
- on touring with Billy Joel
- There just aren't many people in the world with balls that big and talent that awesome.
- After performing with Eminem at the 2001 Grammy awards
- You and your oven are capable of great things,
Remember, no two ovens are the same.- From the song Conventional Oven Thermostat
The Kate Bush Story (2014)
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Quotes from the BBC documentary The Kate Bush Story (2014)
- They're not "normal" songs. None of her songs have been "normal." She's just who she is, she's unique. She's — a mystery. She's the most beautiful mystery. … Let me tell you a story: when I had my civil partnership, nine years ago, in 2005, and Kate — we invited Kate, we didn't think she'd come but she came, she came with her husband Danny, and there were a lot of very famous people in that room, there were like 600 people — and all anybody wanted to meet was Kate Bush. I mean, musician, anybody — they couldn't believe Kate Bush was there. She's kind of an enigma.
- "Wuthering Heights" was not your normal type song — but that's why it was so brilliant. It was something out the norm. When something like that comes along, they don’t come along that often.
When does the next Kate Bush come along, after Kate Bush? There hasn’t been one. - That record she did with Peter Gabriel saved my life. That record helped me get sober. So she played a big part in my actual downfall and kind of "rebirth'" as it were. That record helped me so much. I never told her that, but it did.
- On Kate's duet with Peter Gabriel on the song "Don’t Give Up", on his album So (1986)
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.
- `Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia Eagle Jacket freedom.
From the day that I was born I've waved the flag.
Philadelphia freedom took me knee-high to a man.
Yeah gave me peace of mind my daddy never had.
Oh Philadelphia freedom shine on me, I love you.
Shine a light through the eyes of the ones left behind.
Shine a light, shine a light
Shine a light, won't you shine a light.
Philadelphia freedom I love you, yes I do.- Philadelphia Freedom (1975)
- Don't go breaking my heart.
I couldn't if I tried.
Honey if I get restless...
Baby you're not that kind.
Don't go breaking my heart.
You take the weight off me.
Honey when you knock on my door,
I gave you my key.- Don't Go Breaking My Heart, duet with Kiki Dee (1976)
- Goodbye England's rose,
May you ever grow in our hearts.
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart.
You called out to our country,
And you whispered to those in pain.
Now you belong to Heaven,
And the stars spell out your name.
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind,
Never fading with the sunset,
When the rain set in.- Candle in the Wind 1997, written in tribute upon the death of Diana (1997)
- For this dark and lonely room
Projects a shadow cast in gloom.
And my eyes are mirrors
Of the world outside.
Thinking of the way
That the wind can turn the tide.
And these shadows turn
From purple into grey. - And you can tell everybody, this is your song.
It may be quite simple but now that it's done,
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world. - Through a glass eye your throne
Is the one danger zone.
Take me to the pilot for control;
Take me to the pilot of your soul. - Holy Moses I have been deceived.
Now the wind has changed direction and I'll have to leave.
Won't you please excuse my frankness, but it's not my cup of tea.
Holy Moses I have been deceived. - Now they've found me,
At last they've found me.
It's hard to run
From a starving family.
Now they've found me.
Well I won't run;
I'm tired of hearing
There goes a well-known gun. - In the quiet silent seconds I turned off the light switch
And I came down to meet you in the half light the moon left.
While a cluster of night jars sang some songs out of tune,
A mantle of bright light shone down from a room. - You're the son of your father,
Try a little bit harder.
Do for me as he would do for you.
With blood and water bricks and mortar,
He built for you a home.
You're the son of your father,
So treat me as your own. - As soon as this is over we'll go home
To plant the seeds of justice in our bones,
To watch the children growing and see the women sewing.
There'll be laughter when the bells of freedom ring. - So where to now St. Peter,
If it's true I'm in your hands?
I may not be a Christian,
But I've done all one man can.
I understand I'm on the road
Where all that was is gone.
So where to now St. Peter?
Show me which road I'm on,br>Which road I'm on. - Lately I've been thinking how much I miss my lady.
Amoreena's in the cornfield brightening the daybreak,
Living like a lusty flower, running through the grass for hours,
Rolling through the hay like a puppy child. - Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band.
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man.
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand.
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand. - But oh how it feels so real,
Lying here with no one near.
Only you and you can't hear me
When I say softly, slowly.
Hold me closer tiny dancer,
Count the headlights on the highway.
Lay me down in sheets of linen,
You had a busy day today.- Tiny Dancer
- He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day
When the New York Times said God is dead
And the war's begun. - And he shall be Levon,
And he shall be a good man.
And he shall be Levon,
In tradition with the family plan.
And he shall be Levon,
And he shall be a good man.
He shall be Levon.- Levon
- They said get back honky cat,
Better get back to the woods.
Well I quit those days and my redneck ways.
And oh the change is gonna do me good.
You better get back honky cat,
Living in the city ain't where it's at.
It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine.
It's like trying to drink whiskey from a bottle of wine. - Yeah I'm gonna kill myself,
Get a little headline news.
I'd like to see what the papers say
On the state of teenage blues. - And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home.
Oh no no no I'm a rocket man. - While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say good morning to the night.
For unless they see the sky,
But they can't and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light. - Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane.
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain.
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye.
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes. - Daniel my brother you are older than me.
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal?
Your eyes have died but you see more than I.
Daniel you're a star in the face of the sky.- Daniel
- It's a natural achievement,
Conquering my homework
With her image pounding in my brain.
She's an inspiration
For my graduation,
And she helps to keep the classroom sane. - Have mercy on the criminal
Who is running from the law.
Are you blind to the winds of change?
Don't you hear him any more? - I remember when rock was young,
Me and Suzie had so much fun
Holding hands and skimming stones.
Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own.
But the biggest kick I ever got
Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock.
While the other kids were Rocking Round the Clock,
We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock. - Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking,
When your feet just can't keep still.
I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will.- Crocodile Rock
- And love lies bleeding in my hand.
Oh it kills me to think of you with another man.
I was playing rock and roll and you were just a fan.
But my guitar couldn't hold you,
So I split the band.
Love lies bleeding in my hands. - And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind,
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in.
And I would have liked to have known you,
But I was just a kid.
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did. - We'll kill the fatted calf tonight, so stick around,
You're gonna hear electric music, solid walls of sound. - Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet?
But they're so spaced out, Bennie and the Jets.
Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful,
Oh Bennie she's really keen.
She's got electric boots, a mohair suit.
You know I read it in a magazine.
Bennie and the Jets.- Bennie and the Jets
- When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm,
I should have listened to my old man. - So goodbye yellow brick road,
Where the dogs of society howl.
You can't plant me in your penthouse,
I'm going back to my plough.- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Don't give us none of your aggravation,
We had it with your discipline.
Saturday night's alright for fighting,
Get a little action in. - I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch,
Oh the bitch is back,
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact.
I can bitch, I can bitch
`Cause I'm better than you.
It's the way that I move,
The things that I do. - Don't let the sun go down on me.
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see.
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free.
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me. - And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear.
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied,
Altar-bound, hypnotized.
Sweet freedom whispered in my ear,
You're a butterfly.
And butterflies are free to fly,
Fly away, high away, bye bye. - I never realised the passing hours of evening showers.
A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams,
I'm strangled by your haunted social scene.
Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen.
It's four o'clock in the morning,
Damn it listen to me good.
I'm sleeping with myself tonight,
Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive.- Someone Saved My Life Tonight
- Island girl,
What you wanting with the white man's world?
Island girl,
Black boy want you in his island world.
He want to take you from the racket boss,
He want to save you but the cause is lost. - And he said grow some funk of your own amigo,
Grow some funk of your own.
We no like to with the gringo fight,
But there might be a death in Mexico tonight
If you can't grow some funk of your own amigo.- Grow Some Funk of Your Own, written by Elton John, Bernie Taupin, and Davey Johnstone
- And you can cage the songbird,
But you can't make her sing.
And you can trap the free bird,
But you'll have to clip her wings.
`Cause she'll soar like a hawk when she flies,
But she'll dive like an eagle when she dies.- Cage the Songbird, written by Elton John, Bernie Taupin, and Davey Johnstone
- What have I got to do to make you love me?
What have I got to do to make you care?
What do I do when lightning strikes me
And I wake to find that you're not there?
What do I do to make you want me?
What have I got to do to be heard?
What do I say when it's all over?
And sorry seems to be the hardest word. - And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover.
Oh there were others who would treat you cruel,
But oh Jeannie, I will always be your fool.- Little Jeannie, written by Elton John and Gary Osborne
- He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop.
But now it all looks strange, it's funny how one insect
Can damage so much grain.- Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny), his song dedicated to John Lennon
- And we are so amazed, we're crippled and we're dazed.
A gardener like that one, no one can replace.
And I've been knocking, but no one answers.
And I've been knocking most all the day.
Oh, and I've been calling
Oh, "Hey, Hey, Johnny"
"Can't you come out to play?"- Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
- Don't you know I'm still standing, better than I ever did?
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind. - Don't wish it away,
Don't look at it like it's forever.
Between you and me I could honestly say
That things can only get better.
And while I'm away,
Dust out the demons inside.
And it won't be long before you and me run
To the place in our hearts where we hide.- I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, written by Elton John, Bernie Taupin, and Davey Johnstone
- And I guess that's why they call it the blues.
Time on my hands could be time spent with you,
Laughing like children, living like lovers,
Rolling like thunder under the covers.
And I guess that's why they call it the blues.- I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
- Well they're breaking down doors in foreign countries,
Everybody thinks somebody's hiding something.
There's talk on the street and the nation is worried.
But you can't talk back when you're dead, when you're dead and buried. - Turn them on, turn them on,
Turn on those sad songs.
When all hope is gone,
Why don't you tune in and turn them on?
They reach into your room,
Just feel their gentle touch.
When all hope is gone,
Sad songs say so much. - Hey Nikita is it cold
In your little corner of the world?
You could roll around the globe
And never find a warmer soul to know.
Oh I saw you by the wall,
Ten of your tin soldiers in a row.
With eyes that looked like ice on fire,
The human heart a captive in the snow. - I used to think that New York City
Fell from grace with God.
And innocence abroad
Waged a war for the underdog.
When the snow falls
And Central Park looks like a Christmas card,
I just looked beyond the bagman
And the madness that makes this city hard. - `Cause I don't wanna go on with you like that,
Don't wanna be a feather in your cap.
I just wanna tell you honey I ain't mad,
But I don't wanna go on with you like that. - And reach out for her healing hands,
Reach out for her healing hands.
There's a light, where the darkness ends.
Touch me now and let me see again,
Rock me now in your gentle healing hands. - And it's no sacrifice,
Just a simple word.
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds.
But it's no sacrifice.
No sacrifice.
It's no sacrifice at all. - And I won't break and I won't bend,
But someday soon we'll sail away
To innocence and the bitter end.
And I won't break and I won't bend,
And with the last breath we ever take
We're gonna get back to the simple life again. - In the instant that you love someone,
In the second that the hammer hits,
Reality runs up your spine,
And the pieces finally fit. - For each man in his time is Cain
Until he walks along the beach
And sees his future in the water,
A long lost heart within his reach.- The One
- `Cause I never thought I'd lose.
I only thought I'd win.
I never dreamed I'd feel
This fire beneath my skin.
I can't believe you love me.
I never thought you'd come.
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son. - Things we never said come together,
The hidden truth no longer haunting me.
Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken,
That kind of understanding sets me free.- The Last Song
- I believe in love, it's all we got.
Love has no boundaries, no borders to cross.
Love is simple, hate breeds.
Those who think difference is the child of disease.
Father and son make love and guns,
Families together kill someone.
Without love, I believe in love. - There was a time,
I was everything and nothing all in one.
When you found me,
I was feeling like a cloud across the sun. - Spare your heart, save your soul.
Don't drag your love across the coals.
Find your feet and your fortune can be told.
Release, relax, let go,
And hey now let's recover your soul. - A dream will fly
The moment that you open up your eyes.
A dream is just a riddle,
Ghosts from every corner of your life. - You may not believe it,
But I don't believe in miracles anymore.
And when I think about it,
I don't believe I ever did for sure.
All the things I've said in songs,
All the purple prose you bought from me.
Reality's just black and white.
The sentimental things I'd write
Never meant that much to me. - And every one of us has to face that day;
Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away?
And every one of us that ever came to play
Has to cross the bridge or fade away.
Quotes about Elton John
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- I have been a Pariah in academia but to all those who sought my destruction I always had one answer: "I'm Still Standing." The hymn from Sir Elton John is the best description of how I feel about my survival and triumph over a system that should not be called part of the Humanities since it is hardly humane in its treatment of difference. I have also found deplorable the treatment of students in academia. My former students are the people I miss the most about teaching. But, as one of my former students told me once and I have found it to be true: "You will always have students." So we bring this compendium to you: the totality of a life of poetry. May you feel an embrace from me as you read them. To everyone who reads these pages: I'm Still Standing! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
- Luz María Umpierre I'm Still Standing: Treinta años de poesía/Thirty Years of Poetry (2011)
- Rocketman, biographical musical film starring Taron Egerton as Elton John.
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