The Elton John song he initially refused to record
Every artist is bound to have a handful of tracks that they can’t stand performing. While it might be easy trying to deliver the same song over and over again if you believe what you’re singing, artists are often asked to perform pieces that they were never that fond of, to begin with. Although Elton John has created a rock and roll library of classics, he was not enamoured with putting together one of his biggest hits.
As John first started in the industry, though, he didn’t think he had what it took to make it as a songwriter. While he may have crafted sublime melodies out of the air, the lyrics were always his stumbling block, never being able to put the right emotional words behind his songs until Bernie Taupin stepped in.
Though John and Taupin may have been opposites from a personal point of view, they were joined at the hip musically, with the lyricist writing breathtaking visual imagery that John would transform into musical brilliance like on ‘Your Song’. The duo created perfect marriages between lyrics and melody for the next few years, from the starry-eyed heroes in ‘Roy Rogers’ to the tribute track to Marilyn Monroe, ‘Candle in the Wind’.
After making their definitive career statement with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the goal was to make something equally strong for the follow-up Caribou. While the album boasted a fantastic rock tune with ‘The Bitch is Back’, one of the most famous songs of his career was a chore for him to work through.
While John had always found it easy to write songs to Taupin’s lyrics, the final track of ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ was well below his standard. When talking about the tune later in his book ME, John recalled being disgusted at even recording the piece, often pouting his way through the performance before giving up entirely.
As John recalled, he didn’t want anything to do with the song, saying, “I ended up throwing a tantrum while we were recording ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’. After announcing that I hated the song so much, we were going to stop recording immediately and send it to Engelbert Humperdinck. Then I yelled at Gus Dudgeon that I hated the song even more now it was finished and was going to kill him with my bare hands if he put it on the album.”
Despite the harsh words for the track, John didn’t deliver a half-hearted performance when recording the song. Considering his animosity towards the track, every piece of the arrangement is in its proper place, from the twinkling sounds of the intro to the understated vocal performance that he delivers the chorus with.
Though the song may have been considered lacklustre by its composer, it would take on a whole new lease on life when he performed it with George Michael for a new generation during Live Aid, which would become a massive hit on its own. Though John may not have been in love with the final result, sometimes it takes the benefit of hindsight to see where the true classics lie.
