The “wonderful” Pink Floyd track that brings back an emotional memory for Elton John
He might be the ‘Rocketman’, but Elton John is much more than just a keys-bashing entertainer. Since he was young, when his eyes were first opened to the power of music by the rock ‘n’ roll boom, John has been a keen lover of music, keeping up to date with the hottest new acts while also becoming a prominent source of wisdom regarding the sounds of years gone by.
It would be lazy to state that John is just another outlandish pop star. In reality, he has never relinquished his down-to-earth, working-class character. This manifests itself in his support for up-and-coming acts, such as Wet Leg and Nova Twins, with him using his status for good wherever possible.
John is a lover of great music, both new and old. One band that he has been a longtime fan of is Pink Floyd, and for him, there is one track of theirs that stands out, not just musically, but because of an emotional memory it reminds him of. The song in question is ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, the sprawling epic that bookends 1975’s Wish You Were Here, which is loaded with Roger Waters and the band’s sadness at the psychological decline of former frontman Syd Barrett.
Speaking to BBC Radio in 1986, Elton recalled the special moment that increased the significance of ‘Shine On You Diamond’ for him. Ten years prior, he travelled to Barbados. He was physically and mentally drained after half a decade of world-beating success and near-constant touring. He’d never really been on a long holiday in the Caribbean, so he thought it was high time he rectified that. He and his lyric writer, Bernie Taupin, rented two beach houses there and set about relaxing.
He said: “You know, there are certain records that you remember. It was a Pink Floyd album called Wish You Were Here. I always remember one day we were sitting on the beach. This lady came down in tears and said, ‘Listen, my son is dying of cancer. Can he come down and say hello to you?’”
Of course, they told her to bring him down for tea. Unfortunately, the young man was in a terrible state, with Elton saying, “He was like just skin and bone, there was nothing off him. He came down every day.”
He continued: “At that particular time the track from this album we used to play was ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’. (So) one night at the sunset, we all held hands, put the track on. I’m not particularly religious. But we said, ‘Okay, let’s just hope he gets better’, that was it.”
It was an anguished communal plea that the young man somehow beat the wretched disease. Those profound few minutes they all spent listening to ‘Shine On You Diamond’ were charged with sincerity and hope, changing the dimension of the track for Elton forever. Yet, that wasn’t the end of the story.
Three years later, Elton was playing in Washington, DC. There was a knock on the dressing room door. It was the same boy. Not only had he survived, but he looked like a muscular replica of Rambo star Sylvester Stallone and was in full health. This was an absolutely astounding turnaround that Elton struggled to comprehend, as the last time he saw him, he had just three months to live. “So I always remember this track, it’s a wonderful track that brings back a happy memory,” Elton John said of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, the most important Pink Floyd song for him.
