“Morbidly obsessed”: the devastating story behind Elton John’s ‘Song for Guy’
Most of Elton John‘s life and career have been marked by his longtime partnership with Bernie Taupin. Except for a couple of projects, John’s artistic vision has flourished alongside Taupin’s, their joint creative prowess providing one of the most endearing partnerships in musical history. Without their joint collaborations, it’s impossible to predict where their respective careers would have landed.
From their initial meeting in 1967, John and Taupin forged a partnership that would span decades. Often, Taupin would present John with a single lyric, and he would go away and craft an entire piece in what seemed like no time at all. However, despite Taupin once describing John as “a complete constant” in his life, the rare occasions they have parted ways provide an intriguing analysis of John’s creative thinking as an independent artist.
A Single Man was John’s first album without Taupin, which only came to fruition because the pair were working in different spaces at the time. This was perhaps the only period in their entire creative partnership where they felt most estranged, and despite their connection hanging on by a thread, John quickly realised that the entire project felt like learning how to write and perform from scratch.
Although John had help and support from Gary Osborne while writing the record, one piece, ‘Song For Guy’, was written by John alone, mainly because it’s almost entirely instrumental, except for the final repeated line, “Life isn’t everything”. It’s no secret that John’s life has been filled with as much tragedy as causes for celebration, but there’s no denying ‘Song For Guy’ is one of his most profoundly emotional and heartfelt compositions.
The track was inspired by John experiencing a sudden fixation with death as he imagined himself looking down at his own body. The following day, he found out that Guy Burchett, who worked for John’s Rocket Records label, tragically died in a motorcycle accident. “As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body,” Elton explained in the single’s liner notes at the time.
He added: “I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death,” he said. “The next day, I was told that Guy, our 17-year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song.” Following his death, John named the piece ‘Song For Guy’ in commemoration.
‘Song For Guy’ is perhaps one of John’s most daring on all of A Single Man, which is interesting considering the entire record deviated from his usual sound, taking on a noticeably edgier tone, with John singing in a lower register and including the nuanced narrative contributions by Osborne. However, ‘Song For Guy’ is much more stripped back than the other tracks, which also seems fitting considering the often complex and speechlessness attached to grieving.
Interestingly, the track’s versatility also meant it has been used numerous times in film and television shows, even though the scenes it soundtracks sometimes don’t reflect what it was actually written for or about. Unlike John’s work with Taupin, this album’s songs often took on new and unexpected meanings when placed in different contexts, demonstrating the ways their partnership often remains focused while working almost completely in solitude, resulting in more nuanced art.
