“It made me well up”: the Elton John song he teared up writing
It’s impossible for musicians not to see their craft as an emotional experience. Even if some songs might be more of a chore than others, it’s easy for someone to find something personal in the melody they wrote or write a story that hits a bit too close to home than normal. Although Elton John had the luxury of disassociating from songs when he wanted to since he never wrote the lyrics, that didn’t mean that there weren’t some moments when he could get a bit misty-eyed at the piano.
Then again, John’s lyrical expertise on record is usually down to everything Bernie Taupin had done. Even though they didn’t necessarily agree with everything that was being written down, Taupin had an immaculate way of framing everything he wanted to say, like capturing the essence of Marilyn Monroe on ‘Candle in the Wind’ or the harsh realities going on decades before on ‘Indian Sunset’.
But the real magic came from the fact that they were polar opposites in some respects. The whole appeal of John was being one of the most glamorous superstars the world had ever seen, and yet some of his biggest hits were throwbacks to old westerns written by someone who did as much as he could to avoid the limelight.
Still, the magic wasn’t lost on them. There was a certain serendipity in the air when John was given a sample of Taupin’s lyrics as a struggling songwriter, and whenever someone matches together the lyrics and melody of ‘Your Song’ or ‘Tiny Dancer’, that’s a relationship that needs to be guarded with their life. After becoming one of the best-selling acts in the world, Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy served as the victory lap for them.
Outside of having the most adventurous production of any of John’s albums, this is also one of the most personal records they ever made. While John made every tune sound like a massive theatrical production, Taupin’s lyrics were a slice-of-life tale about how they became collaborators, not even shying away from the gory details of John’s attempt at taking his own life on ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight’.
When John first received the lyrics to tune ‘We All Fall In Love Sometimes’, though, what he was writing was enough for him to catch himself, saying, “They were beautiful lyrics. Songs about trying to write songs. Songs about no one wanting our songs. A song about the weird relationship we had developed. [That] was called ‘We All Fall In Love Sometimes’. It made me well up because it was true. I wasn’t in love with Bernie physically, but I loved him like a brother, and he was the best friend I’d ever had.”
And listening back to the way John sings it, he’s not playing it exclusively for the romantic subtext. The whole appeal behind this song is about the platonic love that exists between two people, and even if they aren’t joined together the same way that a proper romantic relationship would be, there’s that certain spiritual connection between him and Taupin that seemed impossible to put into words.
But even when they were becoming one of the biggest acts in the world, John never took a single second of it for granted. He knew that he had one of the best wordsmiths in the world by his side, and even if they butted heads occasionally, there was no doubt that he had found a musical soulmate.
