"Border Song" is a song by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

with music by John and lyrics by

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Ta ...

. The song initially appeared on the 1970 album ''

'', and was released in the spring of 1970 as the LP's first single. After failing to chart in the UK, it was released in North America a few months later. It met with more success there, especially in Canada, where it peaked at No. 34. The appearance of "Border Song" on the Canadian charts was John's first chart appearance in any country. "Border Song" was also John's first song to chart in the United States, peaking at No. 92 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 69 in the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 in October 1970. A cover by

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

icon

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

(with "Holy Moses" following the title in parentheses to reflect the repeated phrase in the song) fared better reaching No. 37 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 23 in the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 in December 1970. It was included as the closing track of Aretha's 1972 '' Young, Gifted and Black'' album as well. In the Netherlands it peaked at No. 29 in the Dutch Top 40 in January 1971.

Music and lyrics

The song's melody is similar to that of a spiritual. A

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

sings during an instrumental break led by John's piano. John has said that the song is about the

alienation Alienation may refer to: * Alienation (property law), the legal transfer of title of ownership to another party * ''Alienation'' (video game), a 2016 PlayStation 4 video game * "Alienation" (speech), an inaugural address by Jimmy Reid as Rector ...

Taupin felt in and about London at the time ("Brand of people who ain't my kind"), and his desire to visit home as often as he could. John himself wrote and added the last verse, which departs from the theme of alienation and speaks against

bigotry Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...

: "Holy Moses, let us live in peace/let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease/there's a man over there. What's his colour I don't care/he's my brother let us live in peace."

Format and track list

*1970 US/Canadian 7" single # "Border Song" 3:22 # "Bad Side of the Moon" 3:15

Personnel

– piano, lead vocals *

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show '' Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the ...

– backing vocals *

Tony Burrows Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in the production of numerous transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of wh ...

– backing vocals * Roger Cook – backing vocals * Brian Dee – organ *

Lesley Duncan Lesley Cox (née Duncan; 12 August 1943 – 12 March 2010) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received much airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved ...

– backing vocals * Kay Garner – backing vocals * Colin Green – guitar * Tony Hazzard – backing vocals * Clive Hicks – guitar * Barry Morgan – drums * Dave Richmond – bass *Choir led by Barbara Moore *Arranged and conducted by

Paul Buckmaster Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a Grammy Award-winning British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Sh ...

Cover versions

Border Song (Holy Moses) by Aretha Franklin US vinyl Side-A

's 1972 album '' Young, Gifted and Black'' concludes with her solo cover of this song. '' Cash Box'' said of this version that Franklin "brings the song to a boil in an almost-spiritual arrangement of the Elton John hit." * Elton John and Aretha Franklin performed the song together on Franklin's 1993 Duets special. * In 1996,

Sophie B. Hawkins Sophie Ballantine Hawkins (born November 1, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and painter. Born in New York City, she attended the Manhattan School of Music for a year as a percussionist before leaving to pursue a music career. S ...

recorded the song for the soundtrack of the movie '' The Associate''. *

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

covered the song on the 2018 John-Taupin tribute album ''

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

''. * Italian singer

Mia Martini Mia Martini (; born Domenica Rita Adriana Bertè ; 20 September 1947 – 12 May 1995) was an Italian singer, songwriter and musician.James Christopher MongerMia Martini allmusic.com

B-side

The song's B-side, "Bad Side of the Moon", was subsequently covered by

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which rea ...

, whose version is on the album '' On Record'' and was released as their second single from that album, and by Toe Fat, whose version appears on their self-titled debut album and was also released as a single. The song became a big hit in Canada, reaching No. 16 there.

References

{{authority control 1970 songs 1970 singles Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Songs with music by Elton John Elton John songs Aretha Franklin songs Atlantic Records singles DJM Records singles Uni Records singles Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon Song recordings produced by Jerry Wexler Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin Songs against racism and xenophobia