"Elton's Song" is a song written by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

(music) and

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

(lyrics). Recorded between August 1979 and March 1980 and produced by John and Clive Franks, the song first appeared much later on the 1981 album '' The Fox''. The song is a rhapsodic ode with a theme of unrequited love. Though lyrically genderless, the video for the song depicts a schoolboy with a crush on an older boy; Elton John told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' that it was "the first gay song that I actually recorded as a homosexual song".

Style

"Elton's Song" is a rhapsodic ode, the lyrics dealing with unrequited love. Though no gender is mentioned in the lyrics, the video for the song shows a schoolboy with a crush on an older boy. Themes of heartbreak and shame permeate. The music is comparatively stark, yet it subtly employs John's classical training (as well as a classical mood) in its occasional use of conflicting parallel major and minor keys. This plus the

syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

in the chorus helps to convey the wounded mood of the song. The spare arrangement consists entirely of John's piano and voice and "string" synthesizers programmed and played by

James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, orchestrator and music producer. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

Live performances

"Chloe", "Just Like Belgium", "Nobody Wins" and "Elton's Song" all from the album ''The Fox'' were included in Elton John's ''Jump Up'' tour in 1982. While "Chloe", "Just Like Belgium" and "Nobody Wins" were never performed again since that tour, "Elton's Song", a crowd popular song would be included in a few concerts on later solo tours notably in 1999.

Music video

The song's music video was shot in a school and was included on a video album accompanying '' The Fox''. It was never shown on television. According to Tom Robinson, Elton had the plot based on a subplot from the

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered fo ...

movie '' if....''. The music video presented a very clear interpretation of this song, showing a schoolboy pining for a slightly older and very athletic straight male classmate.Elton John - "Elton's Song" (Official Music Video)
/ref> The theme of the love of a gay schoolboy caused a controversy, inspiring tabloid headlines such as "Elton's gay video shocker". The video was directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian director of film, television, and music videos. He began his career directing music videos for artists like Elton John and Duran Duran, before making his feature directorial debut with the ...

and produced by

Eric Fellner Eric Nigel Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films. Early life and education Fellner was born in England. From 1972 to 1977, he w ...

. The story line was written by Keith Williams on an idea supplied by Elton John himself who wanted a mini-movie made from the song without him necessarily having to appear/perform in it - a radical step in 1981 music videos.

References

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External links

Elton John - Elton's Song - Official music video
Elton John songs 1981 songs Songs written by Tom Robinson Songs with music by Elton John Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy Gay-related songs