"I'm Still Standing" is a song written by English musician

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 ...

and songwriter

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 ...

, from John's 1983 album ''

Too Low for Zero ''Too Low for Zero'' (stylised as ''2 ▼ 4 0'') is the seventeenth studio album by English musician Elton John. Released in 1983, the album marked a comeback for John, whose previous four albums had failed to yield many enduring international h ...

''. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, and the first single released in the United States. Helped by a video promoting the song on MTV, "I'm Still Standing" became a big hit for John on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at No. 1 in Canada and Switzerland, No. 4 in the UK and No. 12 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Music video

The music video, directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos i ...

, was shot in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

and

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

on the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French language, French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure (color), Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official bou ...

in France. It also features the colours of the

Flag of France The national flag of France (french: link=no, drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the ''Tricolour'' (), although the flag of Irelan ...

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

, who choreographed the video, said her work on the video is one of the proudest moments in her entire career (via the Channel 5 pop-documentary, ''Britain's Favourite 80s Songs'', on 25 December 2021).

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is an Italian choreographer, ballroom and Latin dancer, and Television personality. He has appeared as a judge on the British television dance competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and American adaptation ...

, later a judge on hit shows ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' for BBC (UK) and ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'' for ABC (US), appears as one of the dancers in the video. It was due to be shot over the course of two days, but a camera full of the first day's film was ruined, when Mulcahy accidentally fell into the sea with it. Therefore, it had to be filmed again on another day. During the shoot for the video, John came across

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...

. He complained he was exhausted at having been up since 4 o'clock in the morning. Simon Le Bon decided John should have a martini. "So I did," John later recalled, "I had six."Anecdotage – Still Standing?
In his book, ''Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran'', Andy Taylor writes of the experience:

There were lots of celebrities around in Cannes and one day we discovered that Elton John was in town, filming the video for his song "I'm Still Standing". This was before Elton became teetotal, so he was still a steaming party animal. We went up to see him at his hotel and spent the afternoon getting blasted on martinis. We decided it would be a laugh to get him drunk and we were slinging the drinks down him. "Ooh, you are lovely boys," he screeched, loving every minute of it. We got him so drunk that eventually he went upstairs and threw a wobbler in his suite. It caused all sorts of chaos, but it was a great party.

The next morning, John awoke with a

hangover A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than 24 hours. Typical sympto ...

and wandered into his personal assistant's room – which was "leveled" – and asked him "What happened?" His assistant laughed: "You happened!" In 2019, the original 16mm film negatives were re-scanned and the computer graphics were recreated, forming a newer remastered version of the promotional video. This version of the video serves as the ending to the 2019 biopic '' Rocketman'', with Taron Egerton (portraying John) rotoscoped in to recreate memorable scenes from the original music video. It was also re-released standalone on John's YouTube channel.

Track listing

*US 7-inch single # "I'm Still Standing" – 3:00 # "Love So Cold" – 5:08 *UK 7-inch single # "I'm Still Standing" – 3:00 # "Earn While You Learn" – 6:42 *This single was also available as a picture disc shaped as a piano. *UK 12-inch single # "I'm Still Standing" (extended version) – 3:45 # "Earn While You Learn" – 6:42

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic piano, synthesizers *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in 1 ...

– electric guitars, backing vocals * Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals * Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

Welsh actor Taron Egerton has recorded this song two times in separate occasions. The first time was for the 2016 animated feature ''

Sing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music ( arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or ...

'' as teenage gorilla Johnny; the second was for the 2019 biopic '' Rocketman'' where he played the titular role of Elton John himself.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1983 singles Elton John songs Number-one singles in Switzerland RPM Top Singles number-one singles British synth-pop songs Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy Songs with music by Elton John Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) 1983 songs The Rocket Record Company singles Geffen Records singles