"Skyline Pigeon" is a ballad composed and performed by English musician

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 ...

with lyrics by

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...

. It is the eighth track on his first album, '' Empty Sky''. It was originally released by Guy Darrell and Roger James Cooke simultaneously as a single in August 1968.

Musical structure

The original recording from the ''Empty Sky'' album has Elton John on

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

and organ. It is the only track on the album featuring only John and no other musicians. He wrote the song in the style of a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

. The lyrics of the song are

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

ical – describing a pigeon that is flying high and free having been released from a metal cage by a human hand.

1972 version

In 1972, John re-recorded the song with his band (

Dee Murray David Murray Oates (3 April 1946 – 15 January 1992), known as Dee Murray, was an English bass guitarist. He was best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Biography Murray was born in Gilli ...

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English drummer, best known for being a lifelong member of the Elton John Band. He has had an equally long career as a session musician and composed, recorded and produced albums as a solo artist. Ca ...

and

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a Scottish rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone was born in Edinburgh. At the age of s ...

) during the sessions for ''

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player ''Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player'' is the sixth studio album by English musician Elton John. Released on 26 January 1973 by DJM Records, it was the first of two studio albums he released in 1973 (the second was '' Goodbye Yellow Br ...

''. The new recording used piano instead of harpsichord, and strings and oboe arranged by

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

. Originally issued as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the hit single "

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

", it first appeared on CD in 1988 as part of the DJM issue of the ''Lady Samantha'' compilation album, then a few years later in the US and abroad on the 1992 Mercury release ''

Rare Masters ''Rare Masters'' is a compilation album by Elton John that was released in 1992. It includes all A-side and B-sides released by John between 1968 and 1975 that were not included on original studio albums or on '' Elton John's Greatest Hits Volu ...

'', and as a bonus track on the 1995 reissue of ''Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player''. The 1972 version of "Skyline Pigeon" appears again on the third CD of John's 2017 compilation box set ''

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

''. According to John's official website, the 1972 recording of "Skyline Pigeon" was particularly popular in Brazil, where it was used on the soundtrack of the television soap opera ''

Carinhoso ''Carinhoso'' is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Televis ...

''. Overall, the 1972 version has become the more familiar of the two to audiences owing to its appearance on various compilation albums as well as its first appearance as the B-side of ''Daniel''.

Performances

"Skyline Pigeon" was played on the radio as early as 1968. It was the most popular song during the very early period of John's musical career, yet it was not released as a single. It is, however, the most performed live and best known track from the ''Empty Sky'' album. The song was performed live in various eras and venues throughout John's career, mainly in Britain, and frequently during his solo shows and pairings with the percussionist

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

. John has always said he regards "Skyline Pigeon" as one of the first "great" songs that he and Taupin wrote. John performed the song at the funeral of the AIDS victim and friend

Ryan White Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagn ...

in 1990 on a grand piano, although he played Roland Piano on tour and in the studio at the time. Apart from its earlier appearances on record, a live, solo piano version recorded at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

in London during summer 1974 was also included as the opening number on the "Here" side of the '' Here and There'' album in 1976, a place it retained in the 1995 2-CD expanded version remixed by the album's original producer,

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

. It was also released on Volume 1 of two EltonJohn.com limited-edition CDs recorded live in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, as part of a series of solo performances John gave in October 1999. The song received a brief revival during a UK tour in 2009. The 1972 version was a hit in Brazil. A live performance from 17 January 2009 was broadcast on TV along with the rest of an entire concert John performed in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. Again in Brazil in 2011, he played the song during a concert at

Rock in Rio Rock in Rio is a biennial Brazilian multi-day music festival held at City of Rock in Rio de Janeiro. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Ten incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeir ...

in front of 150,000 people in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, on 23 September. During the 2013 tour he played the song again in São Paulo, on 27 February, and in Porto Alegre, on 5 March. A 1968 piano demo version of the song was included on ''CD 4: Rarities, Part Two'' of John's 2021 boxed set, ''

Jewel Box Jewel box or Jewel Box may refer to: * Jewelry box, a container for gemstones Places or architecture * Jewel Box (St. Louis), listed on the NRHP in Missouri * Jewel Boxes, a name for eight banks designed by architect Louis Sullivan *Jewel Box ...

''.

Personnel

Original version: *

–

, organ, vocals 1972 version: *Elton John – piano, vocals *

– acoustic guitar *

– bass guitar *

– drums *

– orchestral

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

In popular culture

The original version, with its notable harpsichord, was used as the closing-credit music in the 2018 film ''

The Favourite ''The Favourite'' is a 2018 satirical absurdist period dark comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, and written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. A co-production between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the film star ...

''.

Cover versions

It was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by Deep Feeling in 1970 (a band of which Guy Darrell was a member), Dana,

Judith Durham Judith Mavis Durham (née Cock; 3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian folk music group the Seekers in 1962. The group became the first Australian pop mus ...

on her 1971 solo album ''

Climb Ev'ry Mountain "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music.'' It is sung at the close of the first act and is sung again in the epilogue of the second act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an insp ...

'', and

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...

on his ''Pitney '75'' album. A popular song in the Philippines, it was covered by several artists, including

Lani Misalucha Lani Bayot Misalucha (; born Lani Dimalanta Bayot (born August 3, 1969) is a Filipino singer. Known for her vocal range, powerful, emotive vocals and ability to sing opera arias, she has been referred to as " Asia's Nightingale". Her music h ...

on her ''Reminisce'' album.

References

{{Authority control 1968 songs 1968 singles 1972 singles 1975 singles 1960s ballads Baroque pop songs DJM Records singles Elton John songs MCA Records singles Pop ballads Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon Songs about birds Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Songs with music by Elton John