"Song for Guy" is a mainly instrumental piece of music 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 ...

. It is the closing track of his 1978 album, ''

A Single Man ''A Single Man'' is a 2009 American historical drama film, period romantic drama film based on A Single Man (novel), the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood. The List of directorial debuts, directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford, the fi ...

''.

Musical structure

The song opens with a solo piano, which is then accompanied by a looped

Roland CR-78 The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation that was released in 1978. Although primitive by later standards, the CR-78 represented an important advance in drum machine technology at the time, in particular b ...

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, with occasional shaker and

wind chime Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells, or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or ro ...

s alternating; other keyboards are often layered in shortly after, with a bass guitar mainly accompanying this. It is instrumental until the end, in which the words "Life isn't everything" are repeated. It stands as one of the few pieces written by Elton John alone and the only instrumental he made and released as a single. His subsequent instrumentals were released only as B-sides, notably "Choc Ice Goes Mental" (A-sides: "

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is a song by English musician Elton John, with music by John and Davey Johnstone and lyrics by Bernie Taupin, released as the first single from John's 17th studio album ''Too Low for Zero''. It was th ...

" and " Kiss the Bride") and "The Man Who Never Died" (A-sides: "

Nikita Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name), people with the given name, including variants * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Ukraine * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femm ...

" and " The Last Song").

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it has "an alluring beauty", with "spunky piano chording, rhythm ace backing, evocative synthesizer explorations and chimes". ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said it would surprise his fans as "an instrumental with traditional orchestral arrangements and John's own semi-classical piano work".

Release and performances

The song was one of his most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 4 in January 1979, and remaining on the chart for ten weeks. It marked his return to the Top Ten for the first time since 1976's "

Don't Go Breaking My Heart "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee, released by The Rocket Record Company on 25 June 1976. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte B ...

", which reached No. 1 on the same chart. The single was not released in the US until March 1979 where it barely made the charts, peaking at No. 110. It was a modest success, though, on the American adult contemporary charts, where it reached No. 37 in the spring of 1979.

Use in media

The song was used extensively throughout all 6 episodes of the 1985 BBC comedy series ''

Happy Families Happy families is a traditional British card game usually with a specially made set of picture cards, featuring illustrations of fictional families of four, most often based on profession, occupation types. The object of the game, which is simi ...

'' (the lead male character is named Guy). It is also used in the seventh episode of ''Diamonds in the Sky'' (1979), a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

– Channel 9 Perth co-production about the history of commercial aviation, and is played frequently in the 1980 movie '' Oh Heavenly Dog'' starring

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

and

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...

and directed by Rod Browning. The song also features prominently in the 2017 film '' Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool''. In November 2020, the track was featured in ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'', during a scene in which

Lady Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

dances alone in a

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

ballroom.

Personnel

*Elton John – piano,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

Polymoog The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time. Histor ...

ARP String Ensemble The Solina String Ensemble, also marketed as the ARP String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral string synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Eminent BV (known for their ''Solina'' brand). It was distributed in the United ...

, vocals *

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 ...

–

s, shakers *Clive Franks – bass

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1978 singles 1979 singles Elton John songs Songs with music by Elton John Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers Rock instrumentals 1978 songs The Rocket Record Company singles MCA Records singles Easy listening songs