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A touching song from Made in England, which finds Elton in the role of elder statesman with nothing to prove except his capacity for love, and pleading “let me grow old with you”. 44. When Love Is Dying (with Leon Russell) (2010) Product description: Elton John – Your Song: Elton John's Greatest Hits (PHCR-1443)]. cdjournal.com (in Japanese). CD Journal . Retrieved 1 May 2013.
There is a haunting maturity to Elton’s mid-to-late career material, although his first British solo No 1 (in 1990) flopped, bizarrely, on initial release. An Elton and Bernie personal favourite, this sublime ballad bookends Elton first hit, Your Song: by now, the couple in the lyrics have married, drifted apart, and are breaking up. 13. Philadelphia Freedom (1975) Ubiquity shouldn’t sully the innocent purity of this haunting ballad about a vulnerable Marilyn Monroe, as worshipped by a “kid” from afar. Twenty-three years later, a visibly upset Elton sang a rewritten version at close friend Princess Diana’s funeral, which was subsequently released to become the biggest-selling UK single ever. 10. Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) (1982)Elton famously sang Whatever Gets You Through the Night with his friend John Lennon at Madison Square Garden in 1974. Eight years later, the “garden” stands empty as the former Beatle’s 1980 shooting provides melancholy inspiration for one of Elton’s most affecting ballads. He still performs it. 9. Song for Guy (1978) Elton starts a six-year break from otherwise career-long songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. New lyricist Gary Osbourne doesn’t yet conjure the same magic. 48. Honky Cat (1972)
This dark, seven-minute hit revisits Elton’s suicidal late 1960s feelings as a struggling, musician engaged to be married. The “someone” is musician friend Long John Baldry, who offered advice. Ironically, shortly after the song’s release, an again stressed-out Elton took 60 Valium pills, dived into a pool and yelled, “I’m going to die!” 14. Sacrifice (1989)Japanese album certifications – エルトン・ジョン – Greatest Hits" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Retrieved 29 August 2022. Select 1996年7月 on the drop-down menu
Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1sted.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5. As these 50 songs make clear, Elton likes a weepie. This local radio playlist staple is a timeless anthem to the strangely uplifting power of melancholy songs. “Turn ’em up!” 27. I’m Still Standing (1983) Sent viral by a stunning one-take video featuring a post-rehab Robert Downey Jr, this magnificent, Beatles-y ballad about love after addiction is presumably from Elton’s heart. 24. Daniel (1973)
Side guide
This one of Elton’s most-loved songs ever began as a humble B-side (to Take Me to the Pilot) before radio stations flipped it, triggering the golden run of hits which turned Elton into the world’s biggest pop star. In subsequent decades, countless couples have taken his advice to “tell everybody, this is your song”. 3. Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (1973)
Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9. A record award presented to songwriter Bernie Taupin to commemorate sales in the U.K. of the 1977 Elton John album Elton John's Greatest Hits: Volume II" . Retrieved 12 March 2023. American album certifications – Elton John". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 12 September 2020. In 1992, a new version was released worldwide. Elton John had moved to Polygram Records, who got the rights to all of his DJM recordings (pre-1976). MCA now controlled his post-DJM recordings, including his later work on Geffen Records which had been taken over by MCA. Geffen's Greatest Hits Volume III was deleted and replaced with Greatest Hits 1976–1986, which also contained "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" from the original version of Greatest Hits – Volume 2. On the new edition, those two songs were replaced with two singles not on the original version, 1971's " Tiny Dancer" and 1975's "I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)". Meanwhile, since the current edition of Greatest Hits Volume One now included "Bennie and the Jets" worldwide, Volume 2 now included "Levon" worldwide. DJM to Lift Sales From Pye In May". Billboard. 11 January 1975. p.29 . Retrieved 25 December 2021– via Google Books.
Notes
Photography By [Front Cover Sleeve Illustration Based Upon Original Photograph By] – Terry O'Neill (2) This trademark big ballad about unrequited love was initially a hit in 1974 before the combined star power of G&E gave them a trans-Atlantic 90s No.1. 32. Skyline Pigeon (1969)