Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
18. Breaking Hearts (1984) Album Review
13 Plays8 days ago
Dominic & Anthony have been delighted to have so many passengers on the podcast train as they attempt to find Elton John's best studio album. As they examine his eighteenth effort, will Breaking Hearts be held up in neon as one of the greats, or will reviewing this one leave the pair restless?
****************
Welcome to Elton v Elton: The Album Battle! This is the podcast where two pals (Anthony & Dominic) & Elton fans rage over which of Elton's albums we think is the best. We'll be keeping score as we go, as we delve into each of Elton's solo studio albums, discussing the tracks individually, the musicians involved, the album art, random trivia, cover versions & anything else in between!
We'd love to hear from you with your ratings, opinions and any other insights into Elton's work you have. Drop us an email via eltonveltonpod@gmail.com
*****************
Thanks go to everyone involved in bringing Elton's work to the bigger stage, James Cook (http://www.jamescookcomedian.com/) & Paul Savage (https://www.instagram.com/savagecomics_/) who inspired the format of this show and Zapsplat.com for the SFX. Research for the show was done using songfacts.com, , eltonchords.com, https://www.eltonography.com/ and Elton’s autobiography 'Me'.
You can find Dominic on https://www.facebook.com/dominicberry/ and on his poetry website https://dominicberry.net/
You can find Anthony on two other podcasts: Enough of the Falafel (featuring the Vegan Week & Vegan Talk shows) and The Brambling Along Podcast
************
Until next time it’s goodbye from Captain Dom-tastic & the Brown Dirt Ant-boy!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Inspirations
00:00:00
Speaker
It's 18th of June 1984. Elton John has been married for four months and now he's released an album called Breaking Hearts. But what does that all mean? Well, my name is Dominic and my name is Anthony and you are listening to the Elton vs Elton Album Battle Podcast.
00:00:36
Speaker
Welcome everyone, this is episode 18 of Elton vs Elton Album Battle. That is the podcast where two pals, me and Dominic, who both love the music of Elton John, rage over which of his albums we love the best and the least best. So obviously big props to everyone involved. in bringing his music to the masses.
00:00:58
Speaker
And we always like to give a shout out to James Cook and Paul Savage, the two comedians who gave us the inspiration for our show's
Trivia Reveal and Chart Performance
00:01:06
Speaker
format. If you want to hear previous episodes, they're all wherever you get your podcasts from. There's also a trailer episode there where can hear a bit more about me and Dominic and why we are doing this crazy, crazy idea.
00:01:21
Speaker
It a crazy idea, is indeed. But before we go any further, let's give you the answer to the trivia teaser from our last episode. So Anthony asked us, what was special about the original recording of Too Low for Zero when it first came out?
00:01:38
Speaker
Anthony gave us the clue that it's to do with how it was physically presented. Now, I don't know the answer. What is it, Anthony? Oh, it's proper nerd stuff, Dominic. So the original LP issue of the album had what's often called a die cut cover. So you had this sort of outer bit of of card or whatever it was made from. But then the two and then the triangle that was for low and then the number four and the zero, um they were all sort of cut in. So that was sort of cut out of the album cover. And then there was ah like an inner sleeve with different colours under each of the gaps. So it it looks like it does when you look at it on the internet or whatever. It looks like that.
00:02:22
Speaker
But actually, when you opened it up, there were sort of s splodges of colour and it was almost three-dimensional. Oh, that's beautiful. What nice thing. That's what we don't get if we don't have physical media.
00:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, indeed. And um the 2010 Japanese CD release of the album also replicated that. But that's the only CD version that did that. So, yeah, proper niche out knowledge you get for listening to this podcast. Goodness me.
00:02:50
Speaker
So yeah, that was our teaser trivia question from our Too Low for Zero episode. That was our previous episode. That album was released in May 1983. Did all right in the charts. Number seven in UK. Number 25 in the US. Some absolutely cracking singles though. I'm Still Standing. I guess that's why they call it the blues and Kiss the Bride. All proper stellar tracks there. And actually, it did very well in our chart as well. So we've reviewed 17 of Elton's studio albums so far, and Too Low for Zero came out as equal sixth. We gave it a score of 77.25%, so
00:03:34
Speaker
did very, very
Elton John's Marriage and Album Context
00:03:35
Speaker
well. Captain Fantastic is still at number one, followed by Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player, and And at the bottom of the charts at the moment is his 13th album, Victim of Love, with a score of 37.3. Yeah, I think that we were fair on Victim of Love. That implies that we ripped it to shreds. And I seem to recall I gave one of the songs a a nine.
00:03:59
Speaker
yeah boogie boogie pilgrim oh no street boogie i do apologize boogie pilgrim's another album one in it street boogie all the but any song with boogie and anthony just loves it ah yeah that's one word for it Come on then, Dominic. Tell us what's going on in the world in 1984.
00:04:20
Speaker
In the UK on March the 6th, miners began a year-long strike. In the US s on April 15th, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed. In Japan on June 6th, the video game Tetris was created, one of the best-selling video games of all time. When this album was released, the UK number one single was Two Tribes by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, whilst the US number one was The Reflex by Duran Duran. Indeed. There's some good stories in Elton's autobiography about him, uh, having long nights of drinking and jollity with Duran Duran. So ah yeah, quite apt that they were number one when this album was released in Elton's life at the time of this album being released. but We mentioned at the top the fact that he has just been married, has been married for about four months. at the point that this album was released. Very big shock to all all in his life. Probably, I think it's fair to say, those who knew him best were most shocked um by this marriage. It was very quick.
Recording 'Breaking Hearts' and Band Dynamics
00:05:28
Speaker
Renata Blauel, I think I've said that correctly, a German sound engineer. They became married on the 14th of February, Valentine's Day, in Sydney. There's a story in his autobiography about
00:05:41
Speaker
the press sending out like a big bus booming out Kiss the Bride, which obviously it was a relatively recent single of his, which Elton commented in the autobiography wasn't a particularly good choice of song to play someone who's just been married. Elton later said, and you know, spoiler alert, this this marriage did not last. He later said that he was trying to suppress his his sexuality and conform to society's norms, which of course is a really sad thing for somebody to feel that they they needed to do. But I think that's the um the main event in his life in the last sort of six to 12 months at this time. Let's start focusing on the album itself.
00:06:25
Speaker
Quite a short list of people credited this time, Dominic. Yeah, this is the last album ever featuring all core members of the classic Elton John band. That's Elton, Davey, Dee,
00:06:42
Speaker
and nigel it's the last album of the century with nigel on drums there are no strings no horns no ray cooper ah there is a little bit of saxophone on track five andrew thompson sneaks in there with a tiny bit of brass ah But yeah, the production team is Chris Thomas, who' who's such a great producer on other people's records. But i think it's fair to say that generally speaking, most people are more critical of the production work he does with Elton. The the the the wife, the wife, the wife is credited on this record. cor what's what's What's her credit, Anthony? It's just listed as recording. I guess she's a sound engineer, so she was doing her sound engineering, I guess. Cool.
00:07:30
Speaker
So ah any other interesting stuff about this album we should know? Well, um it was the third album in a row recorded in Montserrat. um Tiny Little Island. Elton does love his tropical islands, as does Bernie in his in his writing. So um kind of similar to Honky Chateau or or or Caribou. You know, they they found somewhere that worked for them recording and then then stuck with it for a few albums.
00:07:56
Speaker
This one did very well in the UK. It reached number two again in the US. I mean, that was his his happy hunting grounds, as you'd as you'd say in football and in the 70s. The was where he was getting all his chart success. But it feels like in the 80s, either the audience is getting more fickle or there's just more competition. It reached number 20 in the US charts. He hasn't really performed any of the tracks from this album yet. live other than sad songs and a very short period in the mid 80s where Passengers was
Initial Impressions of 'Breaking Hearts'
00:08:33
Speaker
performing live. But other than that, nothing got any live time at all. And as well as the UK and US charts that we mentioned, it did very well in Australia and Switzerland, where it peaked at number one and number two in New Zealand. In Switzerland, it was the 11th highest selling album of the whole year.
00:08:51
Speaker
in 1984 and in fact in the UK it was the 33rd highest selling album across the whole of the year so did did pretty well Dominic had you listened to this album before ah reviewing it for this pod My first listening to this album and indeed the next one, Ice on Fire, was with you, Anthony, in your car when we were on a long, long, long, long journey together. So I eagerly anticipate the 90s because that's the era I got into Elton John and I've got so much to say about those records.
00:09:29
Speaker
Sometimes Anthony and I record these podcasts very close together and sometimes we have quite long gaps. And I requested us have a little bit of a gap between this one and Ice on Fire because, yeah, my my initial listening, I think that...
00:09:45
Speaker
It's really important to me when I record this to try and put myself in the state mind somebody who's buying a new Elton John record. It's 1984. There's been nothing for months. And I love Too Low for Zero. And I'm really excited about getting the new one rather than just thinking, oh, we've got like...
00:10:04
Speaker
dozens of Elton John records we're just churning through and this is just another one in a long list because think it's fair to say that there aren't many people who'd say Breaking Hearts is their all-time favourite Elton John but just like Victim of Love I really wanted us to review it really really fairly so that the short answer is no I didn't know it at all did you Anthony?
Track Analysis: 'Restless' and 'Slow Down Georgie'
00:10:27
Speaker
Well No is the quick answer.
00:10:31
Speaker
However, um about 20, 25 years ago, I learnt one of the songs on the piano. um I would scour any library that I visited in in my teens and looking for Elton's music on CD or cassette to borrow.
00:10:48
Speaker
But as well, sometimes libraries will have piano music. And as a pianist myself, like obviously Elton's music is is very good to play on the piano with him being a pianist. And there was a huge compendium of his work that I found at some library or another. I think it was Bedford Library. I grew up in Bedfordshire. And Yeah, it it had In Neon in there. And whilst a lot of his rock and roll songs are great fun to listen to, on the piano, they're not necessarily the best to be played. But In Neon is a slower song. It was really lovely to play on the piano. So I sort of heard it first by playing it, weirdly. But um other than that, the
00:11:30
Speaker
it was only sad songs and passengers that I knew because they are big hits that are on the very best compilation. Only on the very best passengers appears on a grand total of zero compilation albums following the very best of Elton John. So, uh, yeah. Yeah.
00:11:49
Speaker
So let's talk about the artwork then, Dominic. I think my dad had a suit jacket like that the, uh, in the 1990s. He's, got Almost a cowboy hat. I don't think it is a cowboy hat, but it's got a wide curvy brim. He's in a sort of brown snazzy jacket and tie. And the shadow from his hat is very deftly covering his eyes. Oh, he looks sullen and mysterious. Or like you say, it just looks a bit nuff. I don't think everyone can be Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or Captain Fantastic, but this falls into Honky Chateau category of just like, oh, here's a snap. And it's just, yeah, not keen on this cover. It's better than Ice on Fire's cover, in my opinion. It's bizarre, isn't it, that so much work goes into the music and so often the album art just seems to be an afterthought. Or maybe this was very carefully put together, but I doubt it somehow. But yeah, I don't think it's gonna score very high from either of us, but we are gonna start scoring each of these tracks.
00:12:58
Speaker
Let's get to it.
00:13:14
Speaker
Track one, Restless, 5 minutes 17. Like almost everything on this album, writing credits go to Elton and Bernie.
00:13:26
Speaker
There is an exception, which we'll get to. An excellent exception, Anthony, an excellent. So this one was nominated for a Grammy for the Best Male Rock Vocal. One of the live performances of this features as a B-side to Wrap Her Up, which is a single coming from the next album. Ice on Fire and indeed the the live performance of Restless is a bonus track on Ice on Fire's re-release but let's get into what we think. do Do you want to get started Dominic? How do you feel about this track? Oh I listened and re-listened and re-listened because it's a traditional rock song that's maybe not the most creative record Elton's ever made And I think it sounds quite similar to the much later Elton song, Just Like Noah's Ark, from the Captain and the Kid album of the late 2000s, which I love. I love Just Like Noah's Ark. And i was thinking, why do I prefer...
00:14:32
Speaker
that to this i love this i i really love restless i'll give it a high score i think that the words you know there there's reference to 1984 the year that this was made and you know big brother george orwell you know it's very interesting words and lyrically expressed in a poetic way I like Bernie when he's a a bit weird, like Captain Fantastic and um Noah's Ark.
00:15:02
Speaker
I don't really know what Noah's Ark off the Captain the Kid is is about, really, and I don't mind that. i Actually, my personal prefer preference makes me like it um even more. So I do like these words. I do like these words. I guess you being really harsh, you could maybe say they were a bit on the nose. And I don't think it suits... this album, I think Restless would be an absolutely fantastic song on a different record. But I've got a thing, haven't I, about albums being thematic, like I love the font so much because I feel it all holds together well. And I was less keen on 21 at 33 because it felt a bit hodgepodge. Chasing the Crown as the opening track felt a bit like, oh, where's where where's this record going? And that's how this this record is mostly about breaking hearts. that's ah So on an album called Breaking Hearts, it feels an odd song. When Elton is so famous for doing non-album tracks, I I feel like, does this record belong on here? That's what I feel. Does this record belong on here, Anthony? What's your take on it? Well, something we haven't said is that up until the 11th hour, this album was going to be called Restless. No way. didn't know that. It absolutely would have fitted on thematically. You could then question whether some of the love songs fit into it. But but I mean... Or maybe Restless in a Relationship. like I guess if there was like wider... ah You know, I can see why... i do think it's a good song. I can see why they'd want it on. But Philadelphia Freedom's a good song. It's not on any record. Yeah, yeah. No, it's true. I really like the sound of this song. I looked up... just before we started recording, in what year Level 42 released the single Running in the Family, because it sounds very, very similar to me. And actually, three years after this one is the answer, 1987, Running in the Family by Level 42. It's got several elements of it, the bass playing, the synthesizers, ah the tempo, the guitar work. It sounds really similar. And I really like Running in the Family by Level 42. I like the...
00:17:16
Speaker
sentiment of the lyrics. um it's It's not absolute peak poetic Bernie, but I i think you know that's a very high standard. So even just a decent Bernie lyric yeah is a good lyric. I like the cynicism of the song. um i I understand why it was nominated for a Grammy for best male rock vocal because Elton's really giving it something. His voice sort of cracks it a couple of points because he's really giving it. And really, i think...
00:17:47
Speaker
my only criticisms of it is that it having said I like the cynicism of the lyric I don't know that I could give a really cynical lyric 10 out of 10 because I'm generally a positive person um so I think i I couldn't listen to this all day because it really is I'll say the word again cynical um in in terms of what it's saying um and also I'm I do get how the word restless fits the theme of it kind of in a way, in a way, paranoid would be a better word. I know that doesn't ah rhyme wise, but also sound like restless, it works quite nice as a, as a song, as a word to
Debate on 'Slow Down Georgie' as a Single
00:18:33
Speaker
sing. Whereas paranoid doesn't really, doesn't really ah sing very well, does it? But I think
00:18:42
Speaker
Yeah, I just question the semantics, perhaps, of that word. Because it's... Would you say it's fair to say, Dominic? Ozzy Osbourne came Paranoid with Black Sabbath, but didn't have it as refrain in the same way. this This song says Restless a large number of times. um Yeah, I agree with you. I also think the song's a bit long.
00:19:03
Speaker
yeah It's on the longer side, but i think I think you can get away with that as a first track. And it's like a lot of opening tracks to Elton's albums.
00:19:14
Speaker
It's strong. Like it's very rarely opens an album with slow, wistful song. In fact, I can't think of an example off the top of my head, but this one really grabs you and makes you pay attention. I'm a big fan of it. It reached number 16 in the US, and fun bit of trivia that I really like, it appeared in the background in an Only Fools and Horses episode. It was playing the next head in the episode To Hull and Back. So, yeah, strong start to the album. Good guitar on the sort of middle eight, you know, like it's great, great guitar. Like the band, when the band are good, they're really good, aren't they? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Now, listeners, you won't know because we've resolved it all, but Dominic and I have been delayed starting the recording for this episode with some tech issues and in between each attempt to get our recording to work.
00:20:09
Speaker
Dominic was humming and singing the next song repeatedly. So I'm interested to hear what he thinks of Slow Down Georgie, She's Poison. Go on. I don't know. i don't know. i don't know. i think it is a good tune.
00:20:29
Speaker
I'm always a fan of Elton doing whoa, whoa bits. Like, that's one of the big reasons I love Teacher, I Need You from Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. What a good comparison, Dominic. What a good comparison with a song with a really catchy bit of music.
00:20:46
Speaker
and a really not very good lyric, in my opinion. Carry on. I'm less keen on the words. And also when he goes, oh, oh it just stops. It doesn't, you know, i I wish that bit was a bit longer, actually. i think it's step down from from Restless. I think that, although arguably the melody is is even stronger, you know, I say Restless is classic chunky rock, and perhaps not Elton at his musical creative peak.
00:21:16
Speaker
We will hear that later on, I think, in Neon and Burning Bridges. There's a lot of twiddly, impressive malarkey. I know the techie terms, don't I? Yeah, I'm less keen on on the words. I feel that it's such a step down from the grand global overseeing...
00:21:42
Speaker
comments on the human race of restless just slow down Georgie she's poison it feels a really small song to me like lyrically it feels really a small topic to sing about but it is catchy what do you make of it uh Anthony well I've got a big issue with with but specific lyrics and just the general theme i mean i will say like it as somebody who's gone through a divorce myself like i i think and and bernie has it this point too i should point out like he is using the word divorcee as a slur she's just another divorcee like what are about Bernie? you you So are you. like um and And divorce should is generally, you know, is not seen as a good thing, but thank goodness for divorce. Thank goodness people can end marriages that that shouldn't continue and and, you know, do what whatever they need to and want to with their lives thereafter. So I can't let that one pass. But just generally, I think particularly when we've got a track on the album, on an album called Breaking Hearts, where, I mean, we'll get onto that, but that sort of seems like that's a man going, oh, I used to break people's hearts, but it's not what it used to be. Whereas actually when you've got a woman who's saying, oh yeah, I'm gonna i'm going to have a...
00:23:09
Speaker
a fling with this person and then I'm going to use that as a stepping stone for someone else, as in this track, ah that's not seen as a good thing. I mean, maybe I'm reading too much into it and maybe I'm looking at that through 21st century standards, but I don't know. It just makes me feel a bit ick. and it's I think I would feel that even if it wasn't sorry even if it was the first example of bernie having less than favorable lyrics about a woman yeah he's even less favorable on little refrigerator but we could come to that yeah well i mean depends whether you think that made in taiwan is a compliment or a uh an insult i suppose But um yeah, I do agree with you that musically, I think this is really catchy, which is really annoying because I don't like the lyrics. But yeah, I think the um i think the simile of ah the reputation of the woman you're dating is about as nasty as the Berlin Wall. Yeah.
00:24:09
Speaker
i don't know i don't know yeah i wouldn't give any poetry prizes that line yeah yeah but it's there we are but the lyrics of slow down georgie are ah better than a lot of the lyrics to ice on fire give me slow down georgie over too young from oh my goodness yeah look forward to that one yeah give me um slow down georgie over the the candy one as well save it save it for next time
Exploring 'Breaking Hearts Ain't What It Used To Be'
00:24:43
Speaker
i need a lot i love on ice and fire there's a lot i love there's a lot i love um yeah what you need my help with anthony i need your help with understanding what the next track is about
00:24:55
Speaker
Who wears these shoes? Oh, really? Yeah, no, it's confusing, right? Because um I think it's a less good lyric. i think ah I think it's bizarre to choose this as a single. This was the third single following sad songs. And then everywhere apart from the US, Passengers was single number two. In the US, Passengers was not released as a single.
00:25:18
Speaker
And ah Who wears these shoes was the second single, the follow-up to sad songs and I just think it's some I think it's I'm less keen when they go into twee territory I think the tune is a bit like ah elbow swinging a bit kind of rock up but I'm less keen I think it's got a bit more edge than that I know the kind of tracks that you really don't like that are ah ah yeah a bit too twee and a bit too jolly It's better than them I think it is better than that and I can see why musically and sound wise you would choose it as a single but lyrics wise i mean a lot of our listeners might not have heard this album at all i wonder whether we should just just read the lyrics and see if if people can work out themselves well right so here's the thing here's the thing i will let you read them i will let you read them but right if he's in the shadows how clear of you
00:26:17
Speaker
of the person's feet as he got that's my issue read the lyrics absolutely read the lyrics okay there's a light on in your window there's a shadow on the street two silhouettes tell me it's over the shadow knows the shadows me I won't crawl or cause you trouble. Well, that's the last thing I'll ever do. But before I leave your life completely, tell me who wears these shoes, Dan? What, they've got full length mirror. And even if they do how could... They're clown shoes. How could, how could, exactly, they need to be clown shoes or like, you know, shoes with pogo springs on the end to really stand out the silhouette. I mean, nah, nah. You often do research on ah on the videos, Dominic. Is there a video when when this was released as a single?
00:27:08
Speaker
That might give us the answer. Oh, no, I haven't i haven't even tried to look. I was i was really quite... This is this is the the song I'm the the least keen on so far. There are songs that I'll score lesser than this. I don't know. i I don't think it's a strong single. I would have chosen... um I know that we've got Breaking Hearts as the fourth single, and that's very, very...
00:27:34
Speaker
ah you know, a slow song. But given that this is a person who's had big hits with Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and your song, all right, you can argue that they're more stadium filling. But I think In Neon or Burning Bridges could have been a single.
00:27:50
Speaker
m Well, I mean, they've both got distinctive sounds as well. I mean, in in neon is maybe less unique, but it's, you know, you could still imagine that being a single. I've got the video on in front of me now. It's um a very, very scantily clad woman and lots of dancing on stages and no clown shoes, not a clown shoe inside.
00:28:12
Speaker
I don't think the the video gives any clues as to the, the narrative so you know maybe maybe listeners can get in touch with us but yeah ly lyrically it spoilt it for me because i i like the sound i have to say at they it sort of yeah it got me twiddling my thumbs you know when i first listened to this whole record it didn't grab me straight away after like ice on fire this is what i was saying at the beginning of the show where i was like I tried to put myself in the mindset of someone really excited to get this because my first listen was, oh, you know, and they have they have really grown on me, including who wears these shoes. But I'm quite surprised at you with this song and the one before, Anthony, being swayed by the words because we've often said that you're not always as lyrically led when enjoying musical compositions. And yet the words have hindered your pleasure. Well, I have been... I have been learning to enjoy music in a different way since our conversations, Dominic. And i I think both of them have got enough
Critiquing 'Little Refrigerator'
00:29:19
Speaker
in the words to put me off. Who wears these shoes? Because I just don't understand it at all. And slow down Georgie, because there's just a couple of bits I take exception to. It's worth pointing out, you you mentioned this was released as a single in the UK. It was also included. in Elton's second Greatest Hits compilation, which is the one where it's a picture of him in ah cricket gear lining up for a photo on the on the album cover, 1976 to 1986, Greatest Hits. Worth saying that the Fox, which we ranked as our fourth highest album thus far, has nothing in that compilation, but Who Wears These Shoes does feature.
00:30:02
Speaker
dear me no accounting for taste should we move on to track four yeah i don't think that is the correct uh uh artwork that you've just described i'm i that that because that's the one that i add the cricket gear that's the wonderful one with the kind of late 70s stuff on i've just had a little look on the internet i think the album artwork is the most boring artwork ever it's just a white uh white background with the words elton john written vertically and elton in a white shirt black jacket black pants and yeah looking very gloomy it's it looks so budget and i think it was a little bit of a uh because it was a different record label putting it on trying to cash in on the huge success of uh the the previous two greatest hits so um
00:30:53
Speaker
yeah Wishful thinking on my part perhaps then. Come on then. Breaking Hearts. Breaking Hearts ain't what it used to be. Three minutes thirty-four.
00:31:04
Speaker
I much prefer this to the last couple of tracks. I think it's fantastic. I think in my subjective view, i think it's absolutely wonderful. I think it sounds like it's from a musical. I've said that about a couple of Elton songs before, and that is no bad thing at all. I think that the words are really heartfelt. I love the piano. I love his voice. I love the the the journey that we go on. And yeah, it's... um
00:31:36
Speaker
that There's a brilliant record by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, their dance party album with Dancing in the Street and Nowhere to Run. And most of the records, most of the songs on that record are quite upbeat. And there's a one called Nobody'll Care, which is a sort of similar thing to Breaking Hearts. And I remember when I got that record many, many, many years ago thinking, oh, what an interesting topic. You don't hear that.
00:32:02
Speaker
So often it's a lesser explored album. idea so um yeah i think breaking hearts ain't what it used to be is an interesting title that makes me think oh what's that about i think that who wears these shoes is an interesting title that makes me go what's this song about and for me the words didn't quite deliver you know like there's so many interesting phrases about shoes i'll walk a mile in another man's shoes like that That's kind of what I was expecting, especially after a song like Restless.
00:32:32
Speaker
And it just it just let me down. Whereas this song, Breaking Hearts, ain't what it used to be. I really thought it was going to be that he was very sad.
00:32:44
Speaker
And yeah, the the journey the journey that Elton is the person who in the past has broken hearts. It's really interesting. Beautifully sung. Yeah. i jo Yeah, love It it is. i think what...
00:32:57
Speaker
What um affects the feeling of sympathy that we might feel for the narrator is the fact that he's still using the phrase, breaking hearts ain't what it used to be. And and it I don't know, i I don't feel complete remorse. It feels closer to pity than...
00:33:19
Speaker
self-pity than it does it's self-pity now here's the thing right so um shoot down this moon off of ice on fire uh reviewers have accused that of um self-pity as well and i kind of think but what's wrong with the song about self-pity people are self-pitying like if i had a friend who was being self-pitying i would encourage them to not be self-pitying i think as a state of being self-pitying like have i ever mentioned anthony have i ever mentioned have i ever mentioned that i'm a poet what so to give my own poetry a plug i've got a poem called love poem in minecraft right that uses a video game minecraft as a metaphor i'm talking about ah unrequited love and in the poem that i say in the first person i present myself as really needy really
00:34:09
Speaker
desperate and i I love it as ah a piece of writing it's a poem of which I feel for which I feel great pride but people have come up to me after I've recited it been like oh you know that's um that's not a great attitude to life Dominic is that is that how you really feel it's like no it's It's just good rhymes. It's just good rhymes that I hope resonate. I absolutely think that the the protagonist that I use the I pronoun for is not being the best way. And I certainly have been that person in the past. And I kind of think the same ah with with the sort of self-pitying.
00:34:45
Speaker
thing here i interpreted the title breaking heart saying what it used to be being the um the the protagonist is out on the receiving end of having his hearts broken now that he's older and you know times have changed ah that that's how i yes interpreted it so um Yeah, yeah, i I would say so too. And you're absolutely right. And we can we can learn from a narrative that is not one that we completely resonate with, can't we? Or maybe we do resonate with it in our worst moments. It doesn't have to be a celebrated state. Like, I think that...
00:35:22
Speaker
You know, we can, that's why I hope when people hear Minecraft, they're like, oh God, yeah, I've been that person. oh God, makes me cringe a bit. That's, you know, that's sort of like the the the feeling that I'm going for. I mean, if somebody gets a different view because of their interpretation, that's cool. But that's what I got from Breaking Hearts. It's very self-pitying. And yeah, I do say... I have been self-pitying, Anthony. I absolutely have. So, yeah, I don't think it's good that I have. But, yeah, I do i do connect with with the words. Yeah, and I think it's worth not every song has to have the protagonist as as a hero. Absolutely. We've not spoken about the music as a whole amount here. um It's interesting in that the way that Elton plays the piano, in fact, the way that most, in fact, pretty much all pianists will play the piano when accompanying piano.
00:36:21
Speaker
a vocal line is that the piano line won't be the same as the vocal line because it it clashes. You might do it if you're teaching someone a song, you might play the tune on the piano and they can copy that too, but generally it will fill in the gaps or or or do something counter to it. But here it's it's very literally playing exactly the same line as the vocal which is quite interesting I think if it was his first album you might say I think you need to change how you're doing that but the fact that this is 18th I think it's quite original and the backing vocals I think are quite striking in this too that they're almost quite cheesy and almost quite barbershoppy or they're the sort of
00:37:04
Speaker
and then things like that but it it works really well it it fits the tone perfectly and anyone thinking that any part of the breaking hearts album is cheesy needs to play the record ice on fire then they'll know what cheesy is indeed and if you do get some ice on fire cheese you can put it in your little refrigerator there Well, well, we've um very often when we come across an album or a track that we're not particularly fond of, we might say, well, you know, at least it's not really sexist or at least it's not really racist or anything like that.
00:37:44
Speaker
I'm not saying Little Refrigerator is either of those things, but it it sails close to the wind. for sure Yeah, she looked so easy because she looked so young. Oh, Bernie, again!
00:37:56
Speaker
Come on, Bernie. With a geisha smile made in Taiwan. She got cherry bombs inside her eyes and the look of the Irish. Let's just get another Rachel stereotype in her side. It's another one with a catchy, catchy bit of music, though, isn't it? It's all right. I think that... Oh, I like it, Dominic. I like it.
00:38:16
Speaker
I it's lesser than Restless. And also we mentioned this is the one song with an instrumentation from someone not part of the regular band. This has got the saxophone on it. And it's really hidden in the mix. I think it's wasted, the saxophone. Like it starts and you're like, oh, this sounds great. And then it just sort of fades into the background really, really quickly. I'm less keen on the production. I'm less keen on the words.
00:38:45
Speaker
And he's got loads of stomping piano numbers. He's got loads. He's got Restless on this very record. I think in a Restless versus Little Refrigerator, the album track battle, Restless easily wins. Oh, it it does. I'd i'd say they they're different. I mean, Little Refrigerator has got real nice use of organs and keyboards, that sort of thing, as well as the... I mean, it it has in common with Restless, the the driving guitar stuff.
00:39:15
Speaker
two I'd say this one is is a higher tempo as well. She's an empty shell. Young piece of meat. Just another statistic. A readout sheet. Oh, I mean, i mean that, yeah, the lyrics don't. Don't do it any favours. I prefer this to Slow Down Georgie and Who Wears These Shoes because the lyrics are tongue-in-cheek. I don't think they're any better. I don't resonate with them anymore, but it feels a bit more
'Passengers' and Its Cultural Message
00:39:48
Speaker
lighthearted. I think all three tracks have got great musical values, but this one takes itself a bit less seriously with the lyrics. At least I hope it does. I hope these not sincere lyrics. I know there'll be plenty of people who are like, oh, listening to Dominic, listen to the woke poet say his ah criticisms. I just think that if you're gonna if you're if you're a man or a pair of men who are really like laying into a woman, then maybe you need stronger ground
00:40:21
Speaker
than than this i'm not saying that you can never say anything critical of anyone ever but yeah i i think this it for me this this this is like the kind of stuff off of goodbye yellow brick road that i dislike this isn't a hundred i prefer this in in um in little refrigerator versus dirty little girl the album track battle i prefer little refrigerator a lot uh i don't think it's as nasty as that but i don't think it's a million miles away from dirty little girl yeah no no i i i do hear you on that one i do hear you and um it's just a shame isn't it this is just a musical track just instrumental only
00:41:02
Speaker
I think would be great. We should move on, Dominic, because I think we've got a lot to say about track six. It's one of those where Dominic's been... I know his opinions on it already, or at least some of them, because he sneaks it in to other episodes. He's had to wait till episode 18. Come on then, Dominic. Three minutes, 24 of Passengers. Oh...
00:41:23
Speaker
ah love it. And I have watched the music video for this in preparation. I've never seen it my life. Joyful. Bernie Torpins in the music video. Yay! Yay! So you did Saint Tropez. Yeah. um I don't know what it's about. Reviewers claim it's an anti-apartheid song. It...
00:41:45
Speaker
gives props to a 1960s African folk song. More than props, it gives a writing credit. And also, as well as that, to Davy Johnson.
00:41:58
Speaker
Company conductor, you need the salt of tears for... falling on a ticket that no one's used in years. ah Non-commercial native. It's tattooed in your veins. You're living in a blood bank and riding on this train.
00:42:16
Speaker
Wonderful. I don't know what any of that means. I it. I love it. It's Captain Fantastic levels of excellency, solid tune, wonderfully, you know, i can see the ah characters from the front cover of Captain Fantastic dancing along to this, which isn't dissimilar to what we get in the music video um in Batman.
00:42:43
Speaker
the Tim Burton movie when Prince sang back dance, he wore makeup with half of his face, totally ah yeah black and the other totally chalk white. And that's ah this song is, was made far before that, but Elton and some of the folks in it have similar makeup, very striking. And it's, it's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant as woman.
00:43:12
Speaker
teenager who was less keen on side two of the very best of elton john the second cd i was not as taken with easier to walk away or you gotta love someone but our passenger was up there with kiss the bride for for a song that yeah i love it just as much i love it as much as any track off of captain fantastic yes i said it and go rip it to shreds now no i'm not going to rip it to shreds because i do like it as a song i think there's some elton doesn't yeah well i think there's some interesting questions to ask of it and some different lenses to look at it through and i i don't think they necessarily lead one to say
00:43:59
Speaker
Oh, it's not very good. Have you listened to the South African folk song Isonto Lezioni? No. Okay. So listeners, check that one out. It was recorded by Phineas Mukize. I've said that name wrong. I apologize. Who has a writing credit for this song as well as Davy Johnston. and Elton and Bernie. Isonto Lezayoni was a South African folk song recorded by Phineas in 1963. I've not been able to find out whether the song is older than that. It's generally called
00:44:35
Speaker
a South African folk tune that is most famously record recorded by Phineas Mekise, but I don't know whether it's been around for 60 years since since that was recorded, or it's hundreds and hundreds of years old. If you do listen to it, the bits of the track that are the same are the...
00:44:54
Speaker
do didoooo do do dooooooo do do so it's got that backing on a similar sort of reeded accordion-y instrument and the um the tune that he sings is did it did it dooo do it dooo do do do it do it do do do do dooo do it but that's that's where the similarities end and that is pretty much the song it's just that on repeat i imagine the words are changing i I can't pick it out because it's in a language that I'm not familiar with. So Elton's version has got the da da da da. It doesn't have the lyrics that that Dominic
00:45:35
Speaker
um read out there, um which I think are fantastic lyrics. I've got to I'm not saying this is exactly what I think, but I think I have a question.
00:45:46
Speaker
If it were an anti-apartheid song released in the mid 80s, wouldn't you make that explicit? Everything I've found online is sort of saying It's said to be anti-apartheid song, whereas there's not a quote of Elton or Bernie saying, yes, that's what it means. And I kind of, I know I wasn't around in the 80s and I know there's social injustices that are going on today in 2026 that I'm not jumping on the rooftops shouting about and and and decrying. So i'm I'm not... necessarily getting on their back for saying, well, if it was anti-apartheid, why aren't you telling everyone everyone about it?
00:46:24
Speaker
But I do question whether it necessarily is, seeing as they've not definitely said that is the case. And I don't know how i feel about the fact that Phineas Machiz has got a writing credit But I mean, Elton has done so much for for charity and for those who are less fortunate than him. So I i cannot level anything at him there. But it I do kind of think, oh, I don't know. Like, did you have to use that track or... i don't know yeah because it's brilliant does fat boy slim have to sample does moby have to sample it's just okay okay but it but it is different somebody 15 years into their prolific career as a you know a global superstar taking something from a ah a developing country if all he's got is a writing credit
00:47:17
Speaker
ah I don't know. I mean, it doesn't have to all be about money, I suppose. But it I'm not saying anything other than it's a question. it's its It is a question. And I guess I listened to it through very innocent ears. And the, want to get on, want to get on, he want to, is very um childlike.
Dissecting 'In Neon' and 'Burning Buildings'
00:47:35
Speaker
It's it's really, ah I mean, 1984 is the same year that Run DMC had their debut rap album.
00:47:44
Speaker
record that was, is one of my favourite records of all time. And it's so much about racism and poverty and striving for education. It's celebrating school and celebrating access to learning. Oh, it's ah it's a brilliant record. And it really paints a picture of what a lot of inequality there was in 1984 and of course very much still is today of course of course of course anyone who says otherwise doesn't have their eyes open i mean really really so yeah you know as ah what do we want what do we want and i don't know the answer this question do we want elton to do something very on the nose and worthy i don't know i don't know i mean like
00:48:34
Speaker
I don't know. I think that it's a fantastic lyric. Like, later in the 90s, David Bowie did a song called Black Tie, White Noise about isn't racism bad? And I think it's really preachy. I'm a huge Bowie fan and I'm less keen on that song. Although I absolutely agree with the sentiment, it comes across as a little bit not as political as Run DMC and you know, ah got that attitude and that urgency, but also just a bit, oh gosh, you know, it's not, it's not his finest record. So yeah, I'm glad that this isn't David Bowie's black tie, white noise. I'm glad it isn't that. Yeah. I i do agree with you that, or no, I won't say i agree. I agree with you because i'm I'm changing your word slightly, but I don't think that Elton and Bernie, need to be making everything they do political or that there is an onus on them to do something political every now and then.
00:49:36
Speaker
It's just literally questions I have in that we, you know, in Madman Across the Water, we were, we commented on the fact that Indian Sunset, some people had said, oh, is that a protest song about Native Americans and they said no no it's not a protest song um which I think at the time we were saying oh if if you'd said it was a protest song I might have been able to get behind it because musically it's not very good and I find it interesting that that there's not a definitive answer there and I think it'd be interesting to know one but but yeah musically it's fun and yeah I just encourage people to to listen to the 1963 Isonto Lezzayoni version too because I think that's really fun as well and I know I've by ah asking some questions of a song that Dominic holds so highly I'm opening myself up even further to sad songs at the end of this album being even more even more ripped into but we've got track 7 to look at before then
00:50:37
Speaker
That is In Neon, 4 minutes 19 long. As I said at the top, I first learnt this song via a piano manuscript. It's ah it's slow, it's a ballad, and we we mentioned Bernie being in the previous video.
00:50:51
Speaker
He wasn't in this video, he directed it, Dominic. Goodness me, what's happening to Bernie? Is there a video for In Neon? but Do you know what? I've not actually watched it. I just i just found that online when I was looking for trivia. Well, I'm very impressed. I mean, um I remember that The Fox had um music videos for every single song, and I did watch all of The Fox start to finish.
00:51:16
Speaker
I guess, here's the thing, I think I score all this album a bit higher because it is the final one with the full band on, but I don't like it as much as Too Low for Zero. I do think, in my opinion, it's Too Low for Zero and just a little bit lesser, in my opinion.
00:51:34
Speaker
However, there are people who absolutely think the opposite. I always read reviews and ah just to kind of, you know, if you're listening to this podcast, think can Slag off the album I love. I think Neon is is an absolute masterpiece. So I hope it does have a music video because it certainly deserves one. The lyrics... Yeah, I'm watching it now, Dominic. It's great. oh wonderful. Well, I will watch that because I like this song even more than than Breaking Hearts. I think this is...
00:52:04
Speaker
Everything about it I love. I love how the melody progresses. The words are superb. it's It's Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond, tragic, fallen from grace,
00:52:20
Speaker
absolute empathy with someone who is is grizabella the glamour cat from uh from andrew lloyd webber's cats that's who it is is oh it's she hates how she feels but she hangs like a mirror maybe a stranger could walk in and see her in neon for two cents of danger she'd trust anybody she'd smoke like a gun if it meant she might wind up in neon Oh, I mean, where were those words earlier on? You know, when Bernie can write words that good. That's why i feel justified on being so harsh on Slow Down Georgie and Who Wears These Shoes. I'll still give those songs high scores. i think it's a shame when I first listened to this album, I'd zoned out by this point. And and then I zoned back in because it's like, oh, this is a really good melody. And then on a second listen, I was like reading the words and on each list and I've loved it more and more and more. I think Ice on Fire, Teasers, Ice on Fire is an album that starts strong and goes downhill. I think this is an album that starts all right and and gets really strong.
00:53:32
Speaker
I think that In Neon is an absolute masterpiece. Yeah, it's great. It's great. And um i I went through a period of not liking it so much because it is slow.
00:53:46
Speaker
it's It's really slow and and it felt like it was dragging a bit. But yeah, those those words are fantastic. And like you say, Dominic, it's not just the melody that works really well, which it does, but the chord progressions. It does that clever thing that Elton does a lot in his ballads and and slower songs where the bass just goes down the way. one note at a time and it it it really builds up, it's not euphoric, but it builds up a real sense of gravitas, I think, in in the music generally and there's lots of layers to it as well, nice backings, um it's quite a thick musical sound, it's um it's not like a
00:54:30
Speaker
There's many, many criticisms that we could and did level at Victim of Love, but one of them was it was it was a disco sound that was really thin, like there there weren't many layers to it, but um In Neon does that really well. I'll give a quick synopsis of the music video. it's I was going to say it's four minutes long. Of course, it's four minutes long. The song's four minutes long. um We've got um sites of the...
00:54:53
Speaker
the The woman protagonist longing to be something else. She's looking at a doll at the start of video. Then it it cuts to her working in a busy cafeteria. there's There's a brilliant bit halfway through where she's doing a waltz in a room with goodness knows how many candles they've got. Must be 200, 300 lit candles there. and It's very 80s. It's very dramatic. And it's great. It's a real good watch. it's It's of its time and ticks all the boxes. It will be scoring highly from me too.
00:55:27
Speaker
As will track eight, Burning Buildings. Again, four minutes or so long. What's this one about then, Dominic? I really like the music. Do I know what it's about?
00:55:42
Speaker
It's about breaking hearts. Ain't what it used to be, but a stronger lyrics. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a really good synopsis, actually. it's No room for conversation. Cold silence. stares and angry words fall in pieces from our faces we read do not disturb some lovers just go hungry others beg for just a bite you use me under pressure to whet your appetite brilliant brilliant where were these words earlier brilliant what i particularly i mean we're and gonna end up quoting the whole song here but i really like the chorus um
00:56:20
Speaker
And lovers leap off burning buildings, waking up on a sky-high wire. Desperation leaves us clinging on the edge of a house on fire. Lovers leap off burning buildings, live our life on borrowed time. Every flame that ever moved you, touch your lips, but never mine.
00:56:39
Speaker
It's good, isn't it? It's good. And again, he's got those those descending bass chords, one note at a time, just going down a step, going down a step, which really gives a progression and makes you think, oh, what's coming next? What's coming next? It's good. Yeah. In Neon was a single. It was. I'm looking up ah ah singles ah ah on on Wikipedia. And yeah, it was just not in the UK. But 38 in the US, which, you know, US s charts, that's not awful. ah In UK, it was the B-side to Breaking Hearts ain't what it used to be. And I would argue the strongest songs. So yeah, surprised at that. Surprised. But yeah, back to Burning ah Bridges. I think these songs... Buildings. Sorry, Buildings. Yeah. Buildings. Really, really great pair of songs. Yeah, really, really super. and And since the track Restless, you can see why they've chosen Breaking Hearts as the title for the album, because they generally are about romantic relationships, with with the exception of... of passengers and in neon to be fair I mean i i suppose breaking hearts can doesn't have to relate to a romantic relationship does it and and breaking hearts can relate to somebody not fulfilling their dreams or or having perceptions that you know the grass is green on the other side or won't life be brilliant when I'm a star and and I mean that's something I didn't say we're dotting around everywhere here but in neon I think it's it's fantastic to hear somebody who's been in show business entertainment the music industry for 15 years singing a song of oh it's not all it's cracked up to be it might not make you happy like i of course you don't always have to sing authentically about your own experience but but that really hits the nail on the head i think probably for for what elton and perhaps to a lesser extent or the same extent bernie
00:58:41
Speaker
felt at the time and lots of people who aspire to something and then see it's not completely rose tinted really poignant and yeah burning buildings are another really strong lyric and bit of music yeah leonard cohen has a record with a really boring title it's just called 10 new songs and uh the 10th song is quite a political one and i would argue it's brilliant song land of plenty maybe doesn't quite go with the rest. The rest are Breaking Hearts saying what it used to be. theyre they're They're really exploring romance in a way that Leonard Cohen does so very well. He does lots of things very well, not exclusively that. And I wish that Breaking Hearts was an album about... I wish, i wish you know, because we've seen...
00:59:32
Speaker
what they can do on Captain Fantastic. i I argue the Captain and the Kid, thematically brilliant. I've talked about the Fox. I just wish, I would love to hear the Burning Buildings album.
00:59:45
Speaker
I would love to hear that. And I would put, break although I don't think it's as good, I would put Breaking Hearts on that record. I'm scoring Breaking Hearts, the song, eight out of 10. I'm talking about it like I don't like I'm going to give it an eight. I love it. I love it. But um yeah, I'll give... a burning buildings higher than eight. I'm not quite sure I did yet. But um yeah, i I wish I could hear an album where everything was that good. And I just think that, yeah, I'm going to give Slow Down Georgie a good score. It's a good tune, but I just think it's a bit small, the words. When this is so grand, so grand. And I would love to hear an album of this. And I think Did He Shoot Her is a bit...
'Did He Shoot Her' and Western Influences
01:00:31
Speaker
A bit like, I don't know, I'm not mad keen on Diddy Shooter. What do you make of it, Anthony? Well, I think it's got two redeeming points that are ah relatively minor, or or one of them is the minor one. In Elton's 11th studio album, Blue Moves, ah both of us said, after the wide-eyed and laughing,
01:00:51
Speaker
that Davy Johnston needs to put his sitar away. Um, and, and he's got it back out. And I think with good effect, I think it works nicely. that They're not the only two Elton tracks where Davy plays the sitar. But that the wide-eyed and laughing was a disaster. And Diddy Shooter, i i I like how he does it. It's not the only refrains and riffs that he plays. But after the last line of a verse or a last line of a bit of instrumental, Davey kind of like echoes the melody on the sitar. And I think that really works well. So hooray for the sitar being used well. And also, I think where there have been at least a couple of lyrics in this album, where if not it's felt misogynistic, it might have felt a bit ah one standard for men and one another standard for women. I feel like in Diddy Shooter, that the narrator is saying, that man did her wrong and I'm going to sort him out. and
01:01:50
Speaker
which I think restores a bit of balance. I don't think it does quite enough, but it's only one song, so perhaps it can't. But I did like that. And musically, i think I think it's pretty good. I think it's ah another one like Refrigerator, like Who Wears These Shoes, like Slow Down George, where instrumentally only, I think it'd be really strong. I mean, when we score the music as an overall score for this album,
01:02:15
Speaker
I'll score it really highly, much more than the lyrics. So I think it's got those redeeming qualities. Do do do you sort of not feel the lyrics? Is a bit too straightforward, a bit too on the nose? I think you might have won me over. Here's a question about the song Did He Shooter? And I feel such a ignoramus for asking this question, Anthony. My question about the song is, did he shoot her?
01:02:39
Speaker
He didn't, did he? Is it a metaphor? Oh, it's definitely it's definitely a mo metaphor for sure. Yeah, yeah, okay. I thought he did shoot her. That that shows the surface level with which ah I've engaged with the song. Well, you've made you've made a very good point that I have remembered and will do for a very long time, that the the way that one interprets a song or a piece of art or a piece of poetry or whatever, you can't say it's wrong. It's it's just how you interpret it. And my interpretation of it is...
01:03:12
Speaker
that it's a metaphor, but they've cleverly musically made it sound like ah an action sequence in a film. And you are you are thinking, oh, Diddy Shooter, what's what's going on? But when you really listen to the lyrics, it's, yeah, Diddy Shooter with his compromise, like a heart attack he can paralyze, or Diddy Hangar in a noose on the telephone line.
01:03:37
Speaker
So they're they're all metaphors, I think, aren't they? But it's, i mean, particularly with how the song finishes, it's a very dramatic, did he shoot her? Bang! And then that's it.
01:03:48
Speaker
And also the second part of that chorus, did he shoot her with a 45? Did he leave his mark right between her eyes? I think I heard that more like, um there's eight lines in the chorus. I hadn't sat and read the words because I felt like I could hear them quite clearly but evidently not the second half of the chorus stood out for and I think that's less poetic I think um if you cut out lines five and six which are did he shoot her with a 45 did he leave his mark right between her eyes that that's what made me think it was a literal shooting I didn't quite hear the beginning of the chorus I like i like the metaphor. I think the because it feels a bit vengeful and a bit bitter, it's not something I'd want to listen to over and over again. But I think it's quite clever artistically.
01:04:39
Speaker
They've got this kind of Western style music and that the bass line and the rhythm is a sort of a... duk do good do do good du do good du do good du You can imagine somebody... either galloping on a horse or maybe on a on a train that's going over the tracks to do do do do to do i think it it works really cleverly like that but yeah because there is that bitterness to it that takes a bit of the edge off it but i'd like to hear a version of this produced in the style of my much loved album rock of the west is
01:05:11
Speaker
I'd like to hear a street kids mix of Diddy Shooter. I feel that the production, it's not victim of love. It's not it's not a thin production, but I'd love to hear something that was a bit more...
Debate on 'Sad Songs (Say So Much)'
01:05:25
Speaker
wow that I think there's strong similarities between some of Breaking Hearts with Rock of the Westies. Some of it is a million miles away, but I think some of the more aggressive tracks that grab you a bit more, I think there's similarities there. And and I like those similarities there. They're good points. in in my opinion. I think I might, because I'm really happy with my overall score for this album. I think I might add one point to Diddy Shooter, but I'm going to claim that from deducting a point from Sad Sounds Me.
01:06:05
Speaker
ah Well, i i' going do Dominic and I have shared our provisional scores with one another for this album before... starting this recording and I was very surprised to see how highly it scored sad songs. thought it might be a zero. I've been known to be a zero. It's like a blue eyes zero. I've given a few ones. I think the song sounds way better than in the context of this album. And also, I think maybe I've heard this song more times live, and I think he really ramps up the sing-along version. I'm going to quote a ah conversation Anthony and I had off of the microphone ah many, many weeks ago. where I was saying that as somebody, you know, I'm a poet, so I'm quite often sad. That's my bread and butter. And I just almost feel like it's mocking the jauntiness, a bit like how I don't like um this song has no title for being so, so juxtapositioning the words of music. I i feel that... He's like, turn them on, turn on those sad songs. was like, oh, are you mocking me? Are you mocking me?
01:07:21
Speaker
Interestingly, my wonderful boyfriend, who I love so very much, who adores the song Blue Eyes, which I gave zero. Also, when I said to him, we're doing this recording, he went, oh, that's the one with sad songs. Oh, I love that one. was like, oh.
01:07:36
Speaker
I love it too, Dominic. Really? Tell me why I'm wrong. Tell me why I'm wrong. I can't tell you that you're wrong, but I i think it's i think it's one of those songs that Elton does that is not trying to be anything other than...
01:07:51
Speaker
done a pop song. It's very simple. Musically, we know he's capable of doing very complex things, very clever things. And indeed, we've praised them in this album as well as sometimes it, you know, he tries ah but fantastical things and they don't go so well. We've we've mentioned Blue Moves and Victim of Love in in this album. conversation too. I think it does what you'd expect it to. i think there's elements of musical originality. You know, he's playing a deliberately out of tune, honky tonk style of piano in in here. that There's not ah an obvious instrumental section, but I think it still drives forward. I don't think the song drags. it's
01:08:36
Speaker
It's five minutes long. I And for me, it doesn't drag. I think the, um I really like singing along to songs and the the backing harmonies, I think are really good. And having listened to the Brian Adams, i was going to say compilation, then that's not the word I mean, collaboration. and that they did at the one night only Madison square garden performance in 2000, I think, wasn't it? um Which I think is one of the highlights of that, of that concert that was turned into an album. I i think it's great. It,
01:09:12
Speaker
And the smarts look back, we have Dominic. Yeah, quite right. And it was, some yeah, he did it when I saw him live. I mean, I think the Brian Adams, I really like a lot of Brian Adams, but i think the Brian, adam i'm I'm not keen on that version. I think it's even, you know, if you change the words, right,
01:09:30
Speaker
You said it's on your Dominic Berry Elton John bingo card for if I say something like a TV show. Right. if If the words were, um ah see him run, see that hedgehog run.
01:09:44
Speaker
When baddies are near, Sonic runs so fast. Yeah, I'm down with that. I'm down with that. I'm down with the tune. I'm down with that. If it's about something that's lightweight and whatnot. But I feel personally attacked by...
01:10:00
Speaker
But I feel mocked for having sadness. I'm just like, no, get that, get that Johnny nonsense away from my feelings. How dare you? Yeah, that's mine.
01:10:11
Speaker
It's not explicitly said in the song, but i I see the song as something that's celebrating accompaniment and... um Whether that is, I mean, it's explicitly said in the song that pieces of music can accompany you and share your feelings with you and help you through your feelings. But I've always interpreted it as someone with a family member and or friends.
01:10:38
Speaker
coming together with music music and using that as a ah way of, you know, using it as a salve. do these Sad songs just have a sad melody, have an excellent sad melody. Put these words to a Leonard Cohen production, something like tower of song. And I'm on board with these. I mean, it's on the nose. It's not as beautiful as in neon, but it's,
01:11:03
Speaker
Yeah, put it to a really excellent sad melody. Yeah. I mean, that would be interesting to hear. I think some of us need things to be on the nose and tell it like it is. and So happy. The tune is so happy. Yeah, because because we're feeling happier through having shared things with one another and with the...
01:11:27
Speaker
the the singer of the the words of some old singer, the lips of some old singer, that's that's helping us feel better. I think it'sang i think it's sung retrospectively. No, it's turn them on, present tense, turn them on. And he says sad songs so often in it. Like if the words were different, it was like... No, it's hypothetical. Turn them on when all hope is gone. That's conditional. Like... In the event but all hope is gone, turn on the songs. It's not the present tense. It's hypothetical.
01:12:01
Speaker
That's what I reckon anyway. No, you're right. i I, yeah, I struggle to listen to this to the end. I struggle. And that's okay. That's okay. I'll tell you what won't help you, Dominic. is have you seen the Sasson's Jeans advert? from Right, um exactly. that that might my Yeah, I mean, it's just awful. And the music video for this is awful as well. Put them on!
01:12:29
Speaker
Put them on! Put on those sassons. Yeah. So that's it for listeners that aren't
Album Rankings and Series Continuation
01:12:35
Speaker
aware. There's a jeans company called Sasson's Jeans, and they got Elton to sing a version of the song where he was saying, put on the Sasson's Jeans. I mean, it's great. It's almost like the song was written for it. Maybe it was. Maybe even that's where it doesn't work. The official music video doesn't know favours either. No, I've not seen that.
01:12:56
Speaker
Jaunty nonsense. Yeah. I mean, which, you know, I would describe the music video for Passengers as jaunty nonsense, the exact same thing, but I'm keen on jaunty nonsense for Passengers. Time and a place, time and a place. So some numbers and some just hard facts for you. Reach number five in the US, number seven in the UK. um and it did so well in Australia. It was the 30th best singing, 30th best selling single for the whole year in 1984. Rod Stewart did it live in 2013 in a quite well publicized concert. Lots of cover versions. We didn't mention the many cover versions of Breaking Hearts. There's been quite a few, not necessarily particularly well known. And in fact, I don't know any of these artists who've who've covered sad songs. ah
01:13:46
Speaker
Dierks, Bentley and Max Emo, both kind of bluesy versions. Eddie Lovett does a reggae version and New Horizon have done a rock cover of this. So yeah, sad songs and Breaking Hearts, the only two tracks I found from this album that have got cover versions. And that...
01:14:08
Speaker
brings us to the end. And there's been no re-release of this one, Dominic, has there? I don't know, hasn't there? Good. I'm smarting from sad songs. No, In Neon deserves to be heard by loads of folks. Yeah, yeah, not good. Boo, re-release ah well it. Well, I think, you know, there's several songs that we've really enjoyed here and it would be interesting to hear a a reimagining of Burning Buildings, In The On Diddy Shooter. be great to hear live versions. You mentioning that, like, you know, Sad Songs is really, a you know, a tiny bit of Passengers here and there. But, yeah, this whole album live with a slightly different track ordering, perhaps. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.
01:14:51
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Well, it's time to give some scores for these tracks. We've we've already mentioned that Dominic and I, we've shared some initial thoughts, but there's been some changes. I've changed a few as well. Let's see what we score them and indeed where it features in our league table as a result. So track one, Restless, the original title track for the album before the last minute change.
01:15:16
Speaker
I have gone for an 8 out of 10. I love it. Yeah, I love it. 8. 8. Kapow. Strong start. Slow down, Georgie. She's poison. Come on then, Dominic. What are you going for? I don't know. You go first. Well, I have given it a 3 because she's just another divorcee. I mean, if it was an a lyricist who had never been divorced, I would still be saying, hey, hey, nothing wrong with going through a divorce. But the fact that Bernie had been through one, and I'm not shaming it at all. It is just a fact he subsequently went through two more after this song came out. No, no, no you don't get to say that in a song. Three out 10.
01:15:57
Speaker
It's a great shoe. Oh, it is. It is. That's the three points. I'm going to give it seven. Yeah. OK. OK. Who wears these shoes? What are you giving for that one? Seven. I've moved up to a four.
01:16:10
Speaker
Again, musically, I think it's really strong, but that the lyrics mean nothing, mean nothing to me at all. um I'm doubling that score for Breaking Hearts. Eight out of ten. I think it's really strong. Really original, slower, lovey. Well, it's not a love song, is it? But it's talking about those kind of emotions. I think it's 18th album to do a song that's completely original in that way. Yeah, eight out ten.
01:16:37
Speaker
Eight out ten, yes. Kapow. We're mirroring each other on the eight, but not so much for the others. What about Refrigerator? are you giving it, Dominic? Oh, I really don't know. This is a song I've really... i mean, i'm I'm still shook by your three for so long, Morgy. I'm going to give Little Frigerator loads more than three.
01:16:57
Speaker
I don't know. i don't know. Maybe... Maybe a... six maybe a five i'm not sure yeah um six six for dominic five for me again musically i think i think the tracks i don't particularly like musically have got a lot going for them um it's it's just a bit silly isn't really like i'm not a songwriter it feels really harsh being like oh you know only a five you know only a six but then this is the person who's who's written songs like gotta get a meal ticket and uh better off dead from captain fantastic and all those hits from goodbye yellow brick road and everything so it's comparatively isn't it what and act as well like you know it's culturally appropriate for a
01:17:43
Speaker
bunch of 50 year old fat men to to stand in a stadium and say, oh that was rubbish to, you know, 20 something athletes who are doing thousands of times better than them. So we're not necessarily saying we could do better, but we're still allowed to give an opinion, aren't we?
01:18:01
Speaker
God, shock me with your whatever you say out Passengers, it'll be too low. I'm sorry, but I'm giving it a six. That's disgusting. I mean, I like, if I give a song six out of ten, I do like it's a ten out ten for me. Wonderful. Love it, love it, love it. Nice one.
01:18:19
Speaker
Okay, in neon, I am giving it a nine. It's grand. Yeah, nine. near Nearly ten. It's a nine point something. it says Yeah, I think if it was a bit quicker, it might have... Same here, same here. i'm um I mean, like Breaking Hearts, my personal taste, I'm rarely as captured. Like the ones I didn't give ten on Captain Fantastic were the slower ones. But yeah, it's a strong nine, as is Burning Buildings. That's a nine from me too. do you know what, I'm giving that a 9 as well. I'd written 8, but having looked at the lyrics all the way through again just now, yeah, they're really, really good.
01:18:55
Speaker
Diddy Shooter, I'm tempted to put that one up a notch as well. I'm going to. That's an eight. I really, really like the metaphors. It's clever. Eight out of ten. the more we do, the harder it is. Is it is it an eight? Do I like it? Do I like Diddy Shooter as much as as much as Restless and Breaking Hearts? Certainly at the beginning of this recording, I didn't. I mean, it is a solid tune.
01:19:20
Speaker
I wish we were doing percentage point. No, do you know what? I'm going to stick with my original scores. I'm going to stick with seven for Diddy Shooter. And I'll let you have the last word on sad songs. I'm giving it a nine because I think it's solid, pop song, catchy, and it's a classic for a reason. Nine out of ten. I thought I was going to give it zero. I'm giving it the same as Little Refrigerator. I'll give it a six. Nice one. Okay, so in terms of just the tracks, mine average there is 6.9, which is 0.01 behind a single man. Oh, goodness me. Slow down, Georgie, and who wears these shoes? They've just done it a disservice there. Dominic, your average was 7.7 there, which makes 11th. comfortably ahead of a single man, but not as high as Elton John, which is your 10th highest. But we've got other things to review, starting with the album name. It's all right.
01:20:25
Speaker
Give it a six. What about you, Dominic? I am going to give it six. What about the artwork? I'm bringing mine down a score from what I gave it in the in my little notes before I'm giving a five because having looked at it again it's it's a bit pointless really. Two. Oof!
01:20:47
Speaker
Goodness me. That is what I've given cover versions to because there's been a few more cover versions than previous albums but none of them are much to write home about. You love the Bryan Adams so much.
01:20:59
Speaker
It's not a cover version though. I'd say that's a collaboration, not cover version. Okay. Well, there there's two songs out of 10 that have got covers, so let's give it a two. Okay. What about lyrics then? i like it when the songs have got 10 songs because it makes a score out of 10 for lyrics. I'm just going to go through them one at a time with um a yes or a no. So a yes to Restless, Breaking, Neon, Burning,
01:21:29
Speaker
shoot and passengers so yeah six yeah i've also gone for six i i i use the same technique as you different different answers but the same final score music i am giving it nine out of ten i think musically it's great that there's nothing much to criticize other than passengers he's i won't say stolen he's uh it's an inflation it is an honoring it's uh yeah so i'll give it a nine oh yeah but i don't know you know you gave tumbleweed connection and eight for music yeah yeah yeah no i prefer i prefer this musically to tumbleweed connection don't shoot me you gave eight yeah i prefer this i'm going to give it all right i'm gonna give it uh an eight flop dodge all right again out of ten so uh
01:22:21
Speaker
uh i i usually give flop dodge and hits the same the same thing so i would say yeah uh restless breaking neon burning shoot passengers um yeah six yeah i'm giving it a six i will consent that sad songs is a hit so i shall have that foot to seven seven hits seven for hits i am gonna give it Denied the passenger who wanna get on. Hit, hit, hit, hit. Fine, fine. I will consent that that is a hit then. I'll go up to seven myself. There we go. There we go. So scores are in and I can reveal that Breaking Hearts has a score of...
01:23:04
Speaker
61.75%. It has squeaked in ahead of a single man into 12th place, not quite high enough to catch Empty Sky, which is 68%. So I think that's pretty good. That surprised me, Dominic, but I think it's fair. Yeah, I think it's fair. I think that there aren't many moments that really reach out and grab me. This is why I was holding back a bit on you giving it a nine out ten for music. I'm like, but, you know, Captain Fantastic is alarming in the best and it's striking. It's wonderful. I think Too Low for Zero has got, you know, Kiss the Bride is really shocking. You know, guess that's why they call it the blues is... really pulling at the emotions and I think that the only thing that really strikes me hugely on here for a 10 out of 10 is Passengers so yeah I'm completely okay it's a really good album but I don't think it's got much of the excellence that we've seen on the 70s stuff I think that's fair And I can really see why the band was changed after Breaking Hearts, because there's a huge, huge, huge change of band and for Ice on Fire, massive change, massive change. And maybe for the reasons I've just said, to really shake things up, I can see why that would happen. Especially given that this album wasn't so high charting in the USA, where Elton had traditionally fared very well indeed. I know that our scores are not the be all and end all here, but I'm just looking at the first five albums of the that we've reviewed. It's so erratic. We've got out of 18 albums, we've got 17th place, 4th place, 15th place, 6th place, and now 12th place. It's all over the place,
Looking Ahead: 'Ice on Fire' Speculations
01:25:03
Speaker
isn't it? And it's almost like after a rubbish one is a really good one, after which is a not so good one. It's so up and down.
01:25:11
Speaker
what does this What does this mean for Ice on Fire? Goodness me. I think... It will be revealed in our next show. um Indeed, indeed. 1985 in November, Ice on Fire was revealed. And um yeah, I'd not...
01:25:32
Speaker
We'll say more about this in the episode, but I'd not listened to this album at all before this podcast project. And um there are a couple of tracks in there that really raised my eyebrows in different ways.
Trivia and Technical Challenges
01:25:44
Speaker
But yes, but we need more than that to make you come back. We need to give you a teaser trivia question. Otherwise, you'll just leave us and never return. So going to ask you how many of the 10 tracks that we've reviewed in Breaking Hearts were done in one take? I asked the question, here's a clue for you.
01:26:06
Speaker
This album is thought to be, according to Elton John's website, to be that album with the highest percentage of one-ers as they apparently are called in the business. So how many of the 10 tracks were done in just one take? We will reveal the answer at the start of episode 19, our next episode.
01:26:27
Speaker
our next episode Excellent, excellent. Thank you everyone for listening to us. Anthony and I have so much fun recording these. And as mentioned before, there were so many techie problems making this one happen.
01:26:41
Speaker
Too low for zero. We did at Anthony's home, so we were in the same room, easy as pie. But this one, we have really worked hard to make this happen for you. If you want to get in touch with us, we'd love that. We've got an email address, eltonveltonpod at gmail.com. You can find out about me on my website, DominicBerry.net, and Anthony's on two other podcasts, Enough of the Falafel with the Vegan Week and Vegan Talk shows and the Brambling Along podcast. Until next time, it's goodbye from me, certainly not a passenger. Deny the passenger. I'm the captain, Captain Domtastic, and he is the brown dirt ant boy.
Acknowledgements and Resources
01:27:20
Speaker
Goodbye. Goodbye.
01:27:28
Speaker
This podcast is hosted by Zencaster. We've used some sound effects from zapsplat.com. We've taken information from songfacts.com as well as eltonjohn.fandom.com, the wiki. And I'd also really personally recommend you read Elton's autobiography, which is called Me. I listened to the audio version. It's narrated by Taron Egerton, which is excellent. We're indebted to all those who've helped create and share Elton's music. And thanks again to James Cook and Paul Savage, who inspired the format of this show.