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7b. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Album Review (part 2)
14 Plays29 days ago
Dominic & Anthony review the second disc of Elton's FIRST double album; but will the second half of GBYBR pull it up or drag it down in the Elton v Elton charts? In this episode the pair discuss tracks 9-17 i.e. the third & fourth sides of the original record.
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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
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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
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Until next time it’s goodbye from Captain Dom-tastic & the Brown Dirt Ant-boy!
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Transcript
Introduction and Kiki Dee's Album
00:00:00
Speaker
It is still October the 5th, 1973, and we are here to discuss the absolute stone-cold classic, Loving and Free by Kiki D, produced by Elton John.
00:00:13
Speaker
What a storming album that is. But we're also going to talk a little bit about the second half of Elton John's first ever double album, We did the first half last podcast and for real, we're going to be spending a lot of time talking about every single track on side two of Goodbye Yellow low Brick Road. My name is Dominic. And I'm Anthony, wishing I'd given Dominic a much tighter script to follow. You are listening to Elton vs Elton, the album battle all part two.
00:01:01
Speaker
Welcome everyone. This is episode seven, part two of Elton versus Elton, the album battle. There's a chance you could be listening to this one, having searched for reviews of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the album, and for some reason it's brought you to part two first instead of part one. that's the case, go into your podcast feed, find part one, because we are looking at this album chronologically. We're looking at part two now.
00:01:26
Speaker
If you've never come across this before, this is a podcast where two pals, me, Anthony, and my pal Dominic, we rage about Elton John's music and his albums, and we try and decide which one is the best and the, well, the least best. um We're obviously indebted to everyone who brought Elton's music to the wider stage. James Cook and Paul Savage gave the ah us the idea for this ah format for the show. And if you want to hear our previous stuff, it's all there back in your podcast feed. not just the previous episodes for the previous albums, because we're doing them chronologically, but also a little trailer where we say a little bit about ourselves. Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. So every episode, we give a little bit of global context, what was going on in the world.
Elton John's 1973 and Rocket Records
00:02:14
Speaker
1973, really busy year for Elton John. He had released Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player at the start.
00:02:21
Speaker
And then in the summer, Rocket Records was born. Now, much later in Elton's career, he would move his own musical recordings over to Rocket Records. He wasn't doing that yet. But Kiki Dee, an artist who he admired for a work with other record labels, including Motown. She was the first white British woman on Motown. He invited her over and she got signed to Rocket Records. Now, Anthony, you often say about how difficult it is to hear Elton's lyrical, you know, saying the words. What's he saying? What's he going on about? The amazing title track written by Kiki D. She performed it as like an audition in 1973 for Elton in front of him. And the lyrics are bound, i am bound like the knots in a string. And Elton listened to the song and went, oh, that's a really poetic image. a Bound, I am bound like an ox in a stream.
00:03:20
Speaker
so ah Great minds hear as badly as one another, I think.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Orchestration and Impact
00:03:26
Speaker
truth truth um but yeah kiki d features on this uh record she is on all the girls love alice and uh there are other people featuring on this album we have got orchestral arrangements a plenty and it's not paul buck master this time it's del newman doing a lot of the string sections on here We've got saxophone solo from Leroy Gomez on ah Social Disease. He was perhaps best known for his work with the 1970s disco and Latin America act Santa Esmeralda.
00:04:03
Speaker
And ah yeah, Gus Dudgeon is still producing. Yeah, I think it's worth dwelling on those orchestral arrangements because I think, as you said in part one of this episode, Dominic, like the the the first disc of this album where we've got the first eight tracks... It's predominantly just the Elton John band playing really. that I mean, we've got lots of production values in different ways on Benny and the Jets and Funeral for a Friend, but actually it's it's not until this second half that we get more of the orchestral arrangements. as well as that fabulous saxophone solo on Social Disease that I will wax lyrical about, no doubt, when we get to that one. But I think we should get on to talking about the tracks. We do, in the first part of this episode, talk about the album artwork, as well as...
00:04:57
Speaker
just generally how well the album did. It was a best-selling album in the US across the whole of 1974. Nothing sold more albums and it topped the charts in the UK, Canada and Australia. We've spoken about the first eight tracks, many of which were released as singles. We have got another single on this second half, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, which was actually released before the album in this one. But we are gonna pick up the reviews of each track from track nine or track one on the second disc, depending on how you look at these things. and that is Sweet Painted Lady.
00:05:37
Speaker
It's three minutes, 54 long. I reckon teenage Anthony realised what Sweet Painted Lady was about. But something I found out, Dominic, was some there are some who have interpreted the lyric about the Sweet Painted Lady as actually being a metaphor of the restoration of historical houses in San Francisco, which are generally known as painted ladies. What do you reckon? Do you do you think that's what the song's about? No. um
00:06:11
Speaker
up It is a song about sex
Sweet Painted Lady: Controversy and Emotion
00:06:14
Speaker
workers. And i think... So those of you who hopefully you've all listened to part one, i said that I wondered whether...
00:06:22
Speaker
Bernie, you know, I'm a writer and they say, write what you know. And Bernie's really good at writing what he knows. We could argue that he's really good at writing non-linear lyrics. And he's definitely researched a lot of the kind of Americana stuff. There's going to be songs later on, on this half, where I question whether it was a good choice for out for for Bernie to go there.
00:06:46
Speaker
I've already questioned Jamaica Jerkoff. I think that Sweet Painted Lady is um as a really good lyric. I really like it and I think it is heartbreaking. Subjectively, i dislike listening to this song. It's not a bad song. That's not me saying that it's not a stunningly good work. This is perhaps chronologically the first song that I don't want to listen to. Now, Anthony, way back on a far earlier record, you were a little bit uncomfortable with Teacher I Need You for really valid reasons. I mean, it's a troubling lyric about a difficult topic. Yeah, this is just, I mean, the the tune here is a brilliant tune. The band play it great.
00:07:36
Speaker
It's an absolute masterpiece and it it breaks my heart. a Madman Across the Water had many songs where I was like, oh, this is this is quite, oh, you know, Razorface made me feel sad. And but but, yeah, I'd rather listen to Razorface off Madman. than Sweet Painted Lady is. Just really, really upsetting yeah is my review. How do you feel, Anthony? Yeah, I'd agree with you. that There are songs that Elton does, and make we we'll talk about one in our next episode where we talk about the album Caribou. I've not even heard that album yet, listeners. I've never heard it. I didn't own it as a kid. So, oh, my God. Crying buckets then. Yeah, there is a ah song in that one that's about seven minutes long that I absolutely would not listen to every day. but whenever I do listen to it, it really hits me hard. I think it's incredibly poignant. And um this one doesn't quite evoke the same sentiments from me, but like you say, it's it's a powerful one when you focus in on it. if If I were to give a criticism, to it. And I echo everything you say in terms of the musical arrangement. I think we you know we've mentioned that Del Newman is doing orchestral arrangements on several of the songs in this second disc. And i mean, it's brilliant, this one. If you've not listened to it before, you've you've got to tune in to what the music is doing in this one, as as well as the lyric. Fantastic little counter melodies that are going on. It's really cleverly done, just right.
00:09:14
Speaker
If I were to criticise it, I would say that the lyric starts off quite jaunty. I'm back on dry land once again. Opportunity awaits me like a rat in the drain. We're all hunting honey with money to burn.
00:09:27
Speaker
like that's presumably the you know the the voice of the the sailor or what have you. As the subject matter becomes more apparent as the song goes on, I wouldn't say that's reflected in the music.
00:09:41
Speaker
the the The music is still quite, you know, it's not jaunty. It's it's a slow song, isn't it? But for me, it would have been nice to hear a a melancholy perhaps. Oh, no. See, isn't that funny? So I criticised this song as no title by, in my opinion, I thought the music was a bit too jaunty for that. But I think the jaunty music makes it more heartbreaking. And I love the journey of the lyrics, whereas I felt I've seen this movie too, didn't progress the idea. There is a great progression on this. And yeah, it just gets sadder and sadder. And I really like the start because we get a really good idea of the world in which it is and the the feelings of the sailors and yeah um i i really i think it's a great combination of lyric and music and production i i feel it goes really well yeah yeah i yeah i think i'm speaking to the same discomfort that you feel in listening to the the song and perhaps i'm reaching a different solution um but i i think it's is' coming from the same place I'll tell you something else that I like about the song, and I dislike this quality of some of the later songs. A bit like Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, there we are samples of sounds which, in my opinion,
00:11:09
Speaker
distract from some of the the later songs. ah I love the seagulls on here. And that, again, that just really makes it sad. I don't know why, but just the seagulls, I guess, because again, it's the juxtaposition like seagulls make me think of lovely times at the beach and the innocence of childhood. I'm reading a lot into a sample, but maybe that was the intent. There's ah a juxtaposition of Innocent Times, which just makes this all the sadder. I really struggled with what to score this because I don't like listening to it, but I think it's an excellent example of what it is. I think it's excellent. I think it does well for being just under four minutes long. We criticised at the the previous track if you're listening to it as a full CD or you're streaming, I've seen that movie too for being very slow and it's six minutes long.
00:12:09
Speaker
And, you know, we we both clearly prefer this song, but actually if this had gone on for six minutes, I think it would, um yeah, it would be digging digging the knife in too far. um But yeah, it's, ah I think we we both them appreciate this song. um If you like hearing different versions of Elton's songs, I'm always keen to Direct you to a cover version. Jumble Queen do ah ah a sort of kooky cover of this one, I would say. And Cello, spelt T-C-H-E-L-L-O.
00:12:41
Speaker
Palmer, P-A-L-M-A, has got a real nice grainy singing voice. It's a male male singer, real nice grainy voice, um accompanying a nice twangy guitar in the background too.
The Ballad of Danny Bailey and Storytelling
00:12:55
Speaker
Beep. Beep. The Ballad of Danny Bailey, 1909 to 1934, is the next track. I really like this one. And do you know what? ah I wasn't the biggest fan when I first bought Tumbleweed Connection because of all the references to Americana and and and everything like that. I just didn't quite...
00:13:21
Speaker
I didn't quite get it, I didn't quite dig it. Whereas I remember this really being quite striking and standing out for me when I got Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. And I think I could take it in small doses, whereas Tumbleweed Connection was a bit, I reached saturation point, but it is absolutely a ballad. This is the, for me, this is the dictionary definition of a ballad. A ballad isn't just a slow song. I see, ah for me, a ballad has to be a story. And this is a story about a young person being shot down in cold blood. In fact, that's pretty much the literally the lyric, isn't it? Dominic, you gave an interesting reaction when I said I really like this song.
00:14:05
Speaker
Do you have different opinions? Yeah, um I think that if this was on the second or third album, maybe I might perhaps like it more.
00:14:19
Speaker
I feel it's treading familiar ground. And I just don't think it's as strong as songs that have come before. I think that the chorus is not as good a tune as the verse. I think it dips as it goes on. i Yeah, i've just I've just heard it. I've just heard it.
00:14:40
Speaker
I've seen this movie too, Elton. Ha ha ha ha! Like, yeah, it's some it's another criminal song and it's quite long and it's not that fast. And yeah, it's not it's not my favourite. It's not going to get a low score from me, but it's it's not my favourite. And it's really interesting hearing that you really connect to it.
00:15:09
Speaker
I had never heard Tumbleweed Connection ever until, because those you who've not listened to all our previous ones, both Anthony and I owned some Elton's as a kid and we didn't own others. So I owned Empty Sky, i owned Honky Shadow, I listened to Tumbleweed Connection for the first time prefer this and I loved it all on the first listening. I didn't love Danny Bailey as a kid and I don't love Danny Bailey now. poor danny no i'm a big fan i think musically it's very clever the the the music is not standard it's it you know it's not la la la la la la la la you do like the instrumental end i really like that really like it because we've criticized some songs like i can't remember what it's called now but there's one on near the end of man man across the water where um
00:16:01
Speaker
He just repeats the phrase over and over again for about 1900 days. And, you know, ah you know, I just end already. But I felt the opposite here. I really felt engaged when the instrumental section started no i'm a I'm a big fan of of all the use of the music in this one. I mean, very early on, you've got a ah snare drum replicating the the gunshot that ends his life. there's There's some really nice little riffs in there as well.
00:16:33
Speaker
I'm a big fan of the chorus. There's a music, I'm i'm not going to sing it, but if you if you just read the lyrics, it's it's quite straightforward. But I think the melody and there's some...
00:16:45
Speaker
oh-oh-oh-oh-ohs in there and and and all of this, i think it comes together really nicely. And yeah, if if you were to put together a ah mega mix of all of Elton's Americana stuff,
00:17:02
Speaker
then maybe but maybe it wouldn't chart particularly highly. But i I don't feel like it's retreading old ground. I think much like we said about Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player, this album, I think, does something really well in terms of painting a particular image for each song.
00:17:22
Speaker
track We've spoken about in the previous episode there the album art and the um the booklet that comes with it. Each song has got its own picture of of a character or or an image. And I think this this adds to that. if If he was wheeling out three or four of them, then I i think that would be different. But um I think one evocative American character is fine. Which, which is is a a a bit of a teaser to what I'm going to say about ah a track later on. I've said that one of these characters is fine, but maybe two, a Roy Rogers, might be a bit too many. But anyway, let's not spoil the party. Shall we move on?
00:18:09
Speaker
To Dirty Little Girl. Now, if you felt uncomfortable with Jamaica Jerk Off, you might not feel particularly comfortable with the song Dirty Little Girl. I certainly felt very differently about this now compared to...
00:18:26
Speaker
20 odd years ago when I was a teenager.
Changing Social Norms in Elton's Music
00:18:28
Speaker
Yeah. Would it be fair to say that modern ears might find this a bit not sex positive? It's not sex positive, no. So again, I'm going to say a lot of the same things I said for Jamaica Jerk Off. If, you know, you heard this song in the 70s and this was your favourite song.
00:18:45
Speaker
Fantastic. i this This one, I really question why... Why did Bernie Taupin write these words? Now, I struggled a little bit with um Texas Love Song on, which one's that? Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. I struggled a bit with Texas Love Song, but um the tune carries it on. And it's, um I've listened to those words of that song over and over. And I think they do a good job of portraying a really homophobic person in that song and a really like violent person, a really person doing a lot of unpleasant things. I just don't know why, why write this song? I really don't know why. It's just like ah the words are really
00:19:32
Speaker
horrible, horrible set of things about a woman. And like, yeah, it bothers me more now as an adult. It didn't bother me more. And the outro just going like dirty, dirty, dirty over and over again. And like the production is really unpleasant. There's a lot of noisy sort of feedback that I just think, I think this is really one of the songs like, why have you, you know, would, if this had been a single album at this peak era, would this song have made the cut? Would this song have made the cut? When you've got... Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Benny and the Jets, you know. And I don't think that they've bought enough ah gender positivity with the glory of Benny and the Jets to earn something that's just as really, really unsavoury. And my question is, like, why? why
00:20:26
Speaker
Why write this? Like, for what for what purpose? Why? yeah Because the story doesn't really go anywhere, you know. Like, at least Jamaica Jerk Off is celebratory. It's deeply problematic, as we say in 2026 when we're recording this podcast. But this isn't just problematic. is It's ah's really nasty. It's a really nasty set of words with a really nasty production.
00:20:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean... I'd like to go back on something I said in that I said I don't think it's particularly sex positive. And that's just me taking the the inference of, oh, you're calling someone a dirty little girl. That's...
00:21:07
Speaker
you know implying that you know they're engaging in lots of sexual activity and that's not a good thing. Reading through the lyrics carefully again just now, there's not actually an implication that that's the case. It is just literally saying there's this filthy woman and they're a problem and if they come anywhere near my house or my affairs, then... I'll get the police on them and to move them along. I don't know whether he's, you know, writing about a particular person in his life or that that has been. it It seems rather spiteful. It does seem rather spiteful, doesn't it It does. Because, you know, again, I know I'm talking through the woke a agenda. to
00:21:50
Speaker
Dominic Berry is a woke poet. Woo! But I just think, look at the power, look at the power, you know, what power does the so-called dirty little girl have? Why pick on her? Why, you know, why, what, what is she doing that that deserves, you know, a buckshot in her pants? What?
00:22:09
Speaker
What? It's like, you know, i don't know. Like, maybe if the lyric was a little bit more detailed and talking in depth about, like, a trespasser on your property and I'm feeling intimidated and, you know, that would be an interesting word. But it just seems...
00:22:26
Speaker
Not to be about that. It just seems to be punching down, in my opinion. Maybe I've massively misunderstood the note. No, I think you're right, Dominic, because I was, again, I've scanned through the lyrics to try and find context. And the first line and the last line are the only real clues of what's happened to this person. The first line, I've seen a lot of women who haven't had much luck.
00:22:51
Speaker
Okay, so we can interpret that, you know, they haven't had much luck. And the last line, so don't show up around here till your social work has helped. So social services are involved with this person. We can apply from that. But other than that, it's just a description of all the all the terrible things about this person and and that they look really gross and you don't want them around. It's, yeah, like you say, punching down. um I mean, if if we can separate the music from...
00:23:20
Speaker
ah the lyric there. I think musically it's not awful. I don't like it. I guess if I'm being generous, maybe it's a bit different to anything that he's done previously. So I praise Benny and the Jets because it was new direction and that's glorious to explore.
00:23:40
Speaker
But then Jamaica Jerkoff is also a new direction. yeah And yeah, I just don't know whether... Yeah, this this this this is miles apart from the the delicacy ah of of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or the the intricacy of the full band on Candle in the Wind. you know it's yeah I'm going to qualify what I said. by go on.
00:24:03
Speaker
Musically, I don't think it's awful. I've listened for the first time this week as we record Elton's album Leather Jackets. oh And that is what I mean when I say that this isn't awful, because that is a truly awful album. Oh, my word. I've never heard it. I've never. Yeah. when You will, Dominic, and it'll be tough listening. um Look forward to that episode, folks. And I say that Elton is my most beloved musical icon. I love his work. and and And yeah, I think musically, Dirty Little Girl is not awful, but the sentiment is is icky.
00:24:40
Speaker
We move on to All the Girls Love
Queer Contexts in All the Girls Love Alice
00:24:42
Speaker
Alice. I don't know why this is called All the Girls Love Alice, because the lyric is all the young girls love Alice. That's sung many times. I'm not yeah sure why young has been left out there. So, Dominic, can I? Bear with me. Bear with me when I go on a tangent. Bear with me. So when I'm not listening to the music of Elton John, I'm playing video games. I have loved video games since I was a kid. And a lot of you might be familiar with Street Fighter 2, a fighting game. So, you know, a kind of martial art, you know. And they've imported characters from a from a game called Final Fight. Now, Final Fight, as the name implies, lots of fighting. In the i think it was late 80s, they had a woman who you as the male player beat up and, you know, different context, different country, you know, different politics going on. Then in the 1980s, the Japanese makers of the game said, it's all right to beat up this woman because it's not a real woman. It's a man. So it's absolutely fine to beat him up. And it was said as ah as a joke, as ah as a, you know. Now, interestingly, here's the connection. Over the years, that character who's called Poison has been included in the Street Fighter's games. ah i
00:26:08
Speaker
live in Manchester, very, you know, diverse city. I've got a large number of trans friends who adore Poison, who adore the fictional character Poison, who started as a joke. And I was really surprised to hear what a trans icon to some of my trans friends, Poison is. i was like, oh, wow. And they know. It's not that they're in the dark about how this came to be. But, you know, Capcom, Capcom, who make they're trying to have their cake and eat it. They're trying to deny that that's how going. They're like, yeah, look at us. We've been inclusive since the 80s. And it's like, have you, though? Have you, though?
00:26:43
Speaker
Right, what's this got to do with this song? Gays love this song. Gays. I'm a gay. And gays love... Kiki D is on this song. Kiki D is on... I don't love this song. And I mentioned earlier that I am a fan of some of the problematic 1970s sitcoms that have got not all of them, but some of the jokes that at gay people's expense. I can see it in context and I think, oh, that's really interesting and even funny. I, ah you know, case by case basis.
00:27:14
Speaker
When there were so few songs about homosexuality, you've got David Bowie doing song like Lady Stardust, which is a phenomenally proud queer song. And to date...
00:27:32
Speaker
Correct me if I'm wrong, Anthony. This is Elton John, who was living with his gay partner at the time. This is his first gay song.
00:27:43
Speaker
And I would argue that it's about something horrible. It's about, you know, it's about something really. And I'm so, oh, oh, man.
00:27:53
Speaker
Oh, you have all things. And I know different time later on Elton John would start talking about bisexuality and far, far later in his career, people were like burning his records, smashing his vinyls. That anti Elton John reaction to him talking about his sexuality in USA was huge. So I know it's not nothing. I know it's not nothing. Elton John was courting a mainstream success that David Bowie,
00:28:20
Speaker
just david bowie was a different artist with different sensibilities from the get-go from the get-go david bowie was just different so a song like lady stardust which i think is the same year as this i think it is um it may have been the year before but it was around about around about the same time lady stardust from the ziggy stardust album um i just think oh elton this is I know I'm seeing it through modern eyes, but just through the queer lens, when it is your only queer moment, I'm just really disappointed that it's just all about, you know, all about just just really really up really upsetting, really upsetting. And I think the melody is upsetting. It's, yeah, I find it really... And that there is that kind of slightly could-a-good-man
00:29:13
Speaker
put her on the straight and narrow there. think there's that subtext in it too. I just think, oh dear. Oh dear. but But the gays love it. This is a really popular song. That's why I brought up the poison from Street Fire. The gays think this is great and it is put by many on a pedestal. Let's look at this brilliant example of a really authentic, really...
00:29:37
Speaker
excellent lyric about a queer stuff from the 70s. Look at it in context. It's brilliant. But that's not my opinion. So we've spoken before. before but Firstly, I should say thank you for shining that light on it, Dominic, because that's, you know, that's that's not something I i could do.
00:29:55
Speaker
We've spoken before about the fact that at this stage in Elton's life, he's not openly gay or even openly bisexual. And Bernie Taupin is aware of his sexuality to a degree.
00:30:11
Speaker
I don't know whether whether it even matters whether he you know with would say, oh, my pal and colleague Elton is gay or my pal and colleague Elton is bisexual. right i I don't know that that necessarily matters in in this context. it's It's an interesting one in terms of the dynamic where you've got somebody providing the lyric and somebody else performing, is it fair to say it's not the same? i'm not i'm not defending or or giving any any value judgment here. My question is, is this different because of the fact that one person, Bernie, a straight man, is writing the lyric and it's being performed by Elton
00:30:55
Speaker
who is not a straight man. Well, my subjective view, just like Dirty Little Girl, I'm like, why? Why write this? So yeah, why write this, Bernie? This is not the Americana that you've got like a really good knowledge of. This is not Goodbye Yellow Brick Road that is your own personal experience. Why write this? Why why choose of all the things you could write about what has led you to write what feels like a really sinister and and I think quite judgmental song in my opinion. And i want to love it because Kiki D is on it. And I don't know if I've ever mentioned that I adore Kiki D so very, very much. So very, very much. So, ah yeah, yeah, it's... some
00:31:41
Speaker
It's really uncomfortably. Tender young Alice. Oh, no. Leave her alone. listen Everyone, leave the dirty little girl alone. Leave tender young Alice alone. Just let them let them live their lives. Just don't just don't talk about them. you've got You've got no reason to have any opinion of them. Just let them. fictional characters getting really defensive no no fictional characters work because they reflect things in reality or or they inform our opinions and our worldview and and things like that so it's you know it it's that's that's why it evokes a ah strong and important sentiment isn't it
00:32:23
Speaker
but by those of us listening to it. I can't imagine what it must be like to be so phenomenally famous and to have the pressure, some self-imposed, some from the Money Men, the record label, to keep creating something that isn't going to be a flop. And it is phenomenal that Elton John has done so many albums at this stage and he's still churning out hits, still churning out hits that to this day are recognised as amongst his best stuff. I mean, that's phenomenal. You go forward to the 80s, you know, I'm still standing, seen as one of his best. Go to the 90s, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Circle of Life, seen up there with his best. It's phenomenal. It's phenomenal. Really, you know, what an impressive artist. And the... the
00:33:10
Speaker
the pressure to to, you know, you can't just churn out ah your song over and over again. And good on them for not churning out your song over and over and over again. And let's go back to my earlier point. If this had been a single album instead of a double album, if this had been 10 songs instead of a gajillion songs, then I don't think that Dirty Little Girl or Alice would have made the car. But then I'm saying that, going repeat that I know queer people who think Alice is a brilliant song and one of their favourites of the album. So this is just my subjective view. Yeah, no, it and and a valuable one to hear it is too, in in my opinion. So on this on this disc, we've heard about a sweet painted lady. We did hear about...
00:33:57
Speaker
Danny Bailey as well. Then we've heard about the Dirty Little Girl. Then we've heard about Tender Young Alice. And the the the theme of of singing about ah women continues with... Your sister can't twist, but she can rock and roll. I'm going to venture an opinion that if we're going to have a ah ah double track that is Funeral for a Friend going into Love Lies Bleeding on the A-side... Sorry, on disc one.
00:34:25
Speaker
then I'm going to say that your sister can't twist, but she can rock and roll going straight into Saturday nights all right for fighting is a classic double. I i think these could be ah these could be a double a double ah track listing, but let's approach them separately because that's how they've been.
00:34:41
Speaker
build. um i will I will say though, I will say that i absolutely agree. And for me, it's like when, you know, I've mentioned before, for all my sins, I do like Andrew Lloyd Webber, I do like musicals and some Andrew Lloyd Webber songs were released as singles. But when you listen to it in the context of the concept album, often things flow together. And when a song does,
00:35:07
Speaker
segue from something less known into the hit and you're like oh my word oh my word like um in jesus christ superstar which was kind of not that long before this uh there's a great big conversation between jesus and uh uh pilot and uh To go from that into the into the hit single, it's a great segue. And that is how I feel about this. I feel that um the sister in my in my movie mind, that that they yeah she's going out dancing with the boys on the Saturday night. And it's a perfect, perfect combination of songs. I adore it. Yeah.
00:35:48
Speaker
I've got a lot of good to say about this song, having laid into into it, you know. i And great that the the pronoun she is used ah fur for for this because, you know, it's just celebrating a person being good at dancing. She got more soul than me. Hooray. Yeah, yeah. it's it's some It's a shame it's only two minutes 42 seconds long. It's a shame that there's the circus music in there as an instrumental solo at one point. You've got the... did do do did do Which has a nice little counter harmony going on to it in the background that I think is quite clever. I quite like that and I have criticised the ah Pink Floyd bit. um
00:36:33
Speaker
Again, i I didn't like the and sound effects on Alice. so I thought the kind of samples of of non-musical stuff added to my discomfort on there. But in this, yeah, I really like that bit. I think it's um an inventive bit. And I'm very critical of Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon. I wish that they would just take out all of the stuff that everybody loves about it, all of the... Bong, bong. Oh, what is this nonsense? Why are you pretending to like this? Emperor's New Clothes. ah But yeah, but contradicting myself.
00:37:08
Speaker
Yeah, I do. I do think it's quite creative in seaside sort of circusy bit on an otherwise kind of quite straightforward song. And I think it actually elevates it. I really like that. Yeah, yeah it it it evokes an image, doesn't it? um ah ah I think without it, it would still be.
00:37:28
Speaker
I think it would still be just as good. it's it it We didn't really talk about the music of the last track because there was there was a lot to say ah about the the content of it.
00:37:39
Speaker
but it's a Sinister music! Sinister music! Like they're going to kill her or just abuse her in some awful way. Sinister, sinister music. ah the The tempo and the feel of it is extended and improved, I would say, on on Your Sister Can't Twist.
00:37:57
Speaker
um And as we say, it leads really nicely into Saturday night um as well. um Yeah, um I don't think I can say a great deal more about Your Sister Can't Twist other than it's a really, really good rock and roll song. And I'm going to say that as a word writer, it is hard to write words about fun and joy and dancing. I love songs about dancing. Madonna has got more than one song where the lyrics are about dancing and the joy of dancing. And it's difficult. It's it's easier to write a set of words are like, I'm miserable, here's why I'm sad. that's That's kind of, you know, your bread and butter. But
00:38:39
Speaker
I think that as a huge fan of 1950s rock and roll, I love all the stuff like, you know, Bill Haley and Chuck Berry. I love Little Richard. I love all of that. And i think this is a really i think this is a really good set of words. I think this is real i don't think I could do a better set of words for this subject matter. And it's a good subject matter. Yeah, yeah.
00:39:03
Speaker
I would agree. i think this, for me, this exemplifies what I said back in part one of this episode when we were talking about the lyric that goes with the excellent music of Love Lies Bleeding. And I was saying whilst the lyric might be simple, I think the music does a great job for it. And actually, if if you make the words a bit too ornamental and and flowery and maybe add too many of them,
00:39:30
Speaker
then it might almost beat be too much. And I think this teeters on the edge of being too much. Elton really has to have his teeth in to get all the words out in the right syllables. I think it's okay. I don't think it goes over the edge, but it it dances dangerously close. When Richard O'Brien wrote the song, Whatever Happened to Saturday Night for the musical, The Rocky Horror Show... And Meatloaf, in his debut performance as Meatloaf, he'd done stuff under a different name, but this was the first ever Meatloaf song, which he continued to perform in concert till his dying day. Rich O'Brien said, yeah, I know there are a ridiculous number of words in here. Don't worry if you paraphrase a meatloaf. He only has one song. He only has one song. And he was like, going to enunciate this perfectly. And he does. And he does.
00:40:28
Speaker
And I think that Elton John does a great job. I'm a big fan of a lot of words in one line. And I think it adds to the frantic feeling of excitement, of dancing should be thrilling. And I think that the...
00:40:44
Speaker
detail. I do think this is a better set of words than love lies bleeding. I think it's really, really exciting stuff. Yeah, yeah, it certainly is that.
00:40:56
Speaker
So much so that the track that it almost bleeds into, they're in a different key. youre youre Your Sister Can't Twist is in the key of e and Saturday Night Rights of Fighters is in G, but there is a very small gap in between them. ah I like to think that the album production team deliberately left that gap between the tracks as small as it possibly could be. Your Sister Can't Twist is so up-tempo that it...
00:41:23
Speaker
Initially, when you hear the first few chords and riffs of Saturday Nights Are Right For Fighting, it feels a little slow, but it is actually still uptempo.
Challenges in Recording Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
00:41:33
Speaker
And i' I'm sure everyone listening to this has heard this song, if not once, then 101 times. It's the first single from this album. um it was It was released in 1973 as a single. It was...
00:41:48
Speaker
the only song that the band recorded in Jamaica. We've described in the previous episode that they initially, the intent was for the whole album to be recorded in Jamaica, but due to a series of problems, they relocated to their usual studio in France. But yeah, this one was originally done in Jamaica. I'm pretty sure that they re-recorded it in in the the studio that they did the rest of the work in It entered the US charts um and got to number 12 as its highest bit. So it's actually the only single by Elton that failed to make the top 10 in the And a rare example of it charting higher in the UK than in the US, s where the majority of his early 70s stuff was the other way around, greatest success stateside. Yeah. And, I mean, despite its success, Elton called the song hard to record. I think because it is, for him personally, he's saying it's hard to record. It's so not a piano-driven song. melody or feel unusually he added his piano bits in afterwards but we've we've talked we've talked the nerdy bits before we've given our opinion on the song dominic i mean for me it's it's an absolute fantastic song um i i think it's hard to
00:43:15
Speaker
Hard to improve. I can't think how I could improve it personally. what's What's your take on the song? It's got everything. It has mainstream appeal. I can remember being a little kid watching telly and like the BBC using it to promote like what was coming up on Saturday night viewing. a Saturday, ah Saturday... And yet its words are really, see, its words are horrible. Its words are horrible, but horrible in a good way. And I feel that Bernie Taupin and Elton John do own this subject matter. I think that it's great to hear them.
00:43:52
Speaker
You know, it's... ah It sounds violent, it sounds a little bit scary if you really listen deeply to it. But then on the surface, it's not a million miles away from Crocodile Rock, you know, a bit less twee than that. But it is that huge up-tempo, amazingly catchy chorus.
00:44:14
Speaker
It's wonderful. I absolutely adore it. It's really good in Rocketman. In the movie Rocketman, that's a real like musical theatre type bit where um all of her, Saturday, Saturday, and it's really acted out. Yeah, well, it's it's referring to his childhood, isn't it? where Where he would play piano in in these kinds of bars where fights would break out. And exactly as you said, Dominic, this is subject matter that he can resonate with. that it It represents his lived experience. And so that's why it is completely different to singing about tender young Alice or the dirty little girl or,
00:44:58
Speaker
or whatever, you know, it it doesn't have that same ick, that same problem. And, oh yeah, fantastic, fantastic turns of phrase. I particularly like, I'm a juvenile product of the working class whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass. Like what what a what a great little couplet that is. And and obviously, you know, musically it's,
00:45:23
Speaker
ah we've We've waxed lyrical about Davy Johnston a lot on this podcast already, and no doubt we will continue to do so. um This is definitely in the ah best of Davy Johnston album or playlist that we put together, isn't it? Like it's some real fantastic stuff. In terms of where where the song has been used, I mean, you said, Dominic, that the subject content amazing.
00:45:46
Speaker
is not pleasant at all. It's quite nasty. um It was actually featured in Grand Theft Auto V, so that rather exemplifies what what you're talking about. um It's been used as the opening theme for professional wrestling. There has been parody of it used in the 2017 film Kingsman, The Golden Circle, though they do change the word Saturday to Wednesday. LAUGHTER I didn't know that. Yeah. And it was referenced in an episode of the sixth season of Gilmore Girls. There have been countless covers of it. Am I right in thinking? No, the who did um the Who did take me to the pilot, didn't they? I'm trying to think who covered. No, they did on Two Rooms, ah the the tribute album. They do do this. They do this as well. Yeah, I'm
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think they might do both, you know. i was trying to think. No, I don't think so. I don't think so, Dominic Berry going on with PG&L to have a little look. Yeah, yeah, I really remember. Because I mentioned before I listened Side 2 a little bit less than Side 1, but ah yeah, their version is is great. yeah Indeed.
Dissatisfaction and Escapism in Roy Rogers
00:46:56
Speaker
Right, well, to finish the album off, we have got three tracks that many folk might not have heard before. Maybe you might have heard the very last one. It was ah released as a single in 1980. Didn't do particularly well, but we're skipping the gun here.
00:47:13
Speaker
Roy Rogers is track 15 on the whole album together. He was a real actor. He was a real person, Roy Rogers. How would we describe Roy? Well, I tell you what, let's see how Bernie describes Roy Rogers. The chorus, Roy Rogers is riding tonight, returning to our silver screens.
00:47:32
Speaker
Comic book characters, never grow old, evergreen heroes whose stories were told the great sequin cowboy who sings of the plains of roundups and rustlers and home on the range. Turn on TV, shut out the lights. Roy Rogers is riding tonight, except it's not something like that. It's Roy Rogers or, uh, to that effect. I've, I've given a spoiler early on saying that I was happy to have one caricature of, uh, the Midwest America, um, in Danny Bailey, but, um,
00:48:08
Speaker
Two helpings might be a bit too much for me. And for that reason, Roy Rogers, by the time we're on track 15 and we've got the second character from a part of the world that I have no references for, yeah, I'm not i'm not enjoying it as much. What about you? Right, I'm going to try and persuade you otherwise because I've got the complete opposite opinion. and I'm not so interested in Danny Bailey, but I really like Roy Rogers. I think that following Saturday Night...
00:48:35
Speaker
we've got a trio of songs that really belong together because this is a guy. It's not really about Roy Rogers. It's about the guy who is watching Roy Rogers on telly. And we don't see a lot of him in the first verse, but it's the second verse where the camera really pans in nine o'clock mornings, five o'clock evenings. I'd liven the pace if I could. I'd rather have ham in my sandwich than cheese, but complaining wouldn't do any good. Lay back in my armchair.
00:49:08
Speaker
Close eyes and think clear. I can hear hoofbeats ahead. Roy and Trigger have just hit the hilltop. while the wife and the kids are in bed. You know, this is a guy who is, you know, dissatisfied with life, who is dissatisfied with what he's achieved. And i we don't see a lot of him, but those few short words...
00:49:36
Speaker
Bernie does own this as a topic to talk about. It's heartbreaking, but just the right amount. It doesn't make me so sad like Sweet Painted Lady, but it's just enough in that second verse to add a different spin. But for me, Danny Bailey with its more, oh, Danny Bailey is the central character and he just gets shot. Well, oh, sad Danny Bailey. But here, I really feel for the guy who is, you know, he's not having adventures because he's got commitments and he's struggling with his commitments. He is struggling with it. And he would love to be Saturday nights. All right. For fighting, but he's not, he's watching telly and he's not on a horseback. And,
00:50:18
Speaker
I think it's great. think it's a really good tune. think Elton sings it really well. We've not really been praising his singing voice as much as we could be, but he's a wonderful singer. And this is one of the many examples of songs he sings really very
Accents and Thematic Elements
00:50:34
Speaker
well indeed. He does. I'm still going to criticise the accent Elton.
00:50:41
Speaker
of the chorus. For me, it I just don't relate to cowboys and Indians and Westerns and things like that. it It just doesn't do it for me. And I i completely agree with you.
00:50:54
Speaker
That's not what the song's about. But because the narrator is focusing on in on that, on the chorus that that keeps coming back, it it just takes it a little bit away. But I i completely agree. the first I mean, that opening verse, sometimes you dream, sometimes it seems there's nothing there at all. You just seem older than yesterday and you're waiting for tomorrow to call. That's so wonderful. What what a timeless sentiment of of of folk, like you say, feeling dissatisfaction. the um
00:51:28
Speaker
The steel guitar and the the the arrangement musically is is good. I can't deny that it's good. But again, because it's got that Western country feel to it,
00:51:41
Speaker
it's it's not quite doing it for me. And I'm calling for musically inclined listeners to ah rewrite ah a different chorus and to put it to a different genre of music. And then I would i would be enjoying it more. But yeah, I i do agree, Dominic. Objectively, there is a a really strong sentiment to the lyric. Which I don't feel about...
00:52:07
Speaker
social disease. I'm sorry, but I feel this is another example of punching down. At least he's punching down on a bloke this time after so much laying into the women.
00:52:19
Speaker
The lyric you quoted from Saturday Night, I'm a juvenile product of the working class whose best friend floats at the bottom of the glass. That is a judgmental lyric. And yet for me, For me, I love that lyric. I love it. And it sits in the same place. I'm a huge fan of Ian Jury, a singer from the 1970s who would definitely be seen as problematic by loads people today. But he was singing about his world, his community. The song Blockheads is ah a list of really unattractive, horrible qualities. And then at the end, kind of like identifies as a blockhead, like, you know, ah which is a twist on it because it sounds like it's all being very finger pointy and judgmental. And it's like, well, I'm a blockhead.
00:53:08
Speaker
ah And that's how I feel about Saturday night's all right for fighting. I'm okay with that line because I think that it's in that Ian Jury type thing. ah I don't feel that about social disease. I don't feel that Elton or Bernie are like, yeah, I really get this. I feel that it's finger pointing. I feel that it's judgmental. I think that it's just really unpleasant. I don't like the dog barking sound effect. Get that Pink Floyd nonsense out of my record. Leave it alone. LAUGHTER I agree with your sentiment, Dominic, in in terms of the the judgmental feeling of it. And I will say that it's an example of a song that listening to it in my early teens, tuning into the music and the production of it. I mean, it's not huge production values, but you have got this. There's a fade in.
00:54:08
Speaker
to the music, which is and unusual for a song. You have got that that dog barking in the backyard and just the general musical arrangement of it. i mean, it's it's got to he's got a strong feel to it, with with whether you like it or not. It's got a definite defined identity to it
Musical Arrangement and Identity
00:54:26
Speaker
musically. I think the sax solo is is great by Leroy Gomez that we we mentioned earlier.
00:54:33
Speaker
All of those things in my teens made it one of my favorite tracks of the album. I really liked it. Wow. And then do and then older Anthony focusing on the lyrics more. I mean, you don't even have to hear the lyrics, just just just the title. social disease i mean you'd be hard pressed to write a song called social disease that wasn't judgmental and problematic um yeah unless you are you know from from the right wing of politics um and possibly the the more extreme right wing end of things yeah it it just it just takes all the fun out of it and and again like turn it into a karaoke track and put some different lyrics to it. And I think you've got a really well-produced piece of music. You know, they're a good band and um Gus is a good producer.
00:55:24
Speaker
But yeah, you can't you can't listen to this without feeling a bit ick. You're going absolutely disagree with me here. Here is my 10 song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Funeral Love Lies Bleeding, Candle, Benny, Goodbye. Song has no title, Grey Seal.
00:55:42
Speaker
then cuts to the trilogy of Sister Can't Twist, Saturday Night. I love Roy Rogers. Roy Rogers is a closing track. The guy watching his telly. That's your finale of the album. Job done. That's a 10 on 10 album from Dominic. Dominic, you're categorically wrong for one reason only. For one reason only, it needs to be a top 11 because you missed out.
00:56:07
Speaker
harmony which to my mind is a wonderful wonderful piece of music and i i'm looking forward to hearing you pick holes in it and i can preempt already the holes you're going pick on but musically it is it is wonderful it lives up to its name in that the the harmonies in there are fantastic and the the way that it flows musically is wonderful And it needs it needs to be in there. It needs to be in there. it's it
00:56:39
Speaker
Whether or not you agree or whether or not you enjoy every track on the album, it has been It's not on any greatest hits, is it? No. no And so is You've Gotta Love Someone. Or, yeah you know, that that that doesn't mean anything. It's it's a double album. You Gotta Love Someone is on Greatest Hits. No, no, my point is that is on there. That is on there. So whether or not it appears on Greatest Hits is... I prefer You Gotta Love Someone to Harmony. What?
00:57:13
Speaker
do two I find it a bit boring, Anthony. it's sir You've seen this movie too, for me. No, but... And I love hearing your passion. God, tell me why I'm wrong. I am bored, but I'm really sorry I drift off to harmony. And it's like, how is this a single when you've got... But go on, praise it, praise it. Okay, so it's not got the deep, meaningful lyrics that that are, you know, one has to sit down and interpret. You know, it's it's not doing that. But I'm repeating myself from other things where I've i've said this makes something really good track.
00:57:51
Speaker
But musically, it does something to me in a way that an orchestral piece of music can, that's that's got layers to it and that builds and that builds and that builds. The end of the song, you've got a repeated line of never leaving harmony, harmony, harmony, harmony. And it goes on. And what the music does there... I mean, if if you're not somebody that's moved by music intrinsically by itself, if you could never imagine being moved by a piece of instrumental music, then this song probably won't do it for you. Because, yeah, it's... I mean, maybe. Maybe if you're a teenager or or someone that's never heard much popular music before, it might it might do something for And you're like, oh, that's interesting. You're talking about...
00:58:42
Speaker
missing someone or or, you know, or whatever. But in in terms of the way that the the simple but layered music builds up, I think i think there's something really profound. And it's, yeah, there's there's really simple lyrics. Harmony. Gee, I really love you. And I want to love you forever. yeah it's not it's not GCSE poetry is it you know you're not going to win awards for that lyric but it is it's it's the the musical arrangement that I think does something deep do you not feel anything at all I don't feel anything at all i am a vegan and a vegan rock band a radio head and oh my word I want to love radio head I went to see him at Glastonbury And, you know, the only radiohead I like are the ones that it's not cool to like. They're sort of more accessible songs like Creep, you know, and Just, you know, Give Me Them. But listening to Kid A or OK Computer, it's like, all right, yeah, you're telling me that it's, you know, complicated music, but, oh, do I have to listen to it? And that's how I i really love.
00:59:54
Speaker
that you're going to give Harmony a high score. And it's it's it's great that we're reading this together because I feel like a Luddite. I feel like an absolute blasphemer. But my honest reaction is that, no, I don't. And I sing the praise of David Bowie, how much I adore David Bowie. But you know what, I don't rate his late 70s stuff, which is seen as his peak, like the instrumental section of low and the instrumental section of heroes sends me to sleep, like, you know, a sense of doubt. do do do like People adore it. People have written essays on how innovative it was, how Joy Division's whole career was you know inspired by the intensity of this instrumentation.
01:00:43
Speaker
It bores me. It bores me. And I don't need something to have words to be interesting, but I guess instrumentals have a harder job of um convincing me. Yeah.
01:00:56
Speaker
but For me, we've we've spoken before about how Elton albums finish and, you know, right from Empty Sky, the the end of Gulliver and and, well, particularly the way that Gulliver... I like that instrumental, hey-chewed, I like that.
01:01:13
Speaker
I nearly swore at you there, Dominic. way that Gulliver ends in the reprise at the end of Empty Sky with that with that echo is fantastic. And there's there's countless other examples of the way that the album finishes being really quite profound and and the choral arrangement of of the voices,
01:01:35
Speaker
that ends not just this track, Harmony, but the whole album, whether or not you rate every track on it, as we, you know, Dominic and I don't rate every track, but it is an epic double album.
01:01:49
Speaker
And the way that it, the way that it finishes with this, I i think is grand and befitting of the effort, if not the execution of every track that is within it. I really like it as an end to the, as an end to the album. And I respect your right, Dominic, for it to end with Roy Rogers. that's that That I could equally imagine a you know an epic album like this finishing with Roy Rogers. That that wouldn't be a poor end to the album.
01:02:21
Speaker
Or, or I'd be up for including some of the B-sides, which were indeed included on ah subsequent re-releases of the album. So we spoke previously about Whenever You're Ready, We'll Go Steady Again. That was used for the B-sides Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.
01:02:39
Speaker
I give the B-side to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I've said this before. Screw you. That's a 10 on 10 song. I absolutely love it. That I would put on the album. I'm just a fan of albums that are more consistent in tone. Not so keen on Jack Rabbit, the B-side of Saturday Night. But... um Yeah, all of those were on the 30th anniversary deluxe edition that came out in 2003. The 40th anniversary had a whole load of cover versions from Fallout Boy to Sheeran, loads of people covering loads different songs.
01:03:20
Speaker
ah Also highlights from Live at Hammersmith Odeon, December 1973. Anthony, I'm not familiar with ah that. You really like live Elton. Have you listened to the highlights from live at Hammersmith 1973? Yeah, i I will say i am that there's a yeah if you were to do a a graph of of time against enjoyment of Elton's live stuff, it would be a big valley. His really early stuff, and I'm talking like 1970, 1971 live stuff, is fantastic. I think in the last 20 years, his live acts have been brilliant. And I am biased because that's when I have been to see him. No, but they are. They are. The stuff in between, and I would include this 1973 as the in-between, don't think it does much to extend...
01:04:22
Speaker
the album tracks. So I think they're just less well produced version of the album tracks. Whereas I would say his live stuff of the last 20 years is really well produced. And his 1970, 1971 live stuff is a completely different sound that you don't hear on any of his other albums. So I don't necessarily direct people towards that sort of era of live stuff. But if you like the songs on it, you'll you'll probably like it to a degree. But I don't think it does anything different to the album. I've mentioned how much I adore Captain Fantastic. That's perhaps my favourite album. So I bought the double CD that's got a live album. version of every single song in order, him playing the entire, we're ending with Saturday Night's all Alright for Fighting as an Encore. And eventually I thought, you know what, I don't need to listen to any of this because it's exactly what you said. It's just a slightly less well produced version of songs that sound better on the album. But i completely share your enthusiasm for more recent Elton live productions. Absolutely. Well, we need to get on to scoring these tracks, Dominic. And there's a few other elements that we score for each album, too, like the artwork and things
Scoring System and Album Ranking
01:05:42
Speaker
like that. We have already done the first eight tracks and we are currently averaging around about...
01:05:50
Speaker
the seven and a bit mark between us. So let's get on with it. Sweet Painted Lady. are you giving that one out of 10, Dominic? Eight. Yeah, I'm also going for eight.
01:06:03
Speaker
The Ballad of Dani Bailey. I am also going to give an eight. Don't shoot me. I'm giving it a seven. It's rare for me to outscore you on a track. So that's a red letter day there. Dirty Little Girl. Goodness.
01:06:19
Speaker
I really... You know, again, I said this about Jamaica Jerk Off. This is your favourite song. We can like whatever we like. You know, my favourite musical is Rocky Horror Show. There's loads of stuff in there that doesn't stand up for young folk watching it with modern sensibilities. And yet, I only score this 2 out of 10. Yeah, I've given it a 3. I've found previous ratings for low ones quite helpful to kind of gauge, oh, do I like it more than that or less than that? So, not... lower than Jamaica Jerk Off for me, giving it a three. I've got to say, All The Girls Love Alice, I would have scored completely differently before listening to what you had to say about it. and Oh man, oh no, I feel bad now. No, not at all, because our appreciation of art
01:07:08
Speaker
changes all the time and it's informed by different things and but remember what is said about Street Fighter trans folks loving poison and celebrate same with this song you know there are plenty of people who are like but this is a scenario that was worth documenting and worth I just don't know if Bernie was the right people it's a five out of ten from me yeah i'm I'm also giving it a five I really quite like the music for this one. I think it's well put together, but it's a complete package, isn't it? And that that has seven put it in the shade for me. um So yeah, I've also given it five. Your sister can't twist. I have given an eight. I think this is a
01:07:50
Speaker
flawless song i cannot put into words with no irony i give this 10 out of 10 i guess perfection i love it fantastic it's a 10 for me for saturday night's all right for fighting and it's 10 for me easy peasy okay roy rogers so if we were scoring the verses and the choruses separately i would be giving it a at least an eight for the verses maybe like a five or six for the chorus so i will come down in the middle and give it a seven yeah i mean my high praise might mean that folks could be surprised by my score i'm giving it an eight i think it is really good but it's not there with i like gray seal more social disease i am going to give a five
01:08:36
Speaker
because I do like the music to it, but yeah, it's not one I enjoy listening to anymore. So I'm giving it a generous five. I can't emphasise enough that if somebody's like, you know, you like Ian Jury, I like Social Disease, aren't they saying? Good for you. It doesn't resonate with me. It's a four for me.
01:08:56
Speaker
Okay. And the final track of the album, Harmony. What are you going to give it Dominic? Do you know what? It was going to be... a five but I'm bumping it up a score because of your impassioned impassioned reaction. I'm giving it six. Well, you're correct, of course, to listen to my opinion, um but the correct opinion is that that is 10 out of 10 for harmony.
01:09:24
Speaker
which means our average scores as a whole for the album dominic is rating it 7.18 goodbye yellow brick road which is the lowest that you've given any of them dominic my average is 7.53 which is the third highest um elton john and honky chateau both got 8.1 from me so it's in third place But we need to rank some more things. The album name Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, I'm giving that 10 out of 10. Yeah, some people have been quite critical and said it's not that much of an original line. that Other folks have said similar things in poetry or essays come before.
01:10:04
Speaker
Within this context, 10 out of 10 is brilliant. It's brilliant. And I'm giving the same for the artwork. Yeah, I i don't i don't know how to improve it, really. 10, yeah, 10 for artwork. cover versions if we're going for quantity it's got to be our highest scoring one in terms of quality there might be cover versions that we're not massive fans on I mean the um I think it's called the Zac Brown band that covered Harmony I really don't like their cover of it I think I will give it a nine because there's not many covers of these songs that I have listened to and think
01:10:39
Speaker
Well, that's rubbish, actually. And most Elton covers I listen to and think, well, I much prefer the original. But actually, there's some decent ones. So I'm giving it nine out of ten. Seven.
01:10:49
Speaker
Seven from Dominic. OK, the lyrics as a whole out of ten. Because it's equally divided between genius and words that I find awful. I'm giving it five.
01:11:03
Speaker
Okay, I'm being slightly more generous in giving it a six, but yeah, I share the sentiment there. It's it's definitely let down by some. Musically, however, I can't fault it. I'm giving it 10 out of 10. I do fault it because, you know, there's a lot that I find quite pedestrian. I'm giving seven. This is the definition of why we've got flop dodge as a category. So for for listeners listening to us for the first time, we have a category called flop dodge, where if you produce an album where every track is solid, there's no hint of a rubbish track, then you score that highly on flop dodge because it has dodged a flop.
01:11:42
Speaker
Whereas if every track is dodgy, then it's zero out of 10. So in terms of flop dodge, I'd say it does really quite poorly, because partly because it's so long, it increases the chances of it. I'd say there's more flops in this than any album that we've listened to. So I'm going to give it a three. Yeah, i'll give it a three as well. However, our final category hits for me, there are, I'm going count them.
01:12:08
Speaker
I'd say there's at least a eight an eight Anthony hits in there. So I'm gonna give it 10 out of 10. because i don't I don't see how they could have squeezed more hits in there. No, you have changed the goalposts. You have changed the goalposts. You previously said to me that the definition is if you look at each song and go, is this song a hit in whatever I think? That was your previous. Okay. um But no, then wouldn't it?
01:12:38
Speaker
Oh, okay. No, I see what you're saying. So when I was going through Empty Sky, for me, Valhalla is a hit. yes Yes, yes, yes, Western Ford Gateway is a hit. But if I'm going through this album, then, you know, Alice isn't a hit, you know, like Jamaica Jerkoff isn't a hit. OK, OK, we'll judge it in that way then. I think it's important. OK, well, in that case, I'll give it an eight because I think there are several flops.
01:13:05
Speaker
But other than that, it's pretty solid, solid stuff. So I'll give it an eight.
01:13:13
Speaker
Six. Right. The scores are in Where does this place? Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road. Do you know what? It is fiendishly close. Currently top of the table. Don't shoot me. I'm only the piano player. 83 and a half.
01:13:28
Speaker
Then Tumbleweed Connection. 82 and a half. Elton John. 78 and half. then elton john seventy eight and a half It's still not featuring. Then Honky Chateau, 77.25. Then Madman Across the Water, 76.6. Oh, no. No, then it's goodbye. Then it's goodbye. Then it's goodbye. Yellow Brick Road, 76.76. Just above Madman Across the Water, 76.61. So we are looking at fifth place so far out of seven.
01:14:03
Speaker
Does that surprise you, Dominic? I really didn't know in which way this would go and I didn't want to be sabotaging it because I was aware that there were non-singles tracks that you really loved on this and loads of people be coming to this record adoring it and I didn't want to be like, oh look at us with our Cool podcast where we say that most people's favourite isn't ours. I didn't want to be an idiot about it, but i did want to be authentic. So um I think that if it had ended up with like a score of like, you know, 10%, I'd have been like, oh, no, we have been too harsh, hasn't it? This is the record with Campbell in the wind on. Come on, guys. Come on, guys. But yeah, i think that's a really, really fair ranking. It's not a fair ranking for Empty Sky. This is an absolute tragedy that is currently last place. But Anthony assures me that when we get to the likes of Leather Jacket, Empty Sky will be rocketing up the league boards. Yeah, no, it will. I think the placing of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in our rankings shows...
01:15:07
Speaker
our scoring system like if we scored things differently if you picked the best 10 tracks from each album like how would how would this do well let me just say i sent you a little modern uh uh interview tiny little tick tock thing of elton picking his top five and none none from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, three from Captain Fantastic, Elton John, and I'm aware, you know, he's a man who's lived a long time, he's going to say different things on different days, this is not the definitive answer to what are Elton John's five favourite Elton John songs, but Someone Saved My Life Tonight, and then two of the album tracks, Curtains and We All Fall In Love Sometimes, which, spoilers,
01:15:56
Speaker
are probably my two least favourite ones off of my favourite Elton John album, but I still love them, I still love them, but I was like, really, those two? Then he does choose your song, and then, Anthony, and then, and then, and I i nearly, I nearly exploded with joy. From the Made in England album, from the Made in England album, Blessed.
01:16:18
Speaker
I mean... i I love the song Bless. I owned Made in England as a kid. Bless was my favourite track. It didn't do well in the charts. It's a glorious song. So no, Elton doesn't list any of these in his top five songs. maybe you would top 10 though yeah i still think if you were to pick the top nine or ten tracks from this album and just make them into an album and and then rate them against the others i think it would be hard to top it's let down by its chaff um lots of talking about this album
01:16:57
Speaker
What's the next one we're going to talk about? Well, you know what? One that I've never heard before. So Captain Fantastic is, I believe, two albums time. So the one after the next one, i have owned since I was a kid. I know it back to front. At the time of recording this, I've never listened to caribou i do know that caribou contains one of my top five favorite elton songs and it's not don't let the sun go down on me uh so it was released june 1974 i'll rest assured i will tell you what kee d was doing in that year when we come back for our next episode and listeners you do need to tune in to that one for two reasons The first reason is we are going to have the professional poet Dominic Berry try to decipher the lyrics to Sola Prestige Agamon.
01:17:50
Speaker
And the second reason is you need to be able to come back to hear the answer to our teaser trivia question from the end of this episode, which is the most difficult one and the most trivial one that we have done so far. The question is, what was the difference between the UK release and the North American release, i.e. UK and Canada, of Benny and the Jets. There was a difference in the way that the single was released.
01:18:21
Speaker
It's really tedious. If you get this right, you get 10 points and a metaphorical Elton Crown from me. Nice. Well, listen, everyone, thank you so much for listening. We are just two friends and we enjoy doing this so very, very much. So it's brilliant that you're tuning in. You can certainly get in touch by email at eltonveltonpod at gmail.com. You can find me and more of my work as a poet on my website, dominicberry.net.
01:18:51
Speaker
Ant does two other podcasts, Enough of the Falafel, the Vegan Week and Vegan Talk episodes, which I occasionally feature on. And Antony also records the Brambling Along podcast.
01:19:04
Speaker
Well, until next time. It's goodbye from me, Captain Dontastic, and him, the brown dirt ant boy. Goodbye. Goodbye, everybody.
01:19:20
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 sireltonjohn.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.