Bernie goes upstairs for a shave while Elton, below, tries to make something of the lyric for "Your Song." At the piano, Egerton as Elton tries out a chord and a falling bass line. In a memorable moment, Elton comes close to kissing Bernie, who says, "I love you - but not that way."ĭespite all the dancing and glitter, my favorite scene in the movie takes place in the Dwights' lower - middle - class home, where Elton and Bernie work on songs. They bond over their love of country - western music. The meeting of Elton and Bernie (Jamie Bell) at a cafe is awkward, each of them shy, each looking for affirmation from the other, and each admiring the work of the other. "Your Song" (music by Elton John, lyric by Bernie Taupin, 1969)Ī recording company's agent hands a packet to the newly - named Elton John, containing lyrics by another aspiring songwriter, Bernie Taupin. "Oiled," "diesel" and "set the dance alight" all tie in with combustion the internal rhymes and assonance of night, alight, I, like and alright, sounding on accented beats propel the lyric, music just underscoring what Taupin had crafted. Only Reggie's grandmother Ivy (Gemma Jones) encourages his musical talent, and soon the middle - school Reggie (Kit Connor) is breaking out of classical piano music into rock and roll with "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting." Taupin's lyrics have a cocky, exuberant, rough feel but they're polished and thoughtful, too. Young Reggie sings, "I want love," the mother adds, "But it's impossible." The icy father, a veteran of the recent war, who will bolt from the family as soon as he can, sings, This is what I first loved in Sondheim's Broadway musicals: the characters' expressions of different feelings layer on top of each other, building to a unified statement, the thesis for the movie. Reggie in his early teens (Kit Connor), his mother, his father, and his grandmother all take lines of a lyric "I Want Love," Taupin's 2002 collaboration with Elton John. Like any classic Broadway show, there's an "I want" song. No sooner does Elton begin to tell about his childhood than his own five - year - old self (Matthew Illesley) leads him to his old neighborhood where everyone dances to "The Bitch is Back." The musical number instantly clarifies his family's social milieu and time, while the lyric states the salient fact of young Reggie Dwight's life, that his mother never wants him around, and never wanted him at all. We see a glittery Satan stalk into a group therapy session and, defensively, arrogantly, introduce himself as Elton John (Taron Egerton), addicted to you - name - it: drugs, alcohol, food, sex, and shopping. The movie's writer Lee Hall and director Dexter Fletcher teach us early on how the songs will tell the story. So as soon as I look at the lyrics, visually, I can see what's going on." ( Elton John interview on Fresh Air) Rocketman proves EJ's point. Taupin "always has been a very cinematic storyteller in his lyrics," Elton John told Terry Gross in 2013. Bernie Taupin, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (1973) Saturday night's alright alright alright. "The sun has been quite kind" to the writer, but "It's for people like you / that keep it turned on." Is the sun like a person, or like a light bulb? Is it God who keeps it turned on, for people like you? And what's happening during rainy days and night time? Taupin mangled his idea, here.īut now that I've seen Rocketman, and I've had Taupin's lyrics with EJ's music replaying in my head for a week, I'm re-evaluating. For example, inchoate ideas in "Your Song" hang awkwardly - "If I was a sculptor / But then again, no." - and halt - "Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean / Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen" - while "words" and "world" end the chorus as if Taupin intends them to rhyme. A year after I saw Elton John's 1973 concert in Atlanta's Braves Stadium, I fell in love with diamond - sharp dramatic lyrics of Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim (see what I learned from him, ).īernie Taupin's work in comparison seemed rough - hewn, even careless. Characters' singing Taupin's lyrics to each other also makes this a musical, an art form anathema to so many Americans that Paramount calls it a "fantasy." I embrace the "M" word.
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