"He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught"
So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive
To notify your parents of the manner in which you died.
At St. Patrick's every Sunday, Father Fletcher heard your sins
"Oh, he's unconcerned with competition, he never cares to win"
But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun
And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son.
"Now you'll never get to Heaven" Mama said.
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Grow up straight and true blue
Run along to bed"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking.
They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest
Some gook said "His brains just snapped" then someone called the police
You'd knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down
Oh, you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground.
Promising to hurt no-one, providing they were still
A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed
That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm
Oh, your childhood cried out in your head, "They mean to do you harm".
"Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Pay your penance well, my child
Fear where angels tread"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking.
Within an hour the news had reached the media machine
A male Caucasian with a gun had gone berserk in Queens'
The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school
Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the Kicking Mule.
Oh, they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
"Throw out your gun , walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
Oh, you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law.
"You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking.
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s and for his lasting impact on the music industry, his music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music. His songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history.
John was raised in Pinner and learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for five years. He formed the blues band Bluesology in 1962, but left in 1967 to embark on a solo career and met Taupin the same year. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked as a session musician. In 1969, John released his debut album Empty Sky, and a year later formed the Elton John Band, also releasing his first hit single, "Your Song". John's critical success was at its peak in the 1970s, when he released a string of chart-topping albums both in the US and UK, which began with Honky Château (1972) and culminated with Rock of the Westies (1975). His success continued in the 1980s and 1990s, having several hit singles and albums in both decades, and he has continued to record new music since. John has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King, Aida, and Billy Elliot the Musical. John's final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018–2023), became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. His life and career were dramatised in the 2019 biopic Rocketman.
John is an HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser and has been involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. He established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992, which has raised over £300 million since its inception, and a year later he began hosting his annual AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Party, which has since become one of the biggest high-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry. John was the chairman and director of Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, John developed a severe addiction to drugs and alcohol, but has been clean and sober since 1990. In 2005 he entered a civil partnership with his long-term partner, the Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. They married in 2014, when same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales.
John has more than fifty top-40 hits on the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number ones in both countries, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard charts. His tribute single to Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind 1997", a rewritten version of his 1974 single, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling chart single of all time. In 2021, he became the first solo artist with UK Top 10 singles across six decades. Among John's numerous awards, he is one of 19 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, five Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, and a Tony Award. He also won two Golden Globes, a Laurence Olivier Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and is a fellow of The Ivors Academy. He was knighted by Elizabeth II for services to music and charity in 1998 and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020, being invested at Windsor Castle in 2021 by the Prince of Wales.
I couldn't agree any more.....I had to read back years of comments to see what others wrote. Irrespective of when he "peaked artistically", what album Caribou followed, what he wears - the man is a genius and I think those of us old enough to have listened closely to Elton at an impressionable age (teens, 20s) were fortunate.
Easy, tiger! This is the true animal that is/was Elton John at his finest. He fell apart after Island Girl. Right about the same time that David Bowie gave up on Major Tom.
matter of opinion - I'd vote for about half way down the Yellow Brick Road. This sounds manufactured pablum to me. Again, only an opinion.
In fairness, vintage Elton and Bernie
... remembering that kitty all these decades later.
Only on RP
c.
And a good one too!
wow Bill that's a "Deep Track
No kidding. I'm a huge EJ fan, at the beginning I thought "this sounds like Elton John's piano, but it can't be, I've never heard this." Then he sings and of course it IS Elton.
I'm anxious to hear his new album, with Leon Russell (?!)
I'd like this to stop now.
This is a 4 if I ever heard one. What happened to good old EJ that is old good EJ?!?
I couldn't agree any more.....I had to read back years of comments to see what others wrote. Irrespective of when he "peaked artistically", what album Caribou followed, what he wears - the man is a genius and I think those of us old enough to have listened closely to Elton at an impressionable age (teens, 20s) were fortunate.
Brilliant IS the word for this. The man is a supreme legend of this century!
This. You would think, geez, it's a long song with mostly just piano. That's going to get old fast. But it doesn't -- it changes every verse and keeps the interest up.
Full disclosure: this was the first piece of vinyl my Mother bought me in the early 70's, so I've probably listened to it thousands of times.