While Taupin was still a boy, his father decided to try his hand at independent farming, and the family relocated again, this time to a run-down property called Maltkiln Farm in the north-Lincolnshire village of Owmby-by-Spital. Here a third brother, Kit, was born 11 years junior to Bernie. The family attended Holy Rood Catholic Church in the town of Market Rasen, where Bernie and Tony served as altar boys. Bernie attended school at Market Rasen Secondary Modern. Unlike his older brother, he was not a diligent student, although he showed an early flair for writing. At 15 he dropped out of school. He spent his teenage years hanging out with his friends, hitchhiking the country roads to attend youth club dances in the surrounding villages, playing snooker in the Aston Arms Pub in Market Rasen, and drinking ale well before his eighteenth birthday. He had worked at several part-time, dead-end jobs when, at the age of 17, he answered an advertisement that led to his collaboration with Elton John.
In 1967, he answered an advertisement for a lyric writer placed in the New Musical Express by Liberty records A&R man Ray Williams. Thus began the famous and well-loved songwriting team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The pair have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date, though John worked with other lyricists between 1977 and 1983. Taupin's lyrics include such memorable tunes as "Rocket Man", "Tiny Dancer", "Candle in the Wind", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", and 1970's "Your Song", their first hit.
In 1971, Taupin recorded a spoken-word album entitled Taupin, in which he recites some of his early poems against a background of impromptu, sitar-heavy music created by some members of Elton's band, including Davey Johnstone and Caleb Quaye. Side One is entitled "Child" and contains poems about his early childhood in southern Lincolnshire. The first poem, "The Greatest Discovery," which looks at his own birth through the eyes of his older brother, was also set to music by Elton John and included on the Elton John (album). There are poems about Taupin's first two childhood homes, Flatters and Rowston Manor, and others about his relationship with his brother and grandfather. Side Two includes a variety of poems of varying obscurity, from a marionette telling her own story to a rat catcher who falls victim to his prey. While the lyrics to Side One provide interesting insights into Taupin's childhood, the album makes for a tedious listening experience, and Taupin stated in interviews that he wasn't pleased with the results.
In 1980, Taupin recorded his first album as a singer, He Who Rides the Tiger. Although he demonstrated a more-than-adequate vocal ability, the album failed to make a dent in the charts. Taupin later suggested in interviews that he didn't have the creative control he would have liked over the album.
In 1987, he recorded another album entitled Tribe. The songs were co-written with Martin Page. "Citizen Jane" and "Friend of the Flag" were released as singles. Videos of both singles featured Taupin and then-wife Toni Russo, and the "Citizen Jane" video also included Toni's sister, actress Rene Russo. Once again, neither the album nor the singles made much of a dent in the charts.
In 1996, Taupin pulled together a band called Farm Dogs, whose two albums were conscious (and successful) throwbacks to the grittier, earthier sound of Tumbleweed Connection. While Taupin wrote the lyrics, the music was a collaborative effort among the band members. Their first album, 1996's Last Stand in Open Country, received critical praise but little airplay. As mentioned above, the title track was later recorded by Willie Nelson and Kid Rock for Nelson's 2002 album The Great Divide.
In 1998, Farm Dogs released its second and final album, Immigrant Sons. Again a respectable effort, the album went nowhere despite a tour of small clubs across America.
I Want Love
Bernie Taupin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A man like me, so irresponsible
A man like me is dead in places
Other men feel liberated
I can't love, shot full of holes
Don't feel nothing, I just feel cold
Don't feel nothing, just old scars
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
I want love on my own terms
After everything I've ever learned
Me, I carry too much baggage
Oh man I've seen so much traffic
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
So bring it on, I've been bruised
Don't give me love that's clean and smooth
I'm ready for the rougher stuff
No sweet romance, I've had enough
A man like me is dead in places
Other men feel liberated
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't break me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't break me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
The lyrics of Bernie Taupin's song "I Want Love" express the desire for a love that is free from the expectations and pressures of society. The singer is a man who has been bruised and has a lot of emotional baggage, making it difficult for him to love and be loved in return. He acknowledges that he is irresponsible and feels dead in certain places, unlike other men who feel liberated.
The singer yearns for a different kind of love, one that won't bring him down or fence him in. He wants a love that's not about possession or control but is free-flowing and spontaneous. He wants a love that's not bound by past scars and is not based on material things. He wants a love that doesn't have to mean anything, a love that's just about being in the moment and enjoying each other's company.
The last lines of the song, "But I want love, just a different kind. I want love, that don't mean a thing. That's the love I want, I want love," suggest that the singer is ready to take a chance on love, even if it's not the kind that society expects.
Line by Line Meaning
I want love, but it's impossible
I desire love, but it seems unattainable.
A man like me, so irresponsible
I'm not the most responsible person when it comes to relationships.
A man like me is dead in places
Other men feel liberated
I feel emotionally numb and dead inside, while others seem to feel happy and free.
I can't love, shot full of holes
Don't feel nothing, I just feel cold
My heart is guarded due to past emotional wounds, making me feel emotionally isolated and distant.
Don't feel nothing, just old scars
Toughening up around my heart
Even though time has passed, my emotional wounds have turned into scars and my heart has hardened.
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
I want a love that is different from what I've experienced before, that won't cause me pain or suffocate me, and that is free and unattached.
I want love on my own terms
After everything I've ever learned
Me, I carry too much baggage
Oh man I've seen so much traffic
I want a relationship that allows me to be myself and builds on my past experiences, but I also realize that I have emotional baggage and have been through a lot.
So bring it on, I've been bruised
Don't give me love that's clean and smooth
I'm ready for the rougher stuff
No sweet romance, I've had enough
Even though I have been hurt in the past, I am willing to take risks and embrace the challenges that come with love, and I don't want a superficial or overly romantic relationship.
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't break me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
I want a love that is free, liberating, and doesn't impose restrictions or expectations on me.
But I want love, just a different kind
I want love, won't bring me down
Won't break me up, won't fence me in
I want a love, that don't mean a thing
That's the love I want, I want love
I reiterate that I want a love that is different from what society expects or what I've experienced before, that won't weigh me down, that won't cause me to fall apart, and that is meaningless yet fulfilling.
Contributed by David J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
wolverine3566
Fine Art Gallery playlist @ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTBnENdfhg9XnN6WDqcNj-NYmy89hWFid
Do not miss the recently released movie "Rocketman"! Despite the contradictory assessments, it is worth giving your own one. After all, we are contemporaries of a musical genius ... Sir Elton John whose farewell tour is in run!
Great covers of great songs playlist @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XDJxyX4wNM&list=PLTBnENdfhg9Ueyzx01w_kNGrCvnOfipRN
Rosemary Collins
Paul Buckmaster’s beautiful orchestral arrangement.
wolverine3566
Thank you!
Mark Taylor
Great lyrics to this song, and what a good cover of Elton and Bernie's song. They will leave such a legacy behind. Another fine choice wolverine.
wolverine3566
Thank you, Mark, sincerely!
SpiralBlue Andromeda
How so magnificent song Wolverine!
How so mind blowing clip!
Thank you so very much my dear friend for sharing your so extra ordinary work with us!
wolverine3566
Glad you like it, dear Kate! Your comments are much appreciated always.
ILovePoems
Such a beautiful song and splendid surreal images!
Overall an excellent production! Thanks for this moment, my friend!
wolverine3566
@ILovePoems No, dear, it's not your fault, I added the link later. And politics have noting to do with difference between surrealism and magic realism, as far as I did find out the explanations. While in the first images look like they were created by a sick mind, in the second the images are deliberately planned from conscious thought and result creating illusions, optical ones in our case. RG had been an architect in the begining after all. How healthy had been his mind when he has committed suicide is another topic. Such a pity! Anyway I'm a big fan of both kinds of art... And I have no any doubts your weekend will be great too :)
ILovePoems
@wolverine3566 Since I did not pay attention to the link, I was interested to know what the difference between magical realism and surrealism is, because I don’t see a difference in these images. I have found that there is no difference in fantasy imagery, but the difference is in the basic ideas of these currents. Magical realism has a political focus, while surrealism - a psychological one. Have a great weekend, my dear friend!