John was raised in the Pinner suburb of London and learned to play piano at an early age, forming the blues band Bluesology in 1962. After leaving Bluesology in 1967 to embark on a solo career, John met Taupin after they both answered an advert for songwriters. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked as a session musician for artists. John released his debut album Empty Sky in 1969, and a year later formed the Elton John Band and released his first hit single, "Your Song".
John's critical success was at its peak in the 1970s when he released a streak of chart-topping albums in the US and UK, which began with Honky Château (1972) and culminated with Rock of the Westies (1975). John continued his success in the 1980s and 1990s, having several hit singles and albums in both decades, and has continued to record new music since then. He has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King, Aida, and Billy Elliot the Musical. In 2018, John began his ongoing farewell tour Farewell Yellow Brick Road, which is scheduled to conclude in 2023. The 2019 biopic Rocketman dramatized his life and career.
Outside of music, 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 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 F.C, 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 problem to drugs and alcohol but has been sober since 1990. He entered into a civil partnership with Canadian filmmaker David Furnish in 2005; they married after same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales in 2014.
John has sold over 300 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number-ones in the UK and US, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. His tribute single "Candle in the Wind 1997", a rewritten version of his 1974 single in dedication to Princess Diana, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling chart single of all time. In 2021, John became the first solo artist with UK Top 10 singles across six decades.
John has received numerous awards, including five Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards; including for Outstanding Contribution to Music; two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, a Disney Legend 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 Queen Elizabeth II for services to music and charitable services in 1998 and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) in 2020.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John
Solo studio albums
Empty Sky (1969)
Elton John (1970)
Tumbleweed Connection (1970)
Madman Across the Water (1971)
Honky Château (1972)
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Caribou (1974)
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
Rock of the Westies (1975)
Blue Moves (1976)
A Single Man (1978)
Victim of Love (1979)
21 at 33 (1980)
The Fox (1981)
Jump Up! (1982)
Too Low for Zero (1983)
Breaking Hearts (1984)
Ice on Fire (1985)
Leather Jackets (1986)
Reg Strikes Back (1988)
Sleeping with the Past (1989)
The One (1992)
Made in England (1995)
The Big Picture (1997)
Songs from the West Coast (2001)
Peachtree Road (2004)
The Captain & the Kid (2006)
The Diving Board (2013)
Wonderful Crazy Night (2016)
Regimental Sgt. Zippo (2021)
Bad Side Of The Moon
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the bad side of the moon
To stir your dregs in sickness still
Without the rustic spoon
Common people live with me
Where the light has never shone
And the hermits flock like hummingbirds
To speak in a foreign tongue
I'm a light world away
From the people who make me stay
Sitting on the bad side of the moon
I'm a light world away
From the people who make me stay
Sitting on the bad side of the moon, yeah
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life (yeah-eh)
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
There ain't no need for watchdogs here
To justify our ways
We live our life in manacles
The main cause of our stay
Exiled here from other worlds
My sentence comes too soon
Why should I be made to pay
On the bad side of the moon
And I'm a light world away
From the people who make me stay
Sitting on the bad side of the moon
And I'm a light world away
From the people who make me stay
Sitting on the bad side of the moon
Who's in my life, who's in my life (yeah-eh), who's in my life (oh)
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
The lyrics to Elton John's song "Bad Side of the Moon" are introspective and reflective. Elton John sings about feeling disconnected from society and living a life separate from everyone else. He describes himself as living on the "bad side of the moon," which symbolizes his isolation from the world around him.
The second verse describes his surroundings, which are populated by a mix of common people and hermits. The hermits speak a foreign language, further reinforcing the idea that the singer exists in a separate world, one that is not familiar to most people. The entire song speaks to a sense of alienation and longing for connection.
The chorus repeats the refrain "I'm a light world away from the people who make me stay, sitting on the bad side of the moon." This line echoes the feeling of detachment and isolation that is communicated throughout the song, and seems to indicate that Elton John is trapped in his own world, far away from the people who could bring him back to reality.
Overall, the song is a haunting exploration of loneliness and the longing for human connection, with a poignant message that will resonate with listeners who have experienced feelings of social isolation.
Line by Line Meaning
It seems as though I've lived my life
I feel like I've spent my whole life
On the bad side of the moon
On a planet or place where life is difficult, unpleasant or lonely.
To stir your dregs in sickness still
To drink the bottom of a cup which is filled with unwanted tea as a metaphor for being stuck in a hopeless situation.
Without the rustic spoon
Without even the bare minimum of resources required to make things work properly.
Common people live with me
There are others who are just as unhappy as I am.
Where the light has never shone
Living in a place where there is no happiness or hope.
And the hermits flock like hummingbirds
People who choose to live in isolation congregate in this place together.
To speak in a foreign tongue
To communicate in ways that others cannot understand.
I'm a light world away
I am far removed from a life of happiness.
From the people who make me stay
I'm being forced to stay in a place that does not make me happy.
Sitting on the bad side of the moon, yeah
Suffering through life, living in an unhappy place.
There ain't no need for watchdogs here
No one is watching over us.
To justify our ways
We aren't doing anything that needs to be justified.
We live our life in manacles
We are limited in our opportunities and experiences.
The main cause of our stay
We have no choice but to remain in this place.
Exiled here from other worlds
Not being able to fit in with other people and societies.
My sentence comes too soon
Being forced to suffer excessively.
Why should I be made to pay
Why should I be burdened with such a life?
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life (yeah-eh)
Who are the people around me and what is their impact on my life?
Who's in my life, who's in my life, who's in my life
Asking again who is in my life, who is with me in my struggles.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Elton John, Bernard J.p. Taupin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Peter Harthen
on Sacrifice
not like todays crap
Peter Harthen
on Sacrifice
Even at 56 years old, this music still sounds so good to me, how music should sound.....