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)
Duet For One
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A face that smiled at every passing scene
Look at you, you're lost behind the web of woven time
When each emotion pinball in your mind
Look at me, I'm happy now I see your face and smile
I was the judge and jury at your trial
Look at me, you know the road ahead will twist and turn
But you and I have come so far
With a shaken faith
From the pain of a broken heart
Toward feeling great
Feel like life has just begun
No more singing duets for one
I hold your picture here beside the bed
You had a party raging in your head
Look at me, I look at you with vacancy and hurt
And here today all I can do is learn
Look at me, I'm happy now I see your face and smile
I was the judge and jury at your trial
Look at me, you know the road ahead will twist and turn
Now I have the time to stand and learn
That you and I have come so far
With a shaken faith
From the pain of a broken heart
Toward feeling great
Feel like life has just begun
No more singing duets for one
I have this picture of me looking at you
Looking at me (looking at me)
And I would like to say
Goodbye, sweet memory, oh
You and I have come so far
With a shaken faith
From the pain of a broken heart
Toward feeling great
Feel like, feel like life has just begun
And there'll be no more singing duets for one
(No more singing duets)
No more singing duets for one
No more singing duets for one
In Elton John's song Duets for One, the singer reflects on a lost love and how time and distance have changed him. The first verse describes his former lover, who seems lost and overwhelmed by the complexity of life. He sees her as foolish and naive, but also recognizes that he himself was once like that. In the second verse, the singer acknowledges how he judged and condemned his former lover, acting as the "judge and jury at [her] trial." However, he also recognizes that the future is uncertain and filled with twists and turns.
The chorus speaks of how both the singer and his former lover have grown and changed, despite the pain they have experienced. They have moved beyond the heartache of their past and into a new phase of life, where they are no longer singing "duets for one." The final verse adds a layer of complexity to the song, as the singer reveals that he still holds a picture of his former lover and thinks of her often. He also admits to feeling hurt and vacant when he looks at her picture, but acknowledges that he must learn from the past and move on.
Overall, Duets for One is a powerful reflection on the complexity of love and how it can shape and change us over time. The lyrics are haunting and insightful, with a bittersweet quality that lingers long after the song has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at you, could I have been so foolish and so green
I am amazed by how naive and inexperienced I must have been to not see through your facade
A face that smiled at every passing scene
You had a happy mask on, ignoring the troubles beneath the surface
Look at you, you're lost behind the web of woven time
Your mind is tangled in a complex web of memories and emotions, leaving you feeling lost
When each emotion pinball in your mind
Your mind is bouncing from one emotion to the next, like a pinball machine
Look at me, I'm happy now I see your face and smile
Seeing you reminds me of happier times and brings a smile to my face
I was the judge and jury at your trial
I made assumptions about you and unfairly judged you without knowing the full story
Look at me, you know the road ahead will twist and turn
I am aware that the future may have many unexpected challenges
Now I have the time to stand and learn
I am now in a position to take the time to learn and grow from my past mistakes
But you and I have come so far
Despite our difficulties, we have made progress and moved forward in life
With a shaken faith
Our faith in ourselves and in each other has been tested and weakened
From the pain of a broken heart
We have experienced heartache and emotional pain
Toward feeling great
But we are now moving towards a more positive, fulfilling state of being
Feel like life has just begun
It feels like we are starting fresh and beginning a new chapter in life
No more singing duets for one
We are no longer alone and are ready to share our lives with others
I hold your picture here beside the bed
I keep a cherished memory of you close to me, even though you are no longer here
You had a party raging in your head
Your mind was a chaotic place with many conflicting thoughts and emotions
Look at me, you know the road ahead will twist and turn
Even though we have both grown, there are still unknown challenges ahead
I have this picture of me looking at you
I have a memory of a moment when I was looking at you
Looking at me
And at that moment, you were looking back at me
And I would like to say
If I had the chance, I would want to share this memory with you
Goodbye, sweet memory
But now it is time to say farewell to that memory and move forward with new experiences
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Christopher Henry Difford, Elton John
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.....