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)
Go It Alone
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When there's nothing left to give
When this house is just a hill of bones
Where you and I once lived
If we put it back together
By the skin of our teeth
You'd still pull it all apart
And I'll go it alone, call this house my home
Build it up again with someone new
Build it brick by brick, till I find a girl that fits
This home's a whole lot better without you
There's no passion alive
When you count your phony schemes
And the cars you drive to buy your friends
They don't ever come back clean
If the cards on the table
Always turn up spades
The cards that always cheat the hearts
The spades you play just dug my grave
And I'll go it alone, call this house my home
Build it up again with someone new
Build it brick by brick, till I find a girl that fits
This home's a whole lot better without you
And I'll go it alone, call this house my home
I'm gonna build it up again with someone new
Build it brick by brick, till I find a girl that fits
This home's a whole lot better without you
Oh, I'll go it alone, call this house my home
Build it up again with someone new
I'll build it brick by brick, till I find a girl that fits
This home's a whole lot better without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
...
The lyrics of Elton John's song "Go It Alone" relate to a protagonist who has made the tough decision to part ways with a partner who has left little to hold on to. The imagery used in the opening lines invokes a sense of emptiness and barrenness as the house that used to be their home is likened to a pile of bones. The sentiment is made much clearer in the subsequent lines where the singer weighs in the options of putting things back together. However, if they force a reconciliation, the relationship would still fall apart, causing them to embark on rebuilding the "house" with someone new. This is a way of foreshadowing their difficulties and also highlighting the determination to find joy and comfort in building something new no matter how hard it is.
Further into the song, the dissatisfaction and unhappiness of the partnership is mirrored in the lack of passion and the deception that characterizes it. The singer is particularly disparaging about the fleeting bonds founded on material possessions and how ultimately they do not satisfy deep human needs. In the end, as the chorus is repeated with more intensity and conviction, the singer is confident that without the toxic partner, they can turn the house of bones into a true home, brick by brick.
Overall, the song portrays the theme of moving on and finding courage to rebuild what has been broken. It speaks to people who can relate to a hopelessness and uncertainty that can come with ending a relationship but are determined to rebuild and find love again.
Line by Line Meaning
It's so hard to say goodbye
It's a difficult task to bid farewell.
When there's nothing left to give
When there's nothing more to offer.
When this house is just a hill of bones
When the home is in ruins.
Where you and I once lived
The place where both of us resided.
If we put it back together
If we try to fix what's broken.
By the skin of our teeth
By the narrowest of margins.
You'd still pull it all apart
You'll still mess it up.
Bit by bit, piece by piece
Slowly and steadily.
And I'll go it alone, call this house my home
I'm going to do it alone from here on and call this place my own.
Build it up again with someone new
I'll start again with a new partner.
Build it brick by brick, till I find a girl that fits
Slowly but surely, I'll grow this home until I find a suitable partner.
This home's a whole lot better without you
This place is so much better now that you're not in it.
There's no passion alive
You have no sincerity.
When you count your phony schemes
When you're only concerned with your own dishonest schemes.
And the cars you drive to buy your friends
You're buying people's friendships with the cars you drive.
They don't ever come back clean
They never come back with good intentions.
If the cards on the table
If the situation is plain to see.
Always turn up spades
Always reveal the negative outcome.
The cards that always cheat the hearts
The cards that deceive one's true feelings.
The spades you play just dug my grave
Your actions have caused me harm.
Without you
In your absence.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNIE TAUPIN, 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.....