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)
Goodbye Marlon Brando
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Say goodbye to latitudes and the confusion that surrounds you
Say goodbye to misery, say goodbye to the morning news
Say goodbye to prime time and the fools that choose to view
Say goodbye to Wendy, say goodbye to Rhonda
Say goodbye to the Beach Boys from the Palisades to Kona
Say goodbye to Glasnost, say goodbye to Malathion
Say goodbye to the tabloids, say goodbye to diet soda
Say goodbye to new age music from the Capa to the Coda
Say goodbye to gridlock, goodbye to Dolly's chest
Goodbye to the ozone layer if there's any of it left
Don't it make you want to crawl back to the womb
Find a sanitarium rent yourself a room
This overload is edging me further out to sea
I need to put some distance between overkill and me, me
Say goodbye to Jackie Collins, say goodbye to illiterate fools
Goodbye to evangelists and geeks with power tools
Goodbye to statuettes, say goodbye to lists
Say goodbye to articles on who the senator kissed
Say goodbye to hair styles, goodbye to heaven's gate
Goodbye to Rocky Five, Six, Seven and Eight
In the song, Goodbye Marlon Brando by Elton John, the lyrics describe a sense of being overwhelmed and a desire to escape from the confusion and chaos of society. The repeated refrain of 'say goodbye' reflects a desire to detach from the world and escape to a simpler existence, as the singer is disenchanted with the state of things around him. Through mentioning Marlon Brando, Wendy, Rhonda, and The Beach Boys, he references popular cultural icons of the past, implying that he's ready to leave behind the nostalgia and focus on his own life. Similarly, he cites Jackie Collins, hair styles, and Rocky sequels as things he is prepared to leave behind.
The song's lyrics further convey a sense of disappointment with politics and the news, as he dismisses Glasnost, congress clowns, and tabloids. The singer also seems to be tired of trends like diet soda and new age music, signaling a desire to move away from manufactured and artificial products. Additionally, he references the ozone layer, possibly indicating that he is concerned about the impact of these trends on the environment.
Line by Line Meaning
Say goodbye to loneliness, say goodbye to Marlon Brando
Bid adieu to feeling isolated, say goodbye to the image of Marlon Brando
Say goodbye to latitudes and the confusion that surrounds you
Say farewell to locations and the perplexity associated with them
Say goodbye to misery, say goodbye to the morning news
Bid adieu to distress and the unpleasant information in the morning news
Say goodbye to prime time and the fools that choose to view
Say goodbye to television's peak hours and the foolish viewers attracted to it
Say goodbye to Wendy, say goodbye to Rhonda
Say farewell to people named Wendy and Rhonda
Say goodbye to the Beach Boys from the Palisades to Kona
Say goodbye to The Beach Boys' music spanning from Palisades to Kona
Say goodbye to Glasnost, say goodbye to Malathion
Bid adieu to Glasnost and Malathion (pesticide)
Say goodbye to the clowns in congress and the belt around Orion
Say farewell to ridiculous politicians and the metaphorical belt around the constellation Orion
Say goodbye to the tabloids, say goodbye to diet soda
Bid adieu to sensationalized magazines and low-calorie soda
Say goodbye to new age music from the Capa to the Coda
Say goodbye to contemporary and relaxing music from start to end
Say goodbye to gridlock, goodbye to Dolly's chest
Say farewell to the traffic jam and Dolly Parton's breasts
Goodbye to the ozone layer if there's any of it left
Farewell to the ozone layer, if it still exists
Don't it make you want to crawl back to the womb
Doesn't it make you want to retreat into the fetal position?
Find a sanitarium rent yourself a room
Find a mental institution and rent a room for yourself
This overload is edging me further out to sea
This excess is pushing me out towards the sea
I need to put some distance between overkill and me, me
I must separate from excessiveness to avoid its influence on me
Say goodbye to Jackie Collins, say goodbye to illiterate fools
Say farewell to writer Jackie Collins and those who are uneducated and foolish
Goodbye to evangelists and geeks with power tools
Farewell to religious preachers and individuals with expert knowledge about tools
Goodbye to statuettes, say goodbye to lists
Farewell to small statues and lists
Say goodbye to articles on who the senator kissed
Bid adieu to news articles about who the senator has kissed
Say goodbye to hair styles, goodbye to heaven's gate
Say farewell to hairstyles and the belief of heaven's gates
Goodbye to Rocky Five, Six, Seven and Eight
Farewell to Rocky movies five through eight
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.....