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)
Love's Got A Lot To Answer For
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Feel the cold wind haunt me
Streets are empty just like me
The murmur of an echo
Seems to come from every window
Is loneliness the same as being free
I guess I must have been dreaming
Now I just can't fight it
As the shadow of the night begins to fall
Love's got a lot to answer for
Oh I just can't sleep with this feeling anymore
Let the cold night air cool the heat
Of two hearts gone to war
For no matter who wins, in the end
Love's got a lot to answer for
All I need is darkness
The best of all protection
Freedom's like the stars in the sky
Alone and cold and burning
Each one keeps it's distance
If only we were stars, you and I
In this song, Elton John explores the emotions of loneliness and heartbreak after a failed relationship. He describes feeling the cold wind haunt him and the streets being empty, just like he feels. The murmur of echoes seems to come from every window, heightening his sense of loneliness. He questions whether loneliness is the same as being free, as he wished for freedom from the pain of heartbreak.
Elton John then reflects on how he must have been dreaming to believe in the person, but now he can't fight the feelings of heartbreak as the shadow of the night falls. This is where he sings the chorus, "Love's got a lot to answer for", explaining how he can't sleep with these feelings anymore. He suggests that instead of fighting, he will let the cold night air cool the heat of two hearts gone to war.
The song concludes with Elton John expressing that all he needs is darkness, as freedom is like the stars in the sky. He wishes they were stars, each one keeping their distance from one another, as he and his former love do now.
Overall, the song Love's Got A Lot To Answer For delves into the emotions of loneliness and heartbreak after a failed relationship. Elton John questions whether loneliness is the same as being free and suggests that instead of fighting, it's best to let go and cool down.
Line by Line Meaning
Pull my coat around me
Bracing myself against the cold with clothing as a physical barrier
Feel the cold wind haunt me
Succumbing to the chilly air's incessant presence that lingers around you
Streets are empty just like me
Feeling alone in this vast, abandoned environment
The murmur of an echo
A faint, indistinct repetition of sound that echoes back
Seems to come from every window
Voices that imitate each other, coming from multiple directions
Is loneliness the same as being free
Contemplating whether solitude is freedom or a constraint
I guess I must have been dreaming
Thinking that the past was a surreal, made-up imagination
To think that I believed in you at all
Remembering the hope and faith that the singer used to have
Now I just can't fight it
Being unable to deny the current reality anymore
As the shadow of the night begins to fall
The day's end is approaching, bringing darkness
Love's got a lot to answer for
Blaming love for the current emotional pain and confusion
Oh I just can't sleep with this feeling anymore
The discomfort and unrest is keeping the singer up at night
Let the cold night air cool the heat
Using cool, fresh air to counterbalance the intensity of love
Of two hearts gone to war
Two sides fighting in a battle that can't be won by either
For no matter who wins, in the end
Knowing that there is no true victor in love battles
Love's got a lot to answer for
Reemphasizing the responsibility of love for the resulting struggles
All I need is darkness
Craving the absence of light, both metaphorically and physically
The best of all protection
Feeling like the darkness is the safest place you can be
Freedom's like the stars in the sky
Comparing independence to a faraway constellation that can't be reached
Alone and cold and burning
Sensing conflicting emotions of isolation, isolation and pain
Each one keeps it's distance
Every relationship is keeping its respective boundaries
If only we were stars, you and I
Wishing that they could attain a sense of unreachable detachment from each other
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.....