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)
On Dark Street
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is this the best that we could do
I'm leaning through the rain but you ain't looking back
What did I ever have to prove
`Cause it feels like electricity hitting an open field
When am I ever gonna to learn
Married life's two people trying to grab the wheel
Oh and we must have got lost
Living on dark Street
Looking for an exit
Sleeping on the concrete
You can't see it with your eyes
You can't find it with your feet
All I know is that we're lost baby
And we're living on dark Street
All the layoffs and the pay cuts cripple me inside
I pay the price for living everyday
Trying to keep us all together along with a little pride
What'll it take to make you stay
But I've dreamed about an island
And all I got's a bucket of sand
I'd give my eyes to give you all your dreams
Now I get to see my family slipping through my hands
The lyrics to Elton John's "On Dark Street" are full of melancholy and introspection. The first verse sets the tone with the singer staring down a disappearing track, wondering if he has done all he can to make his life with his partner work. He's leaning through the rain, looking back on the past, but she's not looking back, suggesting she may have given up on the relationship. The second verse talks about the feeling of electricity hitting an open field, something powerful and potentially destructive. The married life is compared to two people trying to grab the wheel, suggesting a struggle for control that neither can win.
The chorus of the song really drives home the sense of being lost and adrift. They're living on Dark Street, which conjures images of the seedy side of town or a place that offers no guiding light. The idea of looking for an exit and sleeping on the concrete is a powerful visual metaphor for the feeling of being trapped and overwhelmed. The singer acknowledges that this is something that can't be seen with the eyes or found with the feet. The final verse talks about the difficulties of everyday life - layoffs, pay cuts - and how this is taking a toll on him. He's paying the price for trying to keep his family together, but wonders what it will take to make her stay. He's dreamed about an island, but all he has is a bucket of sand - a powerful metaphor suggesting that his dreams may be impossible to achieve. In the end, he sees his family slipping through his hands, leaving him to wonder where it all went wrong.
Overall, "On Dark Street" is a powerful song about the difficulties of married life and the sense of being lost and adrift. It's the kind of song that hits close to home for many people, especially those who have struggled to keep a relationship together in the face of difficult times.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm staring down a mile of disappearing track
I feel as if I am on a path that is ultimately futile and will lead to nothingness.
Is this the best that we could do
Am I settling for something less than what I truly deserve?
I'm leaning through the rain but you ain't looking back
Even though I am trying to hold on, you are not reciprocating my effort to save our relationship.
What did I ever have to prove
Why do I feel like I have to constantly prove myself to you?
'Cause it feels like electricity hitting an open field
Our relationship feels explosive and dangerous, but I can't seem to quit it.
When am I ever gonna to learn
When am I going to realize that we are wrong for each other and need to go our separate ways?
Married life's two people trying to grab the wheel
Our marriage feels like a power struggle where we are both fighting to be in control.
Oh and we must have got lost
We are both lost and unsure of where we are headed in this relationship.
Living on dark Street
We are living in a world of pain, confusion, and uncertainty.
Looking for an exit
We are searching for a way out of this toxic relationship.
Sleeping on the concrete
Our relationship is uncomfortable and miserable.
You can't see it with your eyes
You cannot grasp the magnitude of our problems simply by looking at us from the outside.
You can't find it with your feet
Our problems are not physical, they are emotional and mental, and therefore cannot be solved by simply walking away.
All I know is that we're lost baby
All I know is that we are both completely adrift in this relationship.
And we're living on dark Street
We are living in a world of pain and despair, where there seems to be no hope and no way out.
All the layoffs and the pay cuts cripple me inside
The external pressures of my job and financial obligations are taking a toll on my emotional well-being.
I pay the price for living everyday
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders every day, and it is exhausting.
Trying to keep us all together along with a little pride
I am trying to keep our relationship intact, even though it is causing me a great deal of pain and suffering.
What'll it take to make you stay
What do I need to do to make you realize that our relationship is worth saving?
But I've dreamed about an island
I have dreams and aspirations for a better life, but they are constantly being held back by the problems in our relationship.
And all I got's a bucket of sand
Despite my dreams and aspirations, I feel like I have nothing to show for my efforts.
I'd give my eyes to give you all your dreams
I am willing to make sacrifices in order to make your dreams come true, even if it means giving up my own.
Now I get to see my family slipping through my hands
I feel like I am losing everything that matters to me, including my family, because I cannot salvage this broken relationship.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNARD J.P. TAUPIN, 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.....