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)
Original Sin
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And they're stringing the lights around you
Hanging paper angels
Painting little devils on the roof
Oh the furnace wind
Is a flickering of wings about your face
In a cloud of incense
I can't eat, can't sleep
Still I hunger for you when you look at me
That face, those eyes
All the sinful pleasures deep inside
Tell me how, you know now, the ways and means of getting in
Underneath my skin,
Oh you were always my original sin
And tell me why, I shudder inside, every time we begin
This dangerous game
Oh you were always my original sin
A dream will fly
The moment that you open up your eyes
A dream is just a riddle
Ghosts from every corner of your life
Up in the balcony
All the Romeo's are bleeding for your hand
Blowing theater kisses
Reciting lines they don't understand
The lyrics of Elton John's song Original Sin depict a scene of carnival night, where paper angels and little devils are painted on the roof, creating an atmosphere of both innocence and sin. The furnace wind flickers like wings about the person's face, and the scent of incense permeates the air. The singer is consumed with desire for someone else, despite the fact that they cannot eat or sleep. They are haunted by sinful pleasures deep inside and long for the other person's gaze. The singer asks the other person how they always seem to know how to get under their skin and be their original sin. They feel shudders inside every time they play this dangerous game with the other person, but they always come back to them.
The lyrics explore themes of temptation, desire, innocence, and sin. The carnival setting symbolizes the duality of life and how there is both good and evil in the world. The paper angels and devils painted on the roof indicate the tension between light and dark, innocence and temptation. The singer's obsession with the other person's gaze and the way they seem to know how to get under their skin explores the power dynamics of relationships and how one person can hold all the control over another. The lyrics also suggest that the singer knows that this relationship is not good for them, but they cannot resist the allure of the other person's sinful pleasures.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, it's carnival night
The setting is a lively and colorful carnival
And they're stringing the lights around you
People are decorating and making the carnival festive
Hanging paper angels
Decorations of paper figurines resembling angels are being put up
Painting little devils on the roof
Small statues of devils are being painted and placed on the roof
Oh the furnace wind
There is a hot and fast-moving wind blowing
Is a flickering of wings about your face
The wind is causing movements in the air that seem like wings fluttering around the face
In a cloud of incense
The air is infused with a fragrant smoke
Yea, it smells like Heaven in this place
The aroma is heavenly and divine
I can't eat, can't sleep
The singer is consumed by their feelings and desires
Still I hunger for you when you look at me
The singer yearns for the object of their affection, especially when they make eye contact
That face, those eyes
The visual appearance of the other person is captivating and alluring to the singer
All the sinful pleasures deep inside
The singer is experiencing temptation and desires for illicit pleasures
Tell me how, you know now, the ways and means of getting in
The singer is asking their partner to reveal how they have become so intimately familiar with them
Underneath my skin,
The partner has an intense and personal connection with the singer
Oh you were always my original sin
The partner has been a source of temptation and desire since the beginning
And tell me why, I shudder inside, every time we begin
The singer is wondering why they feel physically aroused and excited every time they begin an intimate interaction
This dangerous game
The pursuit of pleasure is perilous and risky
Oh you were always my original sin
The partner is the root of the singer's desires and temptations
A dream will fly
The singer's hopes and ambitions may be ephemeral and fleeting
The moment that you open up your eyes
The singer's aspirations may disappear quickly, as the object of their desire may not reciprocate their feelings
A dream is just a riddle
The singer is unsure if their aspirations will ever come to fruition
Ghosts from every corner of your life
Memories and experiences from the past may haunt a person and affect their present relationships
Up in the balcony
The singer is metaphorically observing a theater performance from a distance
All the Romeo's are bleeding for your hand
Many people are vying for the attention and love of the same person
Blowing theater kisses
The suitors are making grand gestures and declarations of love, but they may not truly know the person
Reciting lines they don't understand
The suitors may be insincere and just repeating words they think will win the person over
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BERNARD J.P. TAUPIN, BERNIE TAUPIN, ELTON JOHN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@howardbutler2083
One of the most underrated songs of all time..... Amazing
@mizofan
One of his best, should be much better known
@CarSVernon
it legitimately pisses me off how underrated it is
@Mustistics
I think that's the most underrated Elton song.
@camilandia5145
a loota of elton's songs r underrated
@Ocrilat
Look up 'Elton John B-sides' and listen to a whole slew of original Elton songs that never even made it to the albums. He make 'prolific' seem too small a word.
@user-jn1kr8em9z
I love this song)
@Nobodybutme898
It's my fav EJ song ever.
@k.d3311
They don't understand how powerful it is.. most beautiful very.
@NovidaPanggabean
How come this song video has got only 500 thousand something views by now? This is one of the best songs in the world!