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)
Screw You
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I lived by the sea, I was a fisherman's son
My mother she was a fisherman's wife
She was scrubbing floors most of her life
I ain't got nothing to lose
I could paper a matchbox
With the money I use
Screw you
I ain't got nothing to lose
I could paper a matchbox
With the money I use
At the school I attended, I got into fights
I was beaten in an alley on a cold winter night
The teachers cared less for the blood in our veins
They got most of their thrills out of using a cane
They said screw you
Oh, you bloody young fools
I could get more sense
Out of the back end of a mule
Screw you
Oh, you bloody young fools
I could get more sense
Out of the back end of a mule
So you see there's men who get paid for being slaves
And men who get paid for being free
And there's men behind bars who pray for the light
And men in the suburbs who pray for the night
And they're all trying to climb to the top of the mine
And all of them say most of the way screw you
I worked in the mill from seven till nine
Tears in my eyes nearly drove me blind
Trying to make wages that weren't even there
Taking hell from a foreman with the build of a bear
He said screw you
This is all you'll ever do
It's the only existence
For someone like you
Screw you
This is all you'll ever do
It's the only existence
For someone like you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
...
The lyrics to Elton John's "Screw You" depict a story of a man who has faced a lot of hardships in life. It starts with the singer reminiscing about his childhood as a fisherman's son by the sea, where he had a lot of fun. However, life was not easy for his mother who had to scrub floors most of her life to make ends meet. The phrase "screw you" is introduced in the following lines where he expresses his frustration towards those who have wronged him. The singer then goes on to recount several instances where he was beaten up, mistreated, and underestimated by his school teachers and foremen at his workplace. The lyrics also talk about the different struggles and desires of people from different walks of life. The song concludes with an intense repetition of the phrase "screw you."
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a boy I had a lot of fun
In my childhood, I had a lot of enjoyable experiences
I lived by the sea, I was a fisherman's son
My home was by the sea and I belonged to a family of fishermen
My mother she was a fisherman's wife
My mother was married to a fisherman
She was scrubbing floors most of her life
My mother spent most of her life doing cleaning work
They said screw you
People insulted me with a phrase akin to 'go to hell'
I ain't got nothing to lose
I have no assets or valuable possessions to risk or sacrifice
I could paper a matchbox
With the money I use
The amount of money I possess is so meager that I could cover the surface area of a matchbox with it
At the school I attended, I got into fights
I used to engage in physical fights while attending school
I was beaten in an alley on a cold winter night
One night during winter, I was ruthlessly thrashed and battered in an alley
The teachers cared less for the blood in our veins
The teachers had little or no concern for our physical or emotional well-being
They got most of their thrills out of using a cane
The teachers were more interested in inflicting punishment by caning than providing guidance or education
They said screw you
The teachers displayed complete apathy towards me and other students
Oh, you bloody young fools
The teachers expressed derision and scorn towards us with this exclamation
I could get more sense
Out of the back end of a mule
According to the teachers, a mule's hindquarters would have more intelligence than us students
So you see there's men who get paid for being slaves
And men who get paid for being free
There exist people who earn their living in a condition of servitude, while there are others who earn wages because they enjoy freedom and autonomy
And there's men behind bars who pray for the light
And men in the suburbs who pray for the night
Imprisoned men yearn for freedom while men in safer areas wish to go unnoticed in the dark
And they're all trying to climb to the top of the mine
And all of them say most of the way screw you
People are striving to climb up the metaphorical ladder of social status, but often feel ignored or rejected by those in power
I worked in the mill from seven till nine
Tears in my eyes nearly drove me blind
I worked in a mill for many hours, and the stress and exhaustion caused me to weep uncontrollably
Trying to make wages that weren't even there
Taking hell from a foreman with the build of a bear
I struggled to earn wages which were insufficient, while enduring verbal abuse from a cruel foreman
This is all you'll ever do
It's the only existence
For someone like you
The foreman told me that my limited horizons and fate were predetermined by my social background and circumstances
Screw you
I feel a disillusioned sense of anger or resentment towards the cruel and unsympathetic people in authority
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you
I'm angry and resentful, and want to insult and lash out against those who treat me unfairly
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELTON JOHN, BERNIE TAUPIN
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.....