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)
The Cage
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where you live to be whipped and be tamed
For I've never loved in a cage
Or talked to a friend or just waved
Well I walk while they talk about virtue
Just raised on my back legs and snarled
Watched you kiss your old daddy with passion
But I'm damned when I really care there
For the cellar's the room in your lives
Where you lace yourself with bad whiskey
And close the cage doors on your life
Well I pray while you bathe in bad water
Sing songs that I learnt as a boy
Then break all the bones in my body
On the bars you can never destroy
The Cage by Elton John is a song about confinement and a yearning for freedom. The lyrics vividly express the pain of being trapped, unable to express oneself, and denied the chance to live life to the fullest. The first verse refers to the experience of being caged or held captive, metaphorically or literally, as a means of suppressing one’s spirit. The singer contrasts their own life of freedom and friendship with the captivity they observe in others. The second verse describes a scene of betrayal and degradation as the singer watches someone they care for indulge in vice and debauchery while a loved one passes away. The imagery suggests their soul is trapped in the cage of addiction or grief, unable to find release.
The third verse speaks to the contrast between the singer’s faith in something greater than themselves and the hedonism of those around them. They reflect on the ways in which people use alcohol and other forms of self-abuse to numb their pain and limit their potential. The final lines of the song return to the central metaphor of the cage, expressing the singer’s distress at being trapped in a physical, emotional, or spiritual enclosure. The repetition of the first verse suggests that the cycle of captivity and escape is repeated endlessly, creating a sense of hopelessness and despair.
Line by Line Meaning
Have you ever lived in a cage?
Have you ever felt trapped and unable to live freely?
Where you live to be whipped and be tamed
Where you are controlled and punished for not conforming to expectations imposed on you.
For I've never loved in a cage
I've never experienced a restricted or controlled love.
Or talked to a friend or just waved
I have never been able to communicate or connect with anyone due to restrictions placed upon me.
Well I walk while they talk about virtue
I observe others living their lives according to societal standards and expectations.
Just raised on my back legs and snarled
I rebel and resist against these expectations, expressing my dissatisfaction.
Watched you kiss your old daddy with passion
I observe others expressing intense emotions and connections in their relationships.
And tell dirty jokes as he died
I observe people finding humor even in the darkest moments of life.
I'm damned when I really care there
I feel guilty and punished for caring about people or things that are not accepted or approved by others.
For the cellar's the room in your lives
Others are trapped in their own way, seeking to escape but unable to do so.
Where you lace yourself with bad whiskey
People turn to self-destructive behaviors to cope with their trapped existence.
And close the cage doors on your life
People limit themselves and refuse to see opportunities to escape their confinement.
Well I pray while you bathe in bad water
I seek solace and a higher power while others indulge in destructive behavior.
Sing songs that I learnt as a boy
I cling to the purity and innocence of my childhood experiences to comfort myself.
Then break all the bones in my body
I am willing to suffer physically to escape my confinement and limitations.
On the bars you can never destroy
I will struggle and resist until I am free, even if the obstacles seem insurmountable.
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.....