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 Emperor's New Clothes
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In that upstairs apartment
On Orlando and 4th
And the rent was due and the rent man was knocking
Like a Chinese proverb
We were always searching
Nightlife´s a no-win but nobody noticed
Looking good on the surface
The dog days barked and the house cat got old
We were Bonnie and Clyde
In the emperor´s new clothes
And the tears never came
They just stayed in our eyes
We refused to admit that we wore this disguise
Every inch of us growing
Like Pinocchio´s nose
As we walked around in the emperor´s new clothes
We flew by our wits and by the seat of our pants
In the state of illusion
In the nation of chance
And the repo was hauling the wreck we´d been driving
As the dashboard Madonna
Smiled back at us kindly
We cheated the system never batting an eyelid
Seeing only the good
Through the holes in our shoes
And our halos were rusty but we wore them proudly
We were two little gods
In the emperor´s new clothes
The lyrics of Elton John's "The Emperor's New Clothes" revolve around the theme of deception and pretense. The song describes the lives of two people who bet on the horses and were living in an apartment where the rent was due. They pretended to be living a lavish lifestyle despite their struggles.
The song references the Chinese proverb, "a crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind," indicating that the two protagonists were always on the lookout for opportunities to improve their status. Their frivolous lifestyle was portrayed as a facade by their nonchalant attitude towards the struggles they faced.
The two protagonists are likened to Bonnie and Clyde in the "emperor's new clothes" - hinting towards their desire to make it big, regardless of their circumstances. Despite the growing changes in their lives, the two refuse to admit that they are wearing a disguise.
The line, "And the tears never came, they just stayed in our eyes," highlights the inability of the two protagonists to confront reality. They chose to turn a blind eye as they pretended to be someone they were not. In the end, the two were only fooling themselves, further emphasizing the lyrics' theme of delusion.
Line by Line Meaning
We bet on our lives and we bet on the horses
We took risks with our own survival and put our faith in fate
In that upstairs apartment
We were living in a small, confined space
On Orlando and 4th
Our location was not impressive or significant
And the rent was due and the rent man was knocking
We were struggling with financial obligations and pressures
Like a Chinese proverb
The situation was filled with hidden meanings and complexities
We were always searching
We were never content with our current circumstances
Nightlife's a no-win but nobody noticed
We were caught up in a lifestyle that was self-destructive, yet we never acknowledged it
How we killed off the bottles
We drank heavily, but it was a temporary escape from reality
Looking good on the surface
We put on a facade to hide the pain and struggles beneath
The dog days barked and the house cat got old
Time passed and things deteriorated, but we refused to acknowledge it
We were Bonnie and Clyde
We were partners in crime, supporting each other despite the consequences
In the emperor's new clothes
We were living in a delusional world where we pretended to have everything together
And the tears never came
We were too numb to feel the emotions we were suppressing
They just stayed in our eyes
Our pain was evident, but we refused to let it show
We refused to admit that we wore this disguise
We denied the reality of our situation and put on a false image instead
Every inch of us growing
Our lies and delusions were getting bigger and more outlandish
Like Pinocchio's nose
Our deceit was becoming more obvious and harder to hide
As we walked around in the emperor's new clothes
We continued to live in our own fantasy world, ignoring reality
We flew by our wits and by the seat of our pants
We relied on quick thinking and impulse rather than careful planning
In the state of illusion
We were living in a world of make-believe, ignoring the real issues
In the nation of chance
We accepted that our lives were governed by luck rather than hard work
And the repo was hauling the wreck we'd been driving
Our careless actions and decisions had led to negative consequences
As the dashboard Madonna
A religious symbol that brought us comfort and hope
Smiled back at us kindly
Our delusions and false hopes were being reinforced by our belief in a higher power
We cheated the system never batting an eyelid
We knew we were doing something wrong, but we didn't care
Seeing only the good
We chose to focus on the positive aspects of our lives, rather than the bad
Through the holes in our shoes
Despite our struggles, we continued to move forward
And our halos were rusty but we wore them proudly
Our self-righteousness and sense of superiority were tarnished, but we refused to abandon them
We were two little gods
We saw ourselves as invincible and untouchable
In the emperor's new clothes
We were living in a false reality of our own making
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.....