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 Last Song
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
you came to lift me up
As light as straw and brittle as a bird
Today I weigh less than a shadow on the wall
Just one more whisper of a voice unheard
Tomorrow
As fear grows please hold me in your arms
Won't you help me if you can to shake this anger
I need your gentle hands to keep me calm
'Cause I never thought I'd lose
I only thought I'd win
I never dreamed I'd feel
This fire beneath my skin
I can't believe you love me
I never thought you'd come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son
Things we never said come together
The hidden truth no longer haunting me
Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken
That kind of understanding sets me free
'Cause I never thought I'd lose
I only thought I'd win
I never dreamed I'd feel
This fire beneath my skin
I can't believe you love me
I never thought you'd come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son
The Last Song by Elton John is an emotional ballad about a complex father-son relationship that is at a breaking point. The song starts with reminiscing about the past where the father had lifted the son up and made him feel better. The son now feels empty and weighed down, with a voice unheard while he struggles with anger and fear. He reaches out for his father in the hope that his gentle touch will calm him and help him overcome his emotions.
Elton John's powerful lyrics continue to explore the regrets both father and son have in their relationship, including things they never said and hidden truths that are no longer haunting them. The two finally touch on the unspoken issues, and this kind of understanding sets the son free. He realizes that love between a father and son is a complex thing that he misjudged and that he never thought he would feel the intense emotions that he is now experiencing.
This song is a beautiful reminder of the importance of communication and understanding in any relationship, but especially in a father-son bond. It is a song that reveals the power of honesty and forgiveness that can change everything.
Line by Line Meaning
Yesterday you came to lift me up
Yesterday, you came to my rescue, to lift me from my troubles
As light as straw and brittle as a bird
I was weak, helpless, and fragile like a light feather or a bird's bones
Today I weigh less than a shadow on the wall
I feel worthless and unnoticed like a shadow on the wall
Just one more whisper of a voice unheard
I have no outlet for my pain, no one to listen to my voice or hear my cries
Tomorrow leave the windows open
Leave the windows open tomorrow, as I'm afraid and need comfort
As fear grows please hold me in your arms
As my fear grows, please embrace me in your arms and assure me that everything will be okay
Won't you help me if you can to shake this anger
Please assist me in overcoming this anger that has built up inside me
I need your gentle hands to keep me calm
I need your gentle and reassuring touch to calm me down
'Cause I never thought I'd lose
I always thought I would come out victorious
I only thought I'd win
I had believed that winning was the only possible outcome
I never dreamed I'd feel this fire beneath my skin
I never imagined I'd experience such a strong and intense feeling
I can't believe you love me
I am grateful for your love, but I can hardly fathom that you love me
I never thought you'd come
I underestimated your ability to come to my aid
I guess I misjudged love between a father and his son
I had wrongly assumed that the love between a father and son was always certain and strong
Things we never said come together
Things we never talked about are coming up now
The hidden truth no longer haunting me
The truth that was once hidden and bothering me is no longer doing so now
Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken
This evening, we have discussed the things that we have never talked about before
That kind of understanding sets me free
This sort of understanding is liberating
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Elton John, Bernard J.p. Taupin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@thomaslapins6022
No other Elton song hits me in the gut as this one does. It hits way too close to home.
@blackcitroenlove
Right in the fecking feels. I cried when I first heard this as a 12 year old, and when my mother explained to me what it was about, I cried even more. So horribly sad.
@JohnMartin-fo5eh
Yep,me to,totally agree, this song has so much emotion & feeling about it, with the beautiful voice of Elton John, this song goes straight to the heart strings 😢, John Martin Sydney Australia 🇦🇺
@JohnMartin-fo5eh
Totally agree, I feel exactly same,John Martin Sydney Australia 🇦🇺
@user-tq9ww9ny7r
Totally agree but it's about daughters too R.I.P dad
@edquispe1
Yes, agreed 😢
@borhaptrash5454
R.I.P. to all the aids victims. R.I.P. Freddie. Much loved and missed every since.
@williamhaggard451
Not just Freddy there's Ryan White & Anthony Perkins tennis pro Authur Ashe Robert Reed others from the disease even now plus Roc Hutson and Amanda Blake
@jasoncarpp7742
I love this song! I remember when I first heard "The Last Song" by Sir Elton John. While I didn't know anyone personally who had AIDS, or who died from AIDS, I still cry whenever I listen. This song is just as relevant today as it was almost 30 yrs ago. When it was released, it was during the AIDS epidemic. Today, it could be about someone dying from Covid-19 and/or its variants.
@jasoncarpp7742
@@williamhaggard451 So many people died of AIDS in the 90s. It made me cry when I first heard this song, and I still cry when I listen today. :'(