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)
Too Low For Zero
Elton John Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I get the wake up call
Let that sucker jingle-jangle
Ring right off the wall
I'm too low for zero
I'm too tired to work
Tied one on with a friend last night
And wound up losing my shirt
I'm too low for zero
I'm on a losing streak
I got myself in a bad patch lately
I can't seem to get much sleep
I'm too low for zero
I wind up counting sheep
Nothing seems to make much sense
It's all just Greek to me
You know I'm too low, too low, too low for zero
You know I'm too low, too low, too low for zero
Cutting out cups of coffee
Switching off the late night news
Putting the cat out two hours early
It isn't any use
I'm too low for zero
Insomnia attacks
Watching flies with my eyes till sunrise
It's daylight when I hit the sack
Elton John’s song, ‘Too Low For Zero’ is a melancholy tune that highlights the struggles of the singer who is going through a difficult phase in his life. It begins by painting a picture of him waking up to a jarring alarm that won’t stop ringing, and with feelings of exhaustion that indicate how tired he is from life’s struggles. He states that he is, “too low for zero” and that he is “too tired to work”, alluding to a sense of hopelessness and despair. The lyrics then reveal that the singer has gotten himself into a bad patch lately, which shows how things have been tough for him for a while. Furthermore, the feeling of being too low is reinforced as he says that nothing seems to make much sense and that it’s all just Greek to him.
The next verse continues in the same vein, where the singer tries various methods to overcome his maladies, from cutting out cups of coffee, to switching off the late-night news, but it all ends in vain. He laments that he is too low for zero and that even insomnia attacks him. The act of watching flies till sunrise, further emphasizes his state of hopelessness, as he has nothing better to do.
In conclusion, the song Too Low For Zero is a heartbreaking and melancholic portrayal of a person who is going through a bad phase in his life. The lyrics are powerful and evoke emotions of sympathy and empathy for the singer’s struggles.
Line by Line Meaning
Six o'clock alarm
The singer is woken up by an alarm clock at 6 o'clock in the morning.
I get the wake up call
The alarm clock serves as the singer's wake-up call.
Let that sucker jingle-jangle
The singer dislikes the sound of the alarm clock's ringtone.
Ring right off the wall
The sound of the alarm clock is so unpleasant that the artist wishes it would stop immediately.
I'm too low for zero
The artist feels emotionally and mentally drained, and is in a very negative state of mind.
I'm too tired to work
The singer is too exhausted to focus on and complete their work tasks.
Tied one on with a friend last night
The singer got drunk with a friend the night before.
And wound up losing my shirt
The artist lost a lot of money while gambling or making risky financial decisions.
I'm on a losing streak
The artist has been experiencing a series of unfortunate events, failures, and losses recently.
I got myself in a bad patch lately
The artist has been going through a difficult and unpleasant period in their life.
I can't seem to get much sleep
The singer is experiencing sleep deprivation and is unable to get enough sleep.
I wind up counting sheep
The artist tries to relax and fall asleep by counting sheep jumping over a fence.
Nothing seems to make much sense
The singer feels confused, disoriented, and unable to find meaning or solutions in their life.
It's all just Greek to me
The singer finds it difficult to understand or comprehend certain things, concepts, or situations, as if they were written in Greek.
Cutting out cups of coffee
The singer is trying to reduce their caffeine intake by drinking less coffee.
Switching off the late night news
The artist is trying to avoid watching the news before going to bed, as it might affect their sleep quality.
Putting the cat out two hours early
The artist is attempting to change their cat's sleep patterns by putting it to bed earlier than usual.
It isn't any use
The singer feels that their attempts to improve their sleep quality are not having any effect.
Insomnia attacks
The singer suffers from frequent insomnia and is unable to fall asleep or stay asleep.
Watching flies with my eyes till sunrise
The artist spends the whole night awake, staring at flies until the sun rises and they finally fall asleep.
It's daylight when I hit the sack
The artist finally manages to fall asleep when it's already daytime, due to their insomnia and sleep problems.
You know I'm too low, too low, too low for zero
The artist emphasizes that they are in a very low and negative state of mind, and are struggling to cope with their problems.
You know I'm too low, too low, too low for zero
The singer repeats that they are very low and negative, as if trying to convince themselves or others about the severity of their situation.
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.....