Elton John – Your Song

“Your Song” is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The song was released in 1970 by Elton John in his self-titled second studio album.

The song was recorded at Trident Studios in London in January 1970 and was released in the United States in October 1970. It was the B-side to “Take Me to the Pilot”. Both songs received airplay, but “Your Song” was preferred by disc jockeys and replaced “Take Me to the Pilot” as the A-side.

Eventually, “Your Song” rose to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number seven on the UK Singles Chart by January 1971, as well as charting in the top 10 in several other countries.

“Your Song” was very popular among listeners, and was praised by critics upon its release and in subsequent years. In 1998, “Your Song” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song is also listed among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was placed on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” at number 136 In 2004, number 137 in its 2010 list, and number 202 in its 2021 list.

In 2017, the song was voted by the British public as The Nation’s Favorite Elton John Song in a UK-wide poll for ITV.

In the US it was certified Gold and Platinum on 13 December 2012 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over one million digital downloads, and in April 2018 it was certified 2x Platinum for sales of two million digital downloads.

Here is Elton John performing “Your Song” at his second appearance on “Top Of The Pops”, airing on January 14th 1971. This was one week before the song became his first-ever entry on the UK Singles Chart.

When asked about how he wrote “Your Song”, Bernie Taupin said, “I scribbled the lyric down on a lined notepad at the kitchen table of Elton’s mother’s apartment in the London suburb of Northwood Hills, breakfast time sometime in 1969. That’s it. Plain and simple.”

Here is a video of Elton John telling more about their writing process and partnership, followed by a performance of the song.

The song has been covered by a number of artists throughout the years, including Rod Stewart, Lady Gaga and Ellie Goulding. The song also featured in movies, it was covered by Ewan McGregor in the 2001 musical film “Moulin Rouge”, and by Taron Egerton in the 2019 film about Elton John’s life “Rocketman”.

Analyzing the song: with the parameters we learned in the class – is the song popular according to our parameters?

The music –  Elton John wrote the music for the song, most people would agree that he wrote beautiful music, that fits the lyrics and the story they are telling, making the song a great ballade.

The lyrics – the lyrics are beautiful and interesting, telling a story about love, making it easy for the audience to connect.

The hook – the song has a catchy hook that everybody knows. When we think about “Your Song” we always think about it’s hook: “and you can tell everybody this is your song…”.

Danceability – the song isn’t danceable but it does answer a lot of the other parameters.

Emotion – while listening to the song we can feel a variety of emotions such as love, sadness, happiness etc.

Universal themes – the song’s theme is love, a subject everybody can relate to. Even today, 50 years after it was released, the song still feels relevent and relateable.

“similar but different” – in my opinion, “Your Song” feels unique and yet very familiar.

Instrumentation – Elton John’s voice, and him playing the song on the piano, makes the audience fell connected to the music and the lyrics.

Authenticity – the song certainly feels authentic. When we listen to the song we feel as though the speaker is talking to a certain person, letting us in so we can listen to their story.

The story – The song is a telling a story about love. It is the reason why this song resonated with so many pepole.

In conclusion, “Your Song” by Elton John is a very popular song, and it is still beloved even today, 50 years after it’s release. It was Elton John’s first hit and it still remains a fan’s favorite, played at all of Elton John’s concerts still to this day, even with all of the amazing hits Elton kept adding to his catalog throughout the years. The song was featured in movies throughout the years, and was also covered by many artists over the years, as a tribute to Elton John and this beautiful song, perhaps introducing this song to younger audiences who hasn’t heard the song before.