From faroutmagazine.co.uk
By Kelly Scanlon
When we think of a track as monumental as ‘Your Song’, it’s hard not to think about what was running through Elton John‘s mind on the day he wrote it. He probably jumped up with glee, excited at the fact he’d just landed on pure gold…right?
It was one of the first songs John wrote with Bernie Taupin. The initial seeds came to Taupin when he was having breakfast at John’s parents’ house, and he rushed to grab whatever he could find to write it down before he could forget. Caught on a “grubby piece of exercise paper”, as Taupin later described, the words were then taken to John, who came up with a melody in less than half an hour.
John initially believed that Taupin had written it about his then-girlfriend, but every time he suggested it, Taupin would get defensive. Maybe that’s a sign it was actually about just that, especially as Taupin later said it’s about “absolute naiveté in love”. But Taupin was also a teenager when he wrote the song, which explains why it feels like a simple yet all-encompassing kind of love. Or, as Taupin said, one filled with “extraordinarily virginal sentiments”.
Either way, something about it worked, and it unintentionally became one of their most popular hits together. And its simplicity is also what both Taupin and John keep coming back to. ‘Your Song’ could never be recreated, partially because it came from a youthful mind ruminating on young love. But also because, weirdly, the older John gets, the more he identifies with it.
That said, when John wrote in his diary in October 1969, the day they wrote the song together, he didn’t give much away. He didn’t seem as enthralled as he had all these times he praised the song; he didn’t share any emotion towards it whatsoever. In other words, you wouldn’t think his words reflected the thoughts of a man who had just written what would become his first major hit.
“9:00 Bobby Bruce,” he wrote. “Stayed home today. Went to South Harrow market. The session was hilarious. Didn’t do anything in the end. Wrote ‘Your Song’.”
The words are so casual that there’s almost hilarity in them. Almost like it’s hard to accept he didn’t actually know how great the song already was, and was reflecting on how good he felt after. Like when someone asks you how your day was, and you say the most important thing last for maximum effect. For comedic effect. But in this case, John bracketed it with indifference, “didn’t do anything in the end”. Except, write one of the best songs in the history of music?
John later said, “I don’t think I’ve written a love song as good since.”
He performed it at all of his shows. It’s a staple of his entire legacy. In some twisted way, maybe it’s understandable why he gave nothing away in his diary the day they wrote it. Maybe it said everything without saying anything at all, even if John wasn’t aware of its own poignancy yet. Because its success clearly crept on them a little bit, making those slower, less explosive moments feel even more special in the long run.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/elton-john-diary-reflections-day-he-wrote-your-song/
