For more than 30 years, I have had two old Elton John songs on an almost continuous loop in my head -- Teacher I Need You and Elderberry Wine from the 1973 album Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. And a few weeks ago, I was watching the season finale of Californication, and I was overjoyed to hear another song off that album -- High Flying Bird -- that I honestly had not heard in more than three decades. It immediately, and quite emotionally, transported me back to my childhood, and I realized I desperately needed to have that album. I ordered it off Amazon.ca for $5.99 and it arrived the other day, and has been on my iPod ever since.
I was just a little kid when that album came out. My sister was a huge fan, and I think it was playing constantly in our house for a year, and certainly on every road trip our family took for a couple of years. Listening to that achingly lovely song, Blues for My Baby and Me, I almost burst into tears, because I could vividly remember driving through Vermont in the fake-wood-panelled Brady Bunch station wagon on our way to Massachusetts while rubbing my father's aching shoulders as he drove. I was instantly there; I could even remember the colour of the trees and the feel of the fabric of the shirt my father was wearing.
The greatest thing, however, is that my daughter is listening to it and loving it, hilariously because she thinks Elton sounds just like the Scissor Sisters and also because many of the lyrics, written by Bernie Taupin, are about women and wives and girlfriends and, well, she's only ever known Gay Elton. I had to remind her that a straight guy wrote the lyrics.
But it is so gratifying to have your daughter turn you on to the great music of her childhood and her generation, and then a week or two later, you're turning her onto the great music of your youth and telling her how you remembered giving her beloved grandfather a neck rub as you listened to it on a family road trip. It was a sweet mother-daughter moment. Thanks, Elton!
(And for any of you youngsters out there who only knew the Lion King Elton, please, go back and rediscover his first few albums. I don't think he made a good one after Captain Fantastic, but almost everything prior to that, with Bernie Taupin writing the lyrics, was well and truly brilliant.)
13 comments:
Funny how music unlocked memories like that...
I've heard quite a few kids say they like the "retro" stuff like Zep, Floyd and Elton John. That's sort of flattering isn't it?
One of my nephews, a great musician himself, listens almost solely to retro stuff.
It kind of makes me sad if a kid is totally into retro, because there is so much music out now that is fantastic, but yes, I guess it is a bit flattering.
My daughter has been a huge Velvet Underground fan since she was 12.
Ok, so this album is from the days when I paid attention to music. Let's just say that one of the songs figures in my grad profile in my high school yearbook.
Which one??? Come on, tell us!
I really, really love Teacher I Need You. I think it's the best schoolboy-in-love-with-his-teacher song ever, even though we know Elton was perhaps, in actual fact, eyeing his gym teacher.
The worst one.
I won't deny it if you guess.
Not teacher.
It's part of why I'm so fragile about my musical tastes.
Crocodile Rock?
C-Roc is not embarrassing if that's the one. Every song on that album is great. Some don't stand the test of time as well as others, but early Elton is nothing to be ashamed of.
Early Elton is the better Elton for sure and I may just pick through iTunes to try and reestablish my relationship. Californication was pretty great although if they were smart, they'd leave it where they did and not bring it back. Unless they're smarter and don't ruin it.
Yep. You got it. The C-word song. I Can't believe I'm admitting to this on the internet after everything I said about Facebook and privacy.
Dale: I know! Where do they go with that show after that ending?
Dog lady: It's really not so bad. It's not my favourite early Elton song, but I know lots of people who think it was brilliant.
Thank you, thank you, Jacy. I feel like a new woman, hopping and bopping etc.
You're lucky to have those particular songs on continuous loop in your head. My brain tends to alternate between "Umbrella" and the Miaow Mix jingle, and it's getting old.
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