Top 5 or 10 Elton John Songs?

[James]

There's a bunch of people here that get into Elton John. I'd love to hear what you guys think are Elton's best songs.

It's an impossible task, but I'll try first:

1. "Skyline Pigeon"

2. "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"

3. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"

4. "We All Fall In Love Sometimes/Curtains"

5. "Tonight"

6. "Where To Now St. Peter"

7. "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters"

8. "The Greatest Discovery"

9. "One Horse Town"

10 "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own"

11."High Flying Bird"

[Craig Benfer]

Wow. I'm gonna need some time on this one. All I know right now is that Skyline Pigeon and Don't let The Sun Go Down On Me will be on the list.

[LC]

James,

Mine would be something like this, though I reserve the right to change 'em:

1. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"

2. "Tiny Dancer"

3. "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"

4. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"

5. "Crocodile Rock" (moved up by virtue of having just heard it while on the treadmill -- what a classic!)

6. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"

7. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"

8. "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters"

9. "Your Song"

10. "I've Seen That Movie Too"

I don't like leaving the following 10 off the list, so I'll "honorable mention" them as songs I could listen to any time:

"Empty Garden"; "Levon"; "The Fox"; "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"; "Chloe"; "Sacrifice"; "The One"; "The Greatest Discovery"; "Philadelphia Freedom"; and "Harmony."

What a great artist — and he did it all in spite of Gus Dudgeon (I'm greatly influenced by the Boats Against the Current horror stories that have been talked about here....). That said, I'll also opine that Elton has had some klunkers along the way. The mid-1980s albums he put out don't have much to recommend, IMHO. But... overall, he's one of the best.

(James, I'm digging up "Skyline Pigeon" to give it a fresh listen, based on your list.)

--Larry

[angelina]

Oh Boy....this is a great thread. I perused the entire discography and used a heavy hand to edit. My first cut resulted in SEVENTEEN songs. Good God..not easy. There are some deep album cuts that can EASILY make the top ten....and there are some MAJOR hits that SHOULD be on the top ten...but alas.......they are not on my list.

"Your Song" - my favorite song of all time

"The One" - my wedding song

"Burn Down The Mission" (the LIVE version from 11/17/70)

"Saturday Night's Alright For Fightin'"

"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"

"Michelle's Song" (From the Movie "Friends)

"The Last Song" - makes me cry

"Something About The Way You Look Tonight" - Burt Bachrach could have written this

"Tonight" - I actually like George Michael's version better

"Blues for Baby and Me"

there are so many others that could easily replace the above

[blackhawkpat]

1. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

2. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

3.Your Song

4. Empty Garden

5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

6. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

7. Harmony

8. Daniel

9. Tiny Dancer

10. Rocket Man

A very daunting task, to leave off so many great songs. It's funny, while I was doing this, two of my daughters were walking by and asked what I was doing. When I told them, they looked at my list and said "Dad, you don't know what you are talking about. What about "Candle In The Wind", either version, or "Can You Feel The Love" , "Someone Saved My Life", or "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"? I had to laugh because it just shows you that even with different generations, ANY Elton list is going to have great songs on it and no one is wrong!

If anyone gets a chance to read the Rolling Stone interview from 2/17 with EJ on the cover, it's a must read, as he discusses his career, his reunion with Leon Russell, his disdain for Billy Joel's lack of seriousness in his alcohol rehab, ("Billy says he can't write songs any more", says Sir Elton, "but, he's either too drunk or too lazy!") and his new baby. Great, great story that any Elton fan has to pick up.

[Paulie Mississippi]

Not a bad list, to be sure... And just because songs like "Philadelphia Freedom" and "Crocodile Rock" are so catchy does not mean they belong on a top 10 list... Same goes for "The Bitch Is Back", I loved the song when it came out, but it's "just" a hit... not the best work the man has ever done...

Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding is the one Elton song I'd choose over any other on any give day to listen to... followed by two more on your list, Rocket Man and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road... Though I'd never turn the radio off if any of your list came on!

[LC]

Hey, you just trashed one-third of my list, Paulie?

[Brian Michael Page]

Top Ten Elton tunes - in no particular order:

10. Grow Some Funk of Your Own

9. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

8. One Horse Town

7. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

6. Grey Seal

5. I've Seen that Movie Too

4. Candle in the Wind (version from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album)

3. I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself (I think it's hilarious that he can take a morbid title and make it sound like happy honky tonk!)

2. Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly

1. Elton's "Pinball Wizard" cover

BMP

PS: "The Bitch Is Back" gets honorable mention on my list. I loved it in fourth grade simply because of the use of the word "bitch" in a HIT song. Oh, and add "Bad Blood" (his duet with Neil Sedaka) to that honorable mention list as well, for almost the same reason - except I still found it hard to imagine Neil Sedaka using the word "bitch".

[James]

Yeah, there are so many. "Empty Garden" is a great one. I maybe should have included it (along with 50 others!..). I bought the single off I-Tunes a few years ago. It's phenomenal.

To me, Elton's last great album was "Blue Moves". I bought "A Single Man" (the album that followed "Blue Moves")...and it was good, but Elton had turned toward a different direction with that album, and I'd never love his stuff really again. I'd like a lot of his stuff, but never love anything he put out later.

Except for "Empty Garden"!. It came out I think in 1982, and to me, it was the old Elton popping his head up one last time with a piece of music that was utter greatness. It was up with his best stuff of the 70s.

[Craig Benfer]

Ok, here goes. (but really.....a song that might rank 50th on a list of Elton songs would be the best of most other artists)

1. Don' Let The Sun Go Down On Me

2. Skyline Pigeon

3. Rocket Man

4. Tiny Dancer

5. Blues For Baby And Me

6. In Neon

7. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters

8. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowby

9. Have Mercy On The Criminal

10. Little Jeannie

Weird how no sings from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road made my list even though I rank that as my favorite album.

[missm]

These are my top 10 Elton John songs. It was hard to narrow the list down to 10 but here they are...

Solar Prestige A Gamon

Johnny B. Good

Pinky

Grimsby

Philadelphia Freedom

Captain Fantastic

Written In The Stars

Empty Garden

Tiny Dancer

Crocodile Rock

Bonus: I'm Still Standing

[Reid C.]

OK, so it isn't ten but I really like these eight!

Club at the End of the Street

The One

The Simple Life

The Bitch is Back

Philadelphia Freedom

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

Blue Avenue

[pretender]

10) I Feel Like A Bullet(In The Gun Of Robert Ford)

9) Come Down In Time

8) Tiny Dancer

7) Funeral For A Frend/Love Lies Bleeding

6) Gulliver's Gone

5) High Flying Bird

4) Love Song

3) Cage The Songbird

2) Your Song

1) Burn Down The Mission

[Jeff]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Step Into Christmas"......

[hollies65]

I can narrow it down to one..."Your Song". I don't like Elton John.

[wimvriezen]

1) Tiny dancer

2) Sixty years on

3) Funeral for a friend/Love lies bleeding

4) Rocket man

5) Your song

6) Goodbye yellow brick road

7) Song for guy

8) Border song

9) Saturday night's allright for fighting

10) I guess that's why they call it the blues

[Les R.]

Hollies: You seriously can only find ONE Elton John song that you like?? He is a very, very close second to Eric in my book! I felt it was quite appropriate for the Queen to be flanked at her anniversary ceremony by Sir Elton & Sir Paul, the two greatest modern musicians Britain has produced. If there are one or two of these that you may not know, please give them a listen:

1. Island Girl (#1, '75)

2. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night (#1, '74)

(duet with John Lennon)

3. Philadelphia Freedom (#1, '75)

4. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (#1, '74)

5. Bad Blood (#1, '75)

(duet with Neil Sedaka)

6. I'm Still Standing (#12, '83)

7. Blue Eyes (#12, '82)

8. Mama Can't Buy You Love (#9, '79)

9. Sad Songs (#5, '84)

10. The B-tch is Back (#4, '74)

11. The One (#9, '92)

12. Something About the Way You Look Tonight (#1, '97)

13. Part-Time Love (#22, '78)

14. Victim of Love (#31, '79)

15. Circle of Life (#18, '94)

16. You Can Make History (Young Again) (#70, '96)

[wimvriezen]

1) Your song

2) Sorry seems to be the hardest word

3) Sixty years on

4) Song for guy

5) Tiny dancer

6) Goodbye yellow brick road

7) All the girls love Alice

8) Funeral for a friend/Love lies bleeding

9) Border song

10) Candle in the wind (1973 version)

[RaspBen]

1. Goodbye Yellowbrick Road

2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight

3. Empty Garden (Hey hey Johnny)

4. Tiny Dancer

5. Candle In The Wind (original version)

6. Daniel

7. Bennie and The Jets

8. Rocket Man

9. Blue Eyes

10.Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

[goodbye girl]

I can narrow it down to one..."Your Song". I don't like Elton John.

Agree, Bernie Taupin has very much to do with Elton John's success