Elton John was my introduction into the world of rock and roll. He helped to shape my view on the world and connected me to my grandmother. To this day if I even hear the name Alice I think of her. That being said here are my top ten favorite songs:
10. Talking Old Soldiers: Though this song is one of my favorites I don't listen to it very often because of the simple fact that it makes me so sad. The idea that everyone I know an love will one day die and as the song says, my best friend will be a graveyard. I admire the soldier though, his resilience to death and time is a quality that I hope to find in myself.
9. Alice :When I first heard Alice I have to admit not only was I a little jealous of how much freedom she had, I was also afraid that I would be susceptible to the life that took her. A young prostitute is obviously not a life to envy but to me , being able to go out without your parents knowing, and doing what you wanted, is all that I really wanted.
8. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy: This song is easily a classic. I could relate to being this person that people thought was so great and then wanting to be this bad guy. I wanted to be a ruffian but I was the girl that never crossed the street without looking both ways. This song combined two of my personalities and I've never felt more understood.
7. Rocket Man: Lost love. Isolation. Distance. Loneliness. Wanting to belong but also feeling outcasted. Rocket Man sings to some of my most emotional side and the lasting refrain always pulls me back in. 'And I think it's gonna be a long long time'.
6. Tiny Dancer: I sing this song the instant I feel the least bit homesick. This is one of my grandmother's favorite songs and when I think of this song I think of her. No she didn't use to be a dancer or anything that the song relates to, but she will always sing along to this one, and I will always sing along with her.
5. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting: The first time I heard this song in the car it was about 5:00 o'clock on an actual Saturday night. I remember turning it up and rolling the windows down in December. Not the best idea, but it was fun. I also play this song when I'm getting ready to go out on a Saturday night!
4. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters: I have spent many a nights listening to this song and contemplating my life, I was the 'trashcan dream'. This song reminded me that there was so much more to the world than my life and the things I wanted. There were people who had much less than me and I would always feel so bad for thinking about myself. Even now listening to it as I write this I pause and think about what is really going on in the world.
3. Crocodile Rock: This song has always been one of those songs that reminded me of an old movie, how the girl always ended up with the guy and everyone was always happy. I've danced to this song when I was sad and with my siblings in movies. It has long upheld my sense of happiness.
2. Harmony: If my number one favorite Elton John song didn't exist, this would be my favorite, simply because it speaks of eternal love, even with the passing time. I have also decided to name on of my children Harmony, yes I am that person.
1.Bennie and the Jets:The first time I heard this song was in the movie 27 Dresses and I didn't think it was a real song, but he next day I got in the car with my grandmother and we were fighting about something or other and we paused only for em to realize that this was the song from the movie I had watched the night before and the fact that it actually existed ended our argument. Now it is my number one favorite Elton John song.
