One of the more genuinely miserable tracks on an album full of them, it begins with this anguished question, asked of the singer's lover:
What have I got to do to make you love me
What have I got to do to make you care
What do I do when lightning strikes me
And I wake to find that you're not there
...and things get bleaker form there. As a breakup song, it certainly does what it sets out to do; the "singer" doesn't seem to want to end the relationship, but has no clue about how to win back the heart of the person it's sung to- "sorry" seems to be an inadequate response, and a difficult word for either to say, even if it would help.
Elton's arrangement is not elaborate; piano, vibes and accordion giving it an odd French feel. James Newton Howard contributes a non-obtrusive string arrangement.
With no hope of resolution, it becomes one of the most forlorn pop songs to ever hit the Billboard top 10 (#6 in the US), no doubt striking a chord with the loveless, abandoned and forsaken music listeners of 1976.
Listen on the streaming service of your choice.
2 comments:
Forlorn is right. Sad just THINKING about it. But I like it - you know, "sad songs say so much," someone once said.
Yeah...where have I heard that phrase before...?
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