Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Writing

As if to demonstrate that it wasn't all gloom and doom in their early days, we get this blithely efficient pop song about the good feelings that our heroes get while in the act of plying their trade, and some convenient backwards-glancing with somewhat jaded lines such as

And we were oh oh, so you know
Not the kind to dawdle
Will the things we wrote today
Sound as good tomorrow
We will still be writing
In approaching years
Stifling yawns on Sundays
As the weekends disappear


Just the kind of observation that occurs to a songwriter who's been at it as long as Taupin had been by that point- seven years, more or less. Still, there's enough perceived joy to inspire verses such as these:

We could stretch our legs if we'd half a mind
But don't disturb us if you hear us trying
To instigate the structure of another line or two
Cause writing's lighting up
And I like life enough to see it through


Davey Johnstone's sprightly six-note guitar riff is the main defining point, and Elton sings it with a smile straight through. It's a nice, snappy tune that serves the function of setting us up for the profundities of "Curtains" and "We All Fall in Love Sometimes", which follow.

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