Madman Across The Water

The second release of 1971, Madman Across The Water was Elton John's fourth album. It is best known today for its first two songs, which weren't huge hits at the time but have become ubiquitous on classic rock radio.

The opener is "Tiny Dancer," and it's hard to imagine today but this song was not successful on its first release. It's over six minutes long, and it takes half the song before the chorus hits. It was not on either of John's first two greatest hits collections. But it gained new life, primarily from its inclusion in the film Almost Famous, in which a touring bus of people exults in the eventual chorus.

Bernie Taupin wrote the song about his then wife, Maxine Feibelman. They didn't stick, but the songs lives on:

"Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today"

The song is now so part of John's legacy that it has a big moment in Rocketman. It was ruined for many when the TV show Friends had Phoebe thinking it was about an actor from Taxi: "Hold me closer, Tony Danza."

The second song is Levon, which did make it to John's second greatest hits collection. It is one of Taupin's fanciful lyrics, but it does have an overarching feeling of loneliness. The title character (who was named after The Band's Levon Helm) "was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas Day, when the New York Times said God is dead." He has a son, Jesus (so called because he liked the name) who "wants to go to Venus, and leave Levon far behind." In a certain way, this is like Cat Steven's song "Father And Son," about a generational disconnect.

The other notable song on the album is the title track, which is an orchestral epic. I have no idea what it's about:

"We'll come again next Thursday afternoon
The In-laws hope they'll see you very soon
But is it in your conscience that you're after
Another glimpse of the madman across the water"

The other songs on the album are fairly forgettable. I should note the existence of "Indian Sunset," a gross example of cultural appropriation. Well-intentioned, it has a whey-faced Englishman singing from the point of view of a plains Indian, and in today's world, it is wince inducing:

"I take only what is mine Lord, my pony, my squaw, and my child
I can't stay to see you die along with my tribe's pride
I go to search for the yellow moon and the fathers of our sons
Where the red sun sinks in the hills of gold and the healing waters run"

That's very pretty, but really. The word squaw is now recognized as a slur.

Next up, John's first album that caught my attention, Honky Chateau.