Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John (1973)

Description

Additional information about this Elton John vinyl art.

Elton John – The Artist

Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight) is an English singer, pianist, and composer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriting partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has also composed music, produced records, and has occasionally acted in films.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – The Song

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a ballad performed by musician Elton John. Lyrics for the song were written by Bernie Taupin, and the music was composed by John for his seventh studio album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Its musical style and production was heavily influenced by 1970s soft rock. It was widely praised by critics, and some critics have named it John’s best song.

The Yellow Brick Road is an image taken from the 1939 film adaptation of Lyman Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. In that film, Dorothy and her three misfit friends are instructed to follow the yellow brick road in search of the Wizard of Oz, only to find that they had what they were looking for all along. The road leads to the Emerald City in the land of Oz, often referred to as a metaphor for “The road that leads to life’s fantasies” or “The road that leads to life’s answers.” The lyrics describe wanting to go back to a simpler existence after living what the narrator thought was a good life but realising he has simply been treated like a pet by his rich socialite lover. The Wizard of Oz was reportedly the first film that Elton John’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin had ever seen, and he used the imagery in the lyrics relating to his own life as his desire to “get back” to [his] roots.

The Grand Piano – The Shape

The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings.

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