Published on Nov 10, 1997
“Hey…Could I walk you to art class?”
“I suppose.”
Her green eyes looked up at me and my whole world shrank to that
moment. Every second was precious. Every step was agony. Should I
try to hold her hand? What did “I suppose” mean? Was I sweating
through my shirt? There was nothing more precious to me than to see
her smile. Her voice was more beautiful than any music I’d ever
heard. She was my blonde-haired goddess. I was so close, day after
day, yet so far away? What could I do?
At night, I would go home and put on the soundtrack to my life.
“It’s a little bit funny, this feelin’ inside,” Elton would sing
and I would be lost in a fantasy of how it could be if only I were
as cool as he was. Song after song about lost love, first love,
precious love. If only I could get her to see how I felt. I gave
her the lyrics in a note I slipped into her locker. It was the
finest poetry I’d ever heard. She never even acknowledged the
note.
The years go by and illusions are trampled one by one. The
15-year-old girl I was so much in love with turned out to be a
lesbian. I would have had a better chance with Elton John than I
did with her! And the music of that first American album? In part,
it too was an illusion; a sappy, romantic attempt at radio success.
Of course, it worked. Teenagers everywhere were struck by the
simplicity of “Your Song” and moved by the words. It sold.
So, how do the songs hold up after all these years? First of
all, there is no denying that Elton John can play the piano. He
rocks as hard as Jerry Lee Lewis on a prissy day in tunes like
“Take Me To the Pilot” (whatever that means) and “Border Song”. His
band does not stand out as much as cause Elton and the words of
Bernie Taupin to stand out. They are servants to the virtuousity of
the singer-songwriter team. Yet, more than anything else, its
Elton’s voice that carries this album. From a croon to a yowl in
half a measure, Elton controls emotions by sheer musculature.
Stand-out tracks, even to this day, include: “I Need You To Turn
To” — a short-but-sweet ballad that evokes loneliness by
candlelight at the end of an empty day and “First Episode at
Hienton” — a story of first sex that goes over the top. One line
reads, “I am who I am, you are who you are … Now Valerie’s a
woman..” Rod McKuen, move over.
Yes, it’s ridiculous. Yes, it makes my teeth hurt. But, why is
it that I can listen to this album after 27 years and remember
exactly what it was like to be 15 and in love? Song after song,
year after year, Elton John and Bernie Taupin have provided more
guilty pleasures and prompted more mood changes in me than almost
any other artists. That, my friends, is a gift!