‘Your Song’ is a song written by British musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. ‘Your Song’ was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in March 1970 as an album track on It Ain't Easy. John was an opening act for the band at the time and allowed them to record it. They did not release it as a single as they wanted to let John, then an upcoming artist, have a go with it. John's version was recorded at Trident Studios in London in January 1970 and appeared in April as the first cut on his self-titled second studio album. ‘Your Song’ was released in the United States in October 1970 as the B-side to ‘Take Me to the Pilot’. Both sides received airplay, but ‘Your Song’ was preferred by disc jockeys and replaced ‘Take Me to the Pilot’ as the A-side, eventually making it to number eight on the Billboard chart. The song also peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as charting in the top 10 in several other countries.
In 1998, ‘Your Song’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, the song was placed at number 136 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", 137 in its 2010 list, and 202 in its 2021 list. The song is listed among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. A demo version was included in John's 1990 box set album To Be Continued. In 2017, the song was voted by the British public as The Nation's Favourite Elton John Song in a UK-wide poll for ITV. The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Rod Stewart, Lady Gaga and Ellie Goulding. The song was also covered by Ewan McGregor in the 2001 musical film Moulin Rouge! and by Taron Egerton in the 2019 film Rocketman. In 2018, the song was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA.
One widespread story is that Bernie Taupin wrote the song's lyrics after breakfast one morning on the roof of 20 Denmark Street, London, where John worked for a music publishing firm as an office boy, hence the line "I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss." However, Taupin has denied this, pointing out that John had stopped working there by the time they met. According to Taupin, "I scribbled the lyric down on a lined notepad at the kitchen table of Elton's mother's apartment in the London suburb of Northwood Hills, breakfast time sometime in 1969. That’s it. Plain and simple."
‘Your Song’ was praised by critics upon its release and in subsequent years, and is widely regarded as one of John's greatest songs. In a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone, John Lennon recalled, “I remember hearing Elton John's 'Your Song', heard it in America—it was one of Elton's first big hits—and remember thinking, 'Great, that's the first new thing that's happened since we (The Beatles) happened.' It was a step forward. There was something about his vocal that was an improvement on all of the English vocals until then. I was pleased with it."
Labels – Uni, DJM
Songwriters – Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer – Gus Dudgeon
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]It's a little bit funny
This feelin' inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
[Verse 2]
If I was a sculptor, heh
But then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelin' show, oh
I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you
[Chorus]
And you can tell everybody
This is your song
It may be quite simple, but
Now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is
While you're in the world
[Verse 3]
I sat on the roof
And kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses
Well, they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind
While I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on
[Verse 4]
So excuse me forgettin'
But these things I do
You see I've forgotten
If they're green or they're blue
Anyway, the thing is
What I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
[Chorus]
And you can tell everybody
This is the song
It may be quite simple, but
Now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is
While you're in the world
[Outro]
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is
While you're in the world