Can someone please explain to me what the storyline is behind Elton John’s song “Daniel”? I’ve heard that there was a verse taken out and that it could have been based on a news article about someone coming home from a war. If anyone knows the real story please let me know, it’s driving me insane.
Welcome!
Even though this is phrased as a question, it really belongs in Cafe Society, and will most likely be moved there soon.
As for your question, I have no freakin’ idea.
Although this has nothing to do with answering the OP, Jomo’s ex-wife missed her older brother, Daniel, who had to leave the United States and go to Canada to escape being drafted to fight in Vietnam. That song came out about the same time he left the country, so every time she heard “Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane…” she thought of her brother going away. Very sad. He’s still living in Canada, I think he’s a Canadian citizen now.
This song was poignant to me because of my older brother–no, his name is not Daniel. But I heard the lyrics in the 80s, during a long period when he stayed incommunicado; for all we knew, he could have been dead. 
Except for the name, the lyrics seemed to allude to him clearly. (We finally contacted him and he is no longer incommunicado.) I had in fact had a number of dreams during this eleven-year period in which he “really” returned to us. I can no longer hear Elton John’s song now without thinking about this…
Off to Cafe Society.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Daniel is blind (physically) but apparently much more insightful than the narrator of the tune. And he’s traveling in a plane. Tonight. To Spain. And he’s older than the narrator. And the narrator misses him.
[Obi Wan Kenobi]
Luuuuuuke: You must resist the urge to read any deep meanings into Bernie Taupin’s lyrics.
[/Obi Wan Kenobi]