Referring to this SD entry:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1755/in-the-elton-john-song-levon-who-is-alvin-tostig
Respecting poetic license, Alvin Tostig must have had a son conceived around Easter [1966] when the New York Times asked whether God were Dead.
Therefore, the song takes place in some more remote future. :>)
–JJB