# Misunderstanding Elton John lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 16, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695 "2021-01-16T21:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/21 "2021-01-17T14:11:21Z")
A little too much TMI, but I’m glad you liked. I now realize I misunderstood the OP’s intent, and didn’t comment on what the hell were meant by certain lyrics in “Goodbye yellow brick road”. I always thought it meant he wanted to get back to his rural roots and stop chasing fame and fortune. I guess EJ didn’t want to end up like Tony Danza. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/22 "2021-01-17T15:23:24Z")
I think a simple ‘that’s’ would make the line way more understandable, and would’ve even fitted the melody quite well. So: Back to the howling old owl in the woods that’s hunting the horny black toad. But my impression is that Taupin’s implicit goal was to write indecipherable lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/23 "2021-01-17T15:45:46Z")
Elton would edit Bernie’s lyrics in order to fit into his musical score. That and Elton was on heavy drugs and alcohol. Combine the two and you get “Take me to the pilot, take me to the chamber, take me to the pilot I am not a stranger”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/24 "2021-01-17T16:07:45Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > Back to the howling old owl in the woods I always thought this line was “back to the Hollywood out in the woods”. Which yeah, doesn’t make a lot of sense, except maybe I thought he preferred the holly wood of the woods to the real Hollywood, or something. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/25 "2021-01-17T16:29:13Z")
I had heard Tiny Dancer for decades before I understood the line “Lay me down in sheets of linen”. I’m not sure what I thought he was saying, but the last word sounded more like “landing” to me. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/26 "2021-01-17T16:35:41Z")
Damn you for that earworm of a misheard lyric!😂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/27 "2021-01-17T16:49:00Z")
There’s no way you will convince me that Bennie doesn’t have electric boobs and mohair shoes. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/28 "2021-01-17T17:05:41Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I always thought the singer was a kept man. “You know you can’t hold me forever”; “Can’t plant me in your penthouse”; “Not a present for your friends to open”. Pretty much…young, naive, falls in with wrong crowd. I heard “can’t let me in your penthouse,” making me think he’d tried for stardom and failed, but “plant” makes more sense. “This boy’s too young to be singing the blues.” I wondered if the horny backed toad was part of some home remedy, so they “hunted” them. At the time I would have said that Elton intentionally mangled his pronunciation of words to sound cool. Now I wonder if the music was making him emote so hard that pronunciation was secondary to musicality? Is some of it possibly British English pronunciation? In one song of his he sings the word “garage” like GAIR idj instead of ga RAHJ. Listening to it just now, I realize that the AM monaural I had available to me was never going to suffice. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/29 "2021-01-17T17:16:13Z")
Putting the accent on the first syllable of “garage” is a standard pronunciation in British English, not an idiosyncrasy of Elton John’s. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/30 "2021-01-17T17:29:34Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss > Well a few of the verses, well they’ve got me quite cross. Surely moss grows on rooftops … and if you’re up there trying to think of the next verse, you might literally scrape it off with your shoe? ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/31 "2021-01-17T17:33:47Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Putting the accent on the first syllable of “garage” is a standard pronunciation in British English, not an idiosyncrasy of Elton John’s. My point exactly. > [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Is some of it possibly British English pronunciation? In one song of his he sings the word “garage” like GAIR idj instead of ga RAHJ. Every once in awhile I’ll stumble across something like that. controversy BE: cun TROV er see AE: CON truh ver see [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kT1JbN26ktQ/maxresdefault.jpg "How to pronounce CONTROVERSY in British English") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1JbN26ktQ) I just found this… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/J55QvbyNptM/maxresdefault.jpg "50 British Vs American Word Pronunciations - Part 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J55QvbyNptM) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/32 "2021-01-17T20:47:01Z")
> [@digs](#): > > cf: Joni (at least she admits it’s a losing battle) … > > > I was a free man in Paris > > I felt unfettered and alive > > Nobody was calling me up for favors > > No one’s future to decide. > > > > You know I’d go back there tomorrow > > _ **But** for the work I’ve taken on_ > > Stoking the star-maker machinery > > Behind the popular song… Well, I believe that David Geffen is meant to be the subject of FMIP. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/33 "2021-01-17T22:24:04Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > “hold me closer, Tony Danza > count the headlice on my hiney” This oft-quoted mondegreen always bugs me for a couple of reasons. First, “Tiny Dancer” was released in 1971, well before Tony Danza became an actor, let alone a household name. Second, Elton’s enunciation of “Tiny Dancer” is, to my ears, crystal clear. Oh, by the way, it’s the actual _name_ of the song. Anyone hearing “Tony Danza” instead of “Tiny Dancer” is, to me, inventing a sort of lyrical equivalent to a backronym. (this is not at all directed specifically at **Qadgop** , by the way, just a silly pet peeve of mine) mmm ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/34 "2021-01-17T22:33:03Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I always saw it as yet another song where the message is: “Woe is me, I’m a rich rock star and the celebrity life is so shallow that I’m going to give it up and go back to an idyllic, quiet, pastoral life.” > > Spoiler: The rich rock star never does. The song is a hit and the celebrity goes out on a glitzy tour to support the album. Ian Anderson somehow manages to do both. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/35 "2021-01-17T23:50:36Z")
For me, the Tony Danza thing comes from an episode of Friends. The wife and I use it as a joke when we hear the song now. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/36 "2021-01-18T03:32:45Z")
I never heard the burning out his fuse part right either. And I really don’t know what it means. I thought the last part was “ever gone” for some reason. Oh, no, no, no I’m a rocket man Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/37 "2021-01-18T03:44:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The song is about leaving behind a glamorous life (presumably in show business), and returning to a simple life in a rural area. > > I always took the first two lines the OP quotes as an example of what it sounds like in when you’re out in the woods, where it’s so quiet that you can hear an owl hooting while it’s on the hunt. The second two lines are reinforcing the writer’s decision that he has rejected fame and fortune for that simple life. > > That said, it’s a lot of lyric to get that point across. 😃 Wait. It’s the _owl_ that’s hunting the horny-backed toad? I always thought it was hillbilly Elton John. TIL, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/38 "2021-01-18T10:50:04Z")
Like many others who posted I grew up with vinyl. It was becoming pretty standard in the early 70s to include the printed lyrics within the album (did Sgt. Pepper start this trend?). I recall following every lyric on every tune, and I also recall the disappointment I felt on the occasion when printed lyrics were nowhere to be found. So I knew every one of Elton’s lyrics, but of course, knowing what words are being said is quite different than understanding their meaning. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/39 "2021-01-18T13:27:05Z")
Once upon a time… One day I was trying to figure out what a word was in Levon. I listened several times, couldn’t figure it out and gave up. That same day I met someone from England and we were talking about different words in US vs. England, such as boot vs. trunk. She mentioned the pronunciation of garage and I realized that was the word. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695/40 "2021-01-18T15:08:43Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I always saw it as yet another song where the message is: “Woe is me, I’m a rich rock star and the celebrity life is so shallow that I’m going to give it up and go back to an idyllic, quiet, pastoral life.” > > Spoiler: The rich rock star never does. The song is a hit and the celebrity goes out on a glitzy tour to support the album. Syd Barrett? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misunderstanding-elton-john-lyrics/930695.md?page=3)