Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (song)

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is a ballad performed by musician Elton John. Lyrics for the song were written by Bernie Taupin and the music composed by John for his album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Its musical style and production were heavily influenced by 1970s soft rock. It was widely praised by critics, and some critics have named it John's best song.^[1]

The song was released in 1973 as the album's second single, and entered the Top Ten in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It was one of John's biggest hits, and surpassed the previous single, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, in sales and popularity quickly following its release. In the US, it was certified Gold on 4 January 1974 and Platinum on 13 September 1995 by the RIAA.

The Yellow Brick Road is an image taken from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. In the movie, Dorothy and her friends are instructed to follow the yellow brick road in search of the Wizard of Oz, only to find that they had what they were looking for all along. The road leads to the Emerald City in the land of Oz, often referred to as a metaphor for "The road that leads to life's fantasies" or "The road that leads to life's answers." The lyrics describe wanting to go back to a simpler existence after living what the narrator thought was the good life, but realizing they had simply been treated like a pet.

The Wizard of Oz was reportedly the first film that Elton John's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin had ever seen, and he used the imagery in the lyrics relating to his own life as his desire to "get back to [his] roots".

Critical response

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" received generally positive response from music critics. Janis Schacht of Circus describes it as "delicate and beautiful".^[2] Allmusic writes that the song is "a vocal triumph" and a "pinnacle of its style".^[1] In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it No. 380 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[3]

Chart performance

In Canada, the single reached No.1 on the RPM 100 national singles chart on 22 December 1973 and held the position for one week,^[4] making it John's third No.1 in the year 1973 in that country (following "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel").> It entered the US charts at No. 62, the highest debut of that week and in seven weeks rose to the No. 2 spot (8 December 1973), where it stayed for three weeks. In Ireland, it reached No. 4; in the UK it peaked at No. 6.^[5]

B-side

The song's flip side is a song called "Screw You", though the US release re-titled the song "Young Man's Blues" so as not to offend American record buyers.

Live

John's One Night Only: The Greatest Hits Live at Madison Square Garden had this song done as a duet with Billy Joel.

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is still regularly included in John's live performances, although since 1997 he has transposed the key of the song downward (from F major to E-flat major) due to no longer being able to sing its high falsetto chorus.

On 12 November 2010, he performed the song live at Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

Personnel

Elton John – piano, vocals
Davey Johnstone – Leslie electric guitar, backing vocals
Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1973-74)	Peak position
Australia KMR^[6]	4
Canadian RPM 100 Top Singles	1
Dutch Singles Chart^[7]	23
German Singles Chart^[7]	49
Irish Singles Chart	4
New Zealand (Listener) ^[8]	2
Norwegian Singles Chart^[7]	9
South African Singles Chart^[9]	7
UK	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 ^[10]	2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	7

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)	Rank
Canada ^[11]	41
UK	57

Chart (1974)	Rank
Australia ^[12]	25
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 ^[13]	72

In popular culture and cover versions

The song is featured in Stephen King's 1981 novel Roadwork.

The song was performed by Camile Velasco on the third season of American Idol for the Elton John theme night; she was eliminated after her performance.

The band Keane (with Faultline) covered the song for the Help: A Day in the Life compilation around 2005.

Australian artist Sarah Blasko recorded an acoustic version of the song, which can be found on Triple J's 2006 Like a Version (vol. #2).

Rapper RZA stated that he listened to the song "at least ten times a day" while making the film The Man with the Iron Fists.^[14]

On rapper Raekwon's 2009 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II, RZA, a close friend of John's, sampled the song on the track "Kiss the Ring". John has allowed few other instances of sampling of his music.

On 13 November 2010, Matt Cardle sang "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" on Elton John night of Series 7 of the The X Factor in the UK.

There is a Dream Theater version of this song, yet it has not been officially released.^[15]

Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter released a cover version of the song.

Sara Bareilles often covers the song live and released a piano & solo voice, down-tempo version on Brave Enough: Live at the Variety Playhouse as the concert-ending track.

The song was featured in David O. Russell's film American Hustle and the film's soundtrack. It also features in the 1990s British television series "Our Friends in the North" and Thomas Vinterberg's 2016 film "The Commune".

Progressive rock band Transatlantic covered this song on their 2014 album Kaleidoscope, on disc 2 of the special edition.

An instrumental version of the song as featured on an episode of Japanese variety show AKBingo!, during comments about "heart-warming" story from Ali Takajo's grandfather.

Country singer Hunter Hayes covered the song for the 40th Anniversary deluxe edition of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.^[16]

In July 2008, Ben & Jerry's created a limited-batch ice cream flavor, Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road, in honor of an Elton John performance in Vermont. Sales proceeds were donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.^[17]

References

1 2 Mason, Stewart. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 June 2006.
↑ "Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Superseventies.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ "Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 500 Songs Page 4". MetroLyrics. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 284/6. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
1 2 3 Steffen Hung. "Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ ""Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" on the South African Singles Chart". Springbok Radio. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
↑ [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ Steffen Hung. "Forum - Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts - 1980s (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ "Video News". CNN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ "Dream Theater - International Fan Clubs Christmas CD 1998 - Once In A Livetime Outtakes (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
↑ Mansfield, Brian. "Fall Out Boy, Hunter Hayes cover Elton John for reissue". USA Today. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
↑ Curran, John (2008-07-16). "Ben & Jerry's makes 'Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road'". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.

Preceded by "Top Of The World" by Carpenters	*Canadian RPM 100* number-one single** 22 December 1973	Succeeded by "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Charlie Rich
Preceded by "Top of the World" by Carpenters	Cash Box Top 100 number-one single 8 December 1973	Succeeded by "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Charlie Rich

References

"BBC: The Official UK Charts Company". United Kingdom sales chart. Retrieved 11 June 2006.
"Billboard". Billboard Hot 100 airplay and sales charts. Retrieved 11 June 2006.

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Elton John songs

1960s and 1970s	"Skyline Pigeon" (1968) "I've Been Loving You" (1968) "Lady Samantha" (1969) "It's Me That You Need" (1969) "Border Song" (1970) "Rock and Roll Madonna" (1970) "From Denver to L.A." (1970) "Take Me to the Pilot" (1970) "Your Song" (1970) "Friends" (1971) "Levon" (1971) "Tiny Dancer" (1972) "Rocket Man" (1972) "Honky Cat" (1972) "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" (1972) "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" (1972) "Crocodile Rock" (1972) "Elderberry Wine" (1972) "Daniel" (1972) "Teacher I Need You" (1973) "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" (1973) "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (1973) "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973) "Step into Christmas" (1973) "Candle in the Wind" (1974) "Bennie and the Jets" (1974) "Harmony" (1973) "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (1974) "The Bitch Is Back" (1974) "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1974) "Philadelphia Freedom" (1975) "I Saw Her Standing There" (1975) "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" (1975) "Island Girl" (1975) "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" (1976) "I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)" (1976) "Pinball Wizard" (1976) "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (1976) "Cage the Songbird" (1976) "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (1976) "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)" (1977) "Crazy Water" (1977) "The Goaldiggers Song" (1977) "Ego" (1978) "Part-Time Love" (1978) "Song for Guy" (1978) "Are You Ready for Love" (1979) "Mama Can't Buy You Love" (1979) "Johnny B. Goode" (1979)

1980s	"Little Jeannie" (1980) "Sartorial Eloquence (Don't Ya Wanna Play This Game No More?)" (1980) "Dear God" (1980) "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" (1981) "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" (with Kiki Dee, 1981) "Blue Eyes" (1982) "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" (1982) "Ball and Chain" (1982) "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1982) "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" (1983) "I'm Still Standing" (1983) "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (1984) "Nikita" (1985) "That's What Friends Are For" (1985) "Wrap Her Up" (1985) "Take Me to the Pilot" (1988) "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" (1988) "Town of Plenty" (1988) "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)" (1988) "Healing Hands" (1989) "Sacrifice" (1989)

1990s	"Club at the End of the Street" (1990) "You Gotta Love Someone" (1990) "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (1991) "The One" (1992) "Runaway Train" (1992) "The Last Song" (1992) "Simple Life" (1993) "True Love" (1993) "Shakey Ground" (1994) "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (1994) "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (1994) "Circle of Life" (1994) "Believe" (1995) "Made in England" (1995) "When the Money's Gone" (1995) "You Can Make History (Young Again)" (1996) "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997) "Candle in the Wind 1997" (1997) "Written in the Stars" (1999)

2000s	"I Want Love" (2001) "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" (2002) "Original Sin" (2002) "Are You Ready for Love" (2003) "Ghetto Gospel" (2005) "Electricity" (2005) "The Bridge" (2006) "Joseph, Better You than Me" (2008) "Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)" (2009)

Related articles	Albums discography Videography

Book:Elton John Category:Elton John

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