Daniel (song)
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| "Daniel" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Elton John | ||
| from the album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player | ||
| B-side(s) | "Skyline Pigeon" | |
| Released | 1973 | |
| Genre | Pop/Light Rock | |
| Length | 3:53 | |
| Label | MCA | |
| Writer(s) | Elton John, Bernie Taupin | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Elton John singles chronology | ||
| Crocodile Rock (1972) |
Daniel (1973) |
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting (1973) |
"Daniel" was a major hit slow rock song by Elton John. It came off the 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. It was written by John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin. In the United States the song reached #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the adult contemporary charts for two weeks in the spring of 1973. In the UK it made the top 5.
[edit] The song
Bernie Taupin wrote "Daniel" while inspired by the events of the Vietnam War. The lyrics (including a verse in the original draft that was cut from the final version) describe a fictional veteran who was blinded as a result of the war, and travels to Spain to escape those around him back home, including his brother, from whose point of view the story is told. [1]
[edit] Covers
"Daniel" was covered on the 1991 album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin by Wilson Phillips. It reached #7 on the US AC chart as an album cut.
"Daniel" was covered on the 1997 album Light My Fire by Jose Feliciano.
"Daniel" was covered on the 2005 album The Brave and the Bold by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Tortoise.
The American alternative rock band Fuel has also covered the song on their album Something Like Human.
