Someone Saved My Life Tonight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Elton John | ||
| from the album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy | ||
| B-side(s) | "House of Cards" | |
| Released | 1975 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 6:45 | |
| Label | MCA | |
| Writer(s) | Elton John, Bernie Taupin | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Elton John singles chronology | ||
| "Philadelphia Freedom" (1975) |
Someone Saved My Life Tonight (1975) |
"Island Girl" (1975) |
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is an Elton John song from his album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and is written in the key of A flat. It concludes side one in the album's telling of the history of Elton's and lyricist Bernie Taupin's struggles to find careers within the music industry. When released as the album's only single in 1975, it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, but only managed the top 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
Taupin's lyric refers to the time before John was a popular musician, when he was considering marriage to his girlfriend, Linda Woodrow. In 1969, while having serious doubts about the looming marriage, John contemplated suicide. He took refuge in his friends, especially Long John Baldry, who convinced Elton to abandon his plans to marry in order to salvage and maintain his musical career. As a sign of his respect and gratitude for Baldry, Taupin wrote him into the song as the "someone" in the title.
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is widely regarded as one of the most emotionally-charged John/Taupin collaborations, and overall is considered to be a classic. Indeed, in an October 2005 installment of Inside the Actor's Studio, Elton demonstrated how the song's piano-based introduction and structure was emotionally strengthened by adding an unusual root bass note to the left-hand chords.
A remake by Walter Jackson was recorded for his 1976 album Feeling Good.
