Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"

Cover to 12" single issued in 1978
Song by Elton John from the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Released 5 October 1973
Recorded May 1973
Château d'Hérouville, France
Genre Glam rock, progressive rock
Length 11:07
Label DJM (UK/world)
MCA (US/Canada)
Writer Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer Gus Dudgeon

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road track listing
Side One
  1. "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
  2. "Candle in the Wind"
  3. "Bennie and the Jets"
Side Two
  1. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
  2. "This Song Has No Title"
  3. "Grey Seal"
  4. "Jamaica Jerk-Off"
  5. "I've Seen That Movie Too"
Side Three
  1. "Sweet Painted Lady"
  2. "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909–34)"
  3. "Dirty Little Girl"
  4. "All the Girls Love Alice"
Side Four
  1. "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n' Roll)"
  2. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
  3. "Roy Rogers"
  4. "Social Disease"
  5. "Harmony"

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" is the opening track on the double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. The first part, "Funeral for a Friend", is an instrumental created by John while thinking of what kind of music he would like at his funeral.[1] This first half segues into "Love Lies Bleeding". In the Eagle Vision documentary, Classic Albums: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, John said the two songs were not written as one piece, but fit together since "Funeral for a Friend" ends in the key of A, and "Love Lies Bleeding" opens in A, and the two were played as one elongated piece when recorded.

The grandiose introduction to "Funeral for a Friend" was performed on ARP synthesizer (erroneously credited as A.R.P.) by the album's engineer, David Hentschel, who John recalled overdubbed track after track of music and synthetic atmospheric effects until the mini-opus was complete.

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" was too long for a single release, but got plenty of airplay on FM stations that were predisposed toward rock epics.[1] The whole piece together is just over 11 minutes long. A fan favourite, it became a staple part of many an Elton John tour set list.

Covers

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  2. "Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding". Songfacts. Retrieved 14 October 2010.