Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (2023 Remaster)

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is a ballad written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It is the title track on John's album of the same name. The titular road is a reference to L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz film and book series.

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 quickly surpassed his previous single, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", in both sales and popularity, following its release.

The lyrics, written by Taupin, contain autobiographical elements, referring to his childhood on a farm in Lincolnshire. The song expresses a desire to get back to one's "roots", a common theme of Taupin's early lyrics.

In 2014, Taupin reflected, "It's been said many times, but Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a cinematic album. The lyrics to the title track do say that I want to leave Oz and get back to the farm. I think that's still my M.O. these days. I don't mind getting out there and doing what everybody else was doing, but I always had to have an escape hatch."

In 2020, he added, "I don't believe I was ever turning my back on success or saying I didn't want it. I just don't believe I was ever that naïve. I think I was just hoping that maybe there was a happy medium way to exist successfully in a more tranquil setting. My only naiveté, I guess, was believing I could do it so early on. I had to travel a long road and visit the school of hard knocks before I could come even close to achieving that goal."

Remastered from the DCC of "Greatest Hits".

[木倉谷哲也]

Lyrics:

When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man
You know you can't hold me forever
I didn't sign up with you
I'm not a present for your friends to open
This boy's too young to be singing the blues
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah, ah

So goodbye yellow
brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny-back toad
Oh, I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah, ah

What do you think you'll do, then?
I bet they'll shoot down the plane
It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again
Maybe you'll get a replacement
There's plenty like me to be found
Mongrels who ain't got a penny
Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah, ah

So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny-back toad
Oh, I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah, ah