Elton John has opened up about his process when creating a song and revealed that he moves on to a new track if he can’t nail a melody in an hour.
The pop icon and his writing partner Bernie Taupin have spent years together working as a duo and crafting some of the most legendary songs such as ‘Crocodile Rock’, ‘Bennie And The Jets’, ‘Your Song’ and more.
Speaking to Time magazine in a profile after being the publication’s Icon Of the Year, the 77-year-old hitmaker opened up on how songs usually tend to effortlessly flow out of him and onto the keys of his piano while reading Taupin’s lyrics.
“I know people think, ‘Oh, God, he doesn’t work that hard’. But it’s really effortless. If I get a lyric and I look at it, the song comes straight out,” he told the publication.
The publication went on to share that “impatience” was a big part of John’s gift, adding: “He likes to write fast—if he can’t get a tune for the lyrics he’s given in an hour or so, he moves on to new ones.”
Opening up about the creation of ‘Your Song’, Taupin revealed that it only took the ‘Rocketman’ singer 30 minutes to put music to the words he wrote. “We have a telepathy between the two of us. He seems to know what I want, and I seem to know what he wants. It’s really unusual and it’s very spooky,” the lyricist added.
In other news, John recently shared his thoughts on marijuana being made legal in the United States and Canada, saying that he thinks it’s “one of the greatest mistakes of all time”
Elsewhere, the icon opened up about feeling like he was “just a void” after changing his name in favour of his stage moniker.
John recently released his film Never Too Late which follows the legendary singer-songwriter as he reflects on his life and five-decade career while preparing for his final North American stadium show at Dodger Stadium in November 2022. He has since retired from live touring.
The documentary “pull[s] back the curtain” on John’s life, featuring “never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family”.
In a three-star review of the documentary, NME shared: “Frankly, this film would benefit from a little more Elton sass. It’s not the definitive story of his career, but it does drive home that before he became the grande dame of pop, John was a trailblazer who took superstardom to a new level. His 1975 concerts at LA’s Dodger Stadium were the biggest ever by a solo artist at the time, so this film cleverly builds towards his farewell shows at the venue in November 2022.
“Never Too Late also gains pathos from the singer’s recent disclosure that he has lost his eyesight. So if this is a bookend to his incredible performing career, at least it’s a respectful and tender one.”
