BREAKING HEARTS(1984)
Restless
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
It’s a hot summer night in the blackboard jungle
Crime sits heavy on the city’s shoulder
Can’t get no work, I can’t get a job
I just sit and play my radio in the parking lot
Well they’re breaking down doors in foreign countries
Everybody thinks somebody’s hiding something
There’s talk on the street and the nation is worried
But you can’t talk back when you’re dead, when you’re dead and buried
And everybody’s restless
Everybody’s scared
Everybody’s looking for something, that just ain’t there
Everybody’s restless
Everybody’s scared – they think we’re all in danger
Everyone’s taking cover from someone else’s anger
The walls have ears, Big Brother’s watching
They tell us that we’re poisoned from everything that we’re touching
Well we could be children from the way we’re acting
We feed ourselves lies and then we scream for action
We just breed and we lose our nerve
And there’re bombs going off in every corner of the world
Slow Down Georgie (She's Poison)
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Hey there Georgie got a couple of things to say
One you're my friend, and two it's hurting me
Seeing you act this way
But my hands are tied and I can only try to talk you out of a fall
‘Cause the reputation of the woman you're dating's
About as nasty as the Berlin wall
Slow down Georgie she's poison
Man you've got to watch yourself
She's gonna get in your head, she's gonna crawl in your bed
You're just a stepping stone for someone else
Slow down Georgie she's poison
She's just another divorcee
An undercover lover of a hundred
Other little fish in the sea
You better cut her loose before she gets her hooks in you
If you give her the world, and it was covered in pearls
She'd only ask for the moon
She's got you hypnotised, with her big brown eyes
And a body that could stop a clock
But if you think your face ain't gonna be replaced
Georgie boy you're in for a shock
Well it ain't my job to rain on your parade
But if the chips were down, you'd do the same for me
It's always been that way
She's got you paralysed with a pack of lies
About honour and the single girl
And if you buy that line you must be out of your mind
You must be living in another world
Who Wears These Shoes?
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
There's a light on in your window
There's a shadow on the street
Two silhouettes tell me it's over
The shadow knows the shadow's me
I won't crawl or cause you trouble
Well that's the last thing I'll ever do
But before I leave your life completely
Tell me who wears these shoes, darling
Lord knows the days just get longer
The nights grow cold with you on my mind
And I feel like an old jukebox
Playing the same song all the time
If these crazy dreams don't kill me
It's more than I can take from you
Not knowing where or when I'll see you
Not knowing darling who wears these shoes
My friends all say don't got to pieces
I say that's fine but if I lose
I want to know who's in my footsteps
I want to know who wears these shoes
My friends all think I must be crazy
I see the facts but if it's true
I want to know who's in my footsteps
I want to know who wears these shoes, darling
Oh and it's a chilling feeling
When I can't see him
What do I do
When I face the two of you
Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used To Be)
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
They used to say that boys are tough as nails
In everyway he keeps his heart as guarded as a jail
Now things have changed, I feel so old
Like any girl could drag my heart across the coals
I was always there in the thick of things
I always had the heart of every woman on a string
The danger zone shone from my eyes
I seemed like every inch I gained became a mile
It’s not the night, reaching in and touching me
It’s just that breaking hearts ain’t what it used to be
It seems that time has killed that cruel streak in me
And breaking hearts ain’t what it used to be
It’s not the light shining in and catching me
It’s just that breaking hearts ain’t what it used to be
But time has come and cast a spell on me
And breaking hearts ain’t what it used to be
And now I know what lonely means
I used to give so little and gain everything
The darkest part of every day
Is the shadow of another girl as she turn and walks away
Can’t say I blame them all for being hurt
After all I treated each and everyone like dirt
Who wants a heart that’s never home
I face the facts and lock myself into a life alone
Li’l ‘Frigerator
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
She looked so easy
‘Cause she looked so young
With a geisha smile
Made in Taiwan
She got cherry bombs
Inside her eyes
And the luck of the Irish
On her side
Don’t let her tell you
That she loves your mind
She’s got her price
She can turn on a dime
Those crocodile tears
Ain’t tears of pain
Look a little closer
That’s acid rain
And I don’t know
Why li’l ‘frigerator you’re so cold
Go li’l ‘frigerator go
Get away from my soul
Li’l ‘frigerator you’re so cold
She’s calculated
With the kiss of death
Got a digital mind
And expensive breath
She’s an empty shell
You’re a piece of meat
Just another statistic
On her readout sheet
Passengers
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin/Davey Johnstone/Phineas McHize)
Deny the passenger, who wanna get on
Deny the passenger, who wanna get on
Deny the passenger, who wanna get on
Wanna get on, wanna get on
He wanna get on, he wanna get on
Wanna get on, wanna get on
He wanna get on, he wanna get on
To make a chain of fools
You need a matching pair
One hypocritical fool
And a crowd that’s never there
There’s anger in the silence
There’s wheels upon the jail
A black train built of bones
On a copper rail
Company conductor
You need the salt of tears
Falling on a ticket
That no-one’s used in years
Non commercial native
It’s tattooed in your veins
You’re living in a blood bank
And riding on this train
The spirit’s free, but you always find
Passengers stand and wait in line
Someone in the front and someone behind
But passengers always wait in line
In Neon
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Lipstick and lashes, the traces of stardom
Lit up on a billboard so everyone sees them in neon
Behind a counter she stares out the window
Up at the billboard that’s like a reminder in neon
She hates how she feels but she hangs like a mirror
Maybe a stranger could walk in and see her in neon
For two cents of danger she’d trust anybody
She’d smoke like a gun if it meant she might wind up –
In neon the dreams in the light of a promise that dies
A shimmering city, a glimmer of hope and a lie
In neon the name’s gone there’s no reason why anymore
Trust them and wind up alone behind a locked door
In neon, in neon...
Pictures and patterns, the touches of glamour
Cut into fashion that flashes above ‘em in neon
A hot cup of coffee held in her fingers
A perfect complexion that lingers above her in neon
Burning Buildings
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
It used to be a sweet sensation
No price too high for love
Now I pay for this bitter taste
And the price is not enough
Such cruel sport for your kicks
Such hard knocks on my heart
How long before the pain ends
Tell me where living starts
And lovers leap off burning buildings
Waking up on a sky high wire
Desperation leaves us clinging
On the edge of a house on fire
Lovers leap off burning buildings
Live our life on borrowed time
Every flame that ever moved you
Touched your lips but never mine
No room for conversation
Cold stares and angry words
Fall in pieces from our faces
We read do not disturb
Some lovers just go hungry
Others beg for just a bite
You use me under pressure
To whet your appetite
Did He Shoot Her?
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Sling your hook in with him baby
He’s a real sharp-shooter now
If he’s out there hiding in the tall grass
Tell him I said he was a coward
This ain’t any old western honey
It’s the twentieth century now
But if he thinks he’s some kinda tough cowboy
And he’s hurt her then I wanna know how
Did he shoot her
With his compromise
Like a heart attack
He can paralyse
Or did he hang her in a noose
On the telephone line?
Did he shoot her
With a 45
Did he leave his mark
Right between her eyes
Oh did he shoot that girl
That used to be mine
Tell him I’m ready any time he chooses
The pay-off for the things, for the things he’s done
He ain’t messin’ with no two-bit bandit
Armed with a couple of guns
If he wants to see it as a two-reel movie
He’s livin’ in the head of someone else
But better take him down and dust him honey
I wanna hear the truth for myself
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Guess there are times when we all need to share a little pain
And ironing out the rough spots
Is the hardest part when memories remain
And it’s times like these when we all need to hear the radio
‘Cause from the lips of some old singer
We share the troubles we already know
Turn ‘em on, turn ‘em on
Turn on those sad songs
When all hope is gone
Why don’t you tune in and turn them on
They reach into your room
Just feel their gentle touch
When all hope is gone
Sad songs say so much
If someone else is suffering enough to write it down
When every single word makes sense
Then it’s easier to have those songs around
The kick inside is in the line that finally gets to you
And it feels so good to hurt so bad
And suffer just enough to sing the blues
Sad songs they say, sad songs they say
Sad songs they say, sad songs they say so much