OTHER ELTON 1980s
Elton John/Bernie Taupin compositions that were notoriginally released on an album by Elton or Bernie
These can include non-LP singles and b-sides, songs from compilations, or songs
performed by other artists
Donner Pour Donner
(Michael Berger/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John and France Gall
B-side to the single "Les Aveux" (France) (1980)
This song appears on "To Be Continued..." (1990)
Taupin wrote just the English lyrics for this song
We're no handy silver lining
We're no crime to make the headline news
If it's a matter for decision
You and I can be the ones to choose
Je te donne mes espoirs caches
Je te donne mes incertitudes
Je te donne me plus grands secrets
La vie c'est deja si compliqué
Donner pour donner, tout donner
C'est la seule façon d'aimer
Donner pour donner
C'est la seule façon de vivre
C'est la seule façon d'aimer
Pas la peine de vivre enferme
C'est pas la peine
Pas la peine de rester couche
Non c'est pas la peine
Je te donne sans rien demander
La vie, c'est deja si compliqué
Je te donne mes sourires moqueurs
Je te donne ma force, ma douceur
Je te donne mes secrets fragiles
La vie, c'est deja si difficile
Love So Cold
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the UK single "Dear God" (1980)
It looked a lot like the same old thing
I've seen so many times
She was aging fast like a bandit
Born to a life of crime
Meanwhile he held his ground and watched her fall
Just bouncing her around like a rubber ball
Through her washed-up eyes she could see
That the ties on her prince were gone
He turned the radio off when they played
What he once had called their song
Well the crystal didn't clink but they drink up more
And when he stayed out late she knew what he stayed out for
Love so cold - when you're growing old and your looks are gone
Love so cold - when your hands don't dance where they once belonged
If he's heading down to the red light and the local bar
Love so cold - when he shoots an arrow through your heart
Due to natural causes she became distorted and she tried to leave
But the winning team had an ace or two up a crooked sleeve
For he knew that her age wouldn't help her get along
And that's what made his hold on her so strong
Fools In Fashion
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the single "Nobody Wins"(1981)
He's so sophisticated
In a critic's eye
He needs a change of habit
But then so do I
He's all Zefferelli
In cool loose clothes
He needs to be rewired
He's plugged on overload
So crisp and new
Well it had to be
I guess it makes a change
From the likes of me
If he should lose some color
When he leaves the sun
I'm sure a little Braggi
Wouldn't hurt no one
'Cause when the fool's in fashion
He's attracting everyone
He'll be the head of your list
He'll be your dinner guest
If he's the center of attention
Looks like the fool's in fashion
You had your pound of flesh
You got the driver's seat
Well you can keep the car
But I'd like the meat
'Cause there must be plenty
Down in the cutting room
It's so tough to suffer
When you want the moon
Tortured
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the US single "Chloe" (1981)
I'd like to make this song so simple
Don't want to hide my feelings under
Drawn up words in shades of many colors
How can I make them think I’m clever
By merely saying that I miss you
It's just a state they claim I'm going through
Don't want you to think that I am weakening
Although you know I'm always dreaming
Someday you'll be coming home to me
Tortured, I've been so tortured by you so many times
But you always love the ones that hurt you
And I guess those are the ties that bind
Tortured by you
If I had taken parting easy
It might have been a better lesson
For all concerned in wars of love and hate
How can you swear through words and music
The heart you crave and how to move it
It's just a beach you washed my body onto
Don't want you to know that I am crying
Although your friends can see I'm dying
Slowly from the knife you left in me
Remember
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Donatella Rettore
From the album "Estasi Clamorosa" (Italy) (1981)
I fell in love with you one September
Between the ashes and the flying embers
What happened to our dreams
Nothing so it seems
But I fell in love with you
Remember
If the phone forgets to ring this evening
And I’m left dazed and gazing at the ceiling
Be sure to understand
The future’s in your hands
‘Cause I’m still in love with you
Remember
I’ve loved enough to know
When I’m without a reason in hand
There’s little doubt
I’ve loved enough to be sure
I’ve loved enough to know the reason has gone
There’s little doubt the season has gone
When I was young and so secure
I wrote to you of romance made in heaven
My words were touched with guilt
My sentences uneven
What happened to the line
I repeated time and time
I’m still in love with you
I’m still in love with you
I’m still in love with you
Remember, remember
Hey Papa Legba
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the single "Blue Eyes" (1982)
He would recount the stories he had learned so well
Fourteen years is a long time in one cell
When the pipe is passed the opium does its rounds
Papa Legba sittin’ pretty in a chicken little town
His textured skin, like leather in the sun
Fingers beating hard upon a native drum
He picks his teeth with a splintered back-rib bone
Papa Legba bears his fangs and plays alone
Hey Papa Legba, hoo-boo-be-do
Hey Papa Legba, no one gonna bother you
Hey Papa Legba, hoo-boo-be-do
Shake Papa Legba, no one's gonna bother you tonight
He was free to dance alone where the spirits run
His almond eyes would twinkle on a hundred sons
His champagne toast and white meat on a spit
Papa Legba's drunk with a smile upon his lips
The Retreat
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the UK single "Princess" (1982)
This song appears on "To Be Continued..." (1990)
They laid beneath the pine trees with their caps over their eyes
They were drunk with home and mama as they brushed away the flies
In an instant before sunrise they had gunned the rebels down
As their flags were torn at half mast in the ruins of the town
There were white sails on the water for the crippled on the beach
There was a lack of ammunition so the cause was incomplete
When the bugle blew at breakfast and they knew the ships were in
Sighs of grand assurance were carried on the wind
Take it home, take it low, take responsibilities
Came the message from the front
For the captains’ quarters must retreat
Pack the compass, pack the tents and take the bunks
They just chalked it down in history but they kept their uniforms
They put their medals on the sideboards and they went back to their farms
For it was just a mere reminder that they stood beside the best
That God had saved the chosen few and the Devil took the rest
On the plains above the rock face where the sculptured eagles swoop
There's a haunted yell for action among the specters of his troops
It was silent on the coastline as the crazy angels danced
With the sound of retreating footfall from his military camp
Billy And The Kids
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the UK single "Slow Rivers" (1986)
Nothing looks as bad
After staying up all night
And the cruel words that cut you down
I never meant to write
And what came out as anger
Oh was a lack of self control
Billy won't you hold me
Once before you go
Clever lies keep coming
Some men never change
I'm a hand that's raised in anger
The blow that causes pain
But I just can't be trusted
With a bottle and a child
Billy it's no wonder
You say I've never tried
Oh so leave me now
Oh don't turn around
It's the best thing you ever did
But it's hard for me to say goodbye
To Billy and the kids
Lord Of The Flies
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the UK single "Slow Rivers" (1986)
Well he looks through the wreckage
But he can't find a photo of you
Then he ties me in knots
With riddles he chooses to use
And he says how come you two
Are the only ones here who survived
Oh I thought it was me
Who was destined to be
The lord of the flies
And who rules when fools leave, I do
Says the lord of the flies
Leave me your world, give me your earth
Swallow your foolish pride
And don't think I'm wrong, it's here I belong
It's mine, I'm the lord of the flies
Lord of the flies
Lord of the flies
Then take all the money you want
It's the last thing we use for fuel
Here in the late great capital
We built a bonfire for you
He knows we burned the harvest
And saw through his disguise
He's no phantom at all
He's the only thing left
The lord of the flies
Rope Around A Fool
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the single "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" (1988)
I don't make the rules around here
A tear starts at the edge
It takes two hands to rip it
It takes a lot more than either one of us has said
But I come from indecision
A place you ain't never been
Living in the state of confusion
On a map that runs like the veins under your skin
We got miscommunication kicking out the stool
We got mass determination making up the rules
But saving us is something that we can't do
And it's easier sometimes to throw a rope around a fool
And love is just another means
By which we hang ourselves
It takes two to execute
One to leave with innocence and one to leave with guilt
But I just see no reality
Just shades drawn on remorse
We've whipped this beast beyond the limit
Staggered out of breath along this course
We got miscommunication kicking out the stool
We got mass determination making up the rules
But saving us is something that we can't do
And it's easier sometimes to throw a rope around a fool
A ring of your indifference on anything you choose
Easier sometimes to throw a rope around a fool
The Rumour
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Olivia Newton John
From the album "The Rumour" 1988
This is the last time
I'll look across this table
And try to face a feeling I don't even recognize
This is a sad hand
That reached across and touched you
When all we'd built around us came crashing to the ground
There was a tide turning
Somewhere deep inside us
When all these years together seem lost behind my tears
Oh there were good times
But in between the dog days
I felt the pain of rumour whisper in my ears
But I still tried to love you
I still tried to care
Still tried to hold on with the power of my prayers
But you can't fight the rumour
You can't argue with your heart, no
Once the rumour spreads, once the rumour spreads
Once the rumour spreads, the truth is just a thing of the past
As the rain falls
I listen to the radio
And try to memorize the words to Georgia On My Mind
But we're no old song
We never stood the test of time
The lies inside the rumour left trust so far behind
But I still tried to love you
I still tried to care
Still tried to hold on with the power of my prayers
But you can't fight the rumour
You can't argue with your heart, no
Once the rumour spreads, once the rumour spreads
Once the rumour spreads, the truth is just a thing of the past
And when we say goodbye
Be sure to look me in the eye
And know the real secret
Was the thing we didn't have to hide
But I still tried to love you
I still tried to care
Still tried to hold on with the power of my prayers
But you can't fight the rumour
You can't argue with your heart, no
Once the rumour spreads, once the rumour spreads
Once the rumour spreads, the truth is just a thing of the past
Once the rumour spreads, once the rumour spreads
The truth is just a thing of, it's just a thing of
The truth is just a thing of the past
Dancing In The End Zone
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Elton John
B-side to the single "Healing Hands" (1989)
Have you ever had a good time turn bad
When the leaves turn brown
And the shattered glass just splinters
It's days like this that you can't resist
A long tall drink
And a big yellow sun in the winter
And you can go dancing
You can go dancing
You can go dancing
Dancing in the end zone
Did you ever pray you could stay away
Company excluded
From the curse of the family circle
In a big round room on the edge of the moon
There's a shooting star
In a race for the final hurdle
No need to worry, no need to worry
No need to worry when you dance alone
You already made it, you already made it
When you're dancing in the end zone
Love Is A Cannibal
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin/Davey Johnstone)
Elton John
B-side to the single "Sacrifice" (1989)
We follow the dog who follows the cat
We swallow the chain if they don't fight back
We come and go, just getting by
We got a flag on the moon, we got a hole in the sky
And each man kills the things he loves
It's an edible romance we all dream of
And love eats love, eats love
Love is a cannibal
Woman is a criminal
She have the hunger
Man is the animal
And it’s love eating love, eating love
Love is a cannibal
We live in the woods but we hate the trees
We kill off the jungle but we save the leaves
The family face is painted grey
They did it for the baby and the wedding day
And each man kills the things he loves
It's an edible romance we all dream of
And love eats love, eats love
Love is a cannibal
Woman is a criminal
She have the hunger
But man is the animal
And love eats love, eats love
Love is a cannibal