TOO LOW FOR ZERO (1983)
Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year)
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
We still sit at separate tables
And we sleep at different times
And the warm wind in the palm trees
Hasn’t helped to change our minds
It was the lure of the tropics
That I thought might heal the scars
Of a love burned out by silence
In a marriage minus heart
And I call the kids on the telephone
Say there’s something wrong out here
It’s July but it’s cold as Christmas
In the middle of the year
The temperature’s up to ninety-five
But there’s a winter look
In your mother’s eyes
And to melt the tears
There’s a heatwave here
So how come it’s as cold as Christmas
In the middle of the year
I dreamed of love
In a better climate
And for what it’s really worth
I put faith in the star we followed
To this Caribbean surf
But there’s an icy fringe
On everything
And I cannot find the lines
Where’s the beauty
In the beast we made
Why the frost in the summertime
I’m Still Standing
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
You could never know what it’s like
Your blood like winter freezes
Just like ice and there’s cold
Lonely light that shines from you
You’ll wind up like
The wreck you hide
Behind that mask you use
And did you think
This fool could never win
Well look at me,
I’m a comin’ back again
I got a taste of love
In a simple way
And if you need to know,
While I’m still standing
You just fade away
Don’t you know, I’m still standing
Better than I ever did
Lookin’ like a true survivor
Feelin’ like a little kid
I’m still standing
After all this time
Pickin’ up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
I’m still standing, yea yea yea
I’m still standing, yea yea yea
Once I could never hope to win
You starting down the road,
Leaving me again
The threats you made
Were meant to cut me down
And if our love was just a circus
You’d be a clown by now
Too Low For Zero
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Six o'clock alarm
I get the wake up call
Let that sucker jingle-jangle
Ring right off the wall
I'm too low for zero
I'm too tired to work
Tied one on with a friend last night
And wound up losing my shirt
I'm too low for zero
I'm on a losing streak
I’ve got myself in a bad patch lately
I can't seem to get much sleep
I'm too low for zero
I wind up counting sheep
Nothing seems to make much sense
It's all just Greek to me
You know I'm too low
Too low, too low for zero
You know I'm too low
Too low, too low for zero
Cuttin’ out cups of coffee
Switchin’ off the late night news
Puttin’ the cat out two hours early
It isn't any use
I'm too low for zero
Insomnia attacks
Watching flies with my eyes
Till sunrise
It's daylight when I hit the sack
Religion
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Well he could almost taste the money
But he was sitting in
A den of thieves
Looking for the great awakening
Trying to find a way to leave
But that’s when he got religion
And the light went on inside
He said “somebody up there likes me”
Now he’s working for the holy guide
He got drunk but he don’t remember
That he’d been drinking
In a bar downtown
When he thought he heard
A choir of angels
Singing in the ‘Tiki Lounge
And that’s when he got religion
From no salesman on TV
Just a tap on the shoulder
In the parking lot
He still drinks but he does believe
Religion
Well you do the best you can
Cause we all make the same mistakes
We’re gonna wind up with the man
She was silent as he paid her
But the thanks she got
Was next to none
And as her car pulled out of the motel
She felt the presence of someone
And that’s when she got religion
In the front of a compact Ford
Just a gentle voice on the stereo
Now she’s a working girl
Who loves the Lord
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin/Davey Johnstone)
Don’t wish it away
Don’t look at it like it’s forever
Between you and me
I could honestly say
That things can only get better
And while I’m away
Dust out the demons inside
And it won’t be long,
Before you and me run
To the place in our hearts
Where we hide
And I guess that’s why
They call it the blues
Time on my hands
Could be time spent with you
Laughing like children,
Living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers
And I guess that’s why
They call it the blues
Just stare into space
Picture my face in your hands
Live for each second
Without hesitation
And never forget I’m your man
Wait on me girl
Cry in the night if it helps
But more than ever I simply love you
More than I love life itself
Crystal
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
We’re caught up in a web you and I
Since Crystal came between us
The knots of friendship
Seem to be untied
And it hurts me most to cheat,
And that’s no lie
She can swing us both forever
In the long run
She’s the one who must decide
And if she leaves me,
Handle her with care
Don’t hurt little Crystal
And if she calls you long distance,
Just be there
Oh Crystal
The world is your oyster,
You’re a pearl
But he’s a jewel, and my friend
I’m sure that in the end, Crystal,
You’ll be his little girl
Oh Crystal
You’re stronger than me but I’m sure
That the fight would fall to no-one
The cold hard truth
Is stronger than us all
And it breaks my heart
To see us go this far
We’re just captives
In our separate cells
And without her there’s
No peace behind these bars
Kiss The Bride
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Well she looked a peach
In the dress she made
When she was still
Her mama’s little girl
And when she walked down the aisle,
Everybody smiled
At her innocence and curls
And when the preacher said
“Is there anyone here
Gotta reason why they shouldn’t wed?”
I should have stuck up my hand,
I should have got up to stand
And this is what I should have said
I wanna kiss the bride, yea!
I wanna kiss the bride, yea!
Long before she met him
She was mine, mine, mine
Don’t say “I do” say “bye, bye, bye”
And let me kiss the bride, yea!
Underneath her veil I could see
A tear trickling down her pretty face
And when she slipped on the ring,
I knew everything would
Never be the same again
But if the groom would have known
He’d have had a fit
About his wife and the things we did
And what I planned to say,
Yea on her wedding day
Well I thought it but I kept it hid
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Well she looked a peach
In the dress she made
When she was still
Her mama’s little girl
And when she walked down the aisle,
Everybody smiled
At her innocence and curls
And when the preacher said
“Is there anyone here
Gotta reason why they shouldn’t wed?”
I should have stuck up my hand,
I should have got up to stand
And this is what I should have said
I wanna kiss the bride, yea!
I wanna kiss the bride, yea!
Long before she met him
She was mine, mine, mine
Don’t say “I do” say “bye, bye, bye”
And let me kiss the bride, yea!
Underneath her veil I could see
A tear trickling down her pretty face
And when she slipped on the ring,
I knew everything would
Never be the same again
But if the groom would have known
He’d have had a fit
About his wife and the things we did
And what I planned to say,
Yea on her wedding day
Well I thought it but I kept it hid
Whipping Boy
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Ooh yer cruel, ooh yer do
Ooh yer do yer do me wrong
Ooh yer hurt me, ooh yer flirt with
Any old face that comes along
But I won't be your whipping boy
No I won't be your whipping boy
Break me like a little toy
Run me till my feet are sore
But I won't be your whipping boy
Ooh you're wild, ooh you're sly
What you done to me
I was thirty, I look like fifty
But I feel like sixty-three
It's this illegal kind of loving
That keeps my motor running
From the start to the finish line
It's a trashy kind of me
That likes to believe
That I'm still tryin’
I'm still tryin’
I'm still tryin’
Yes I'm tryin’
Ooh you're dirty
But you're worth it
But you're way
You're way too young
I could do time if they found out
Look out, San Quentin here I come
Saint
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
You don’t pass your time in limbo
Or hang out with the crowd
Sitting on the stoop
Like a little girl
Who took the wrong road into town
But you got that short cut way about you
And no one’s gonna stare you down
You cook much better on a lower flame
You burn much better when
The sun goes down
And heaven can’t wait
But you ought to be a saint
I got your very best intentions
Helping me along
And if I ever fail to mention
You were an overnight sensation
Well take it from me,
My baby’s a saint
My baby’s a saint
I believe you were a new arrival
On the fast train passing through
And you traded in
Your luck for survival
To sweeten up the witches brew
You had a better way of working magic
A little mystery in your eyes
Instead of rolling over
You remained the same
You took the whole world by surprise
One More Arrow
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
He said I want to grow up
And look like Robert Mitchum
And I hope that when I’m gone
There’ll be some say that I miss him
He must have been romantic
He must have sensed adventure
And I feel the steel of his strong will
In the frame around his picture
And he’s one more arrow,
Flying through the air
One more arrow landing in
A shady spot somewhere
Where the days and nights
Blend into one
And he can always feel the sun
Through the soft brown earth
That holds him forever always young
He could have been a boxer
But the fight game seemed so dirty
We argued once he knocked me down
And he cried when he thought
He’d hurt me
Strictly from the old school
He was quiet about his pain
And if one in ten could be that brave
I would never hate again