"Candle in the Wind" is a threnody song with music and lyrics by Elton John and
Bernie Taupin. It was originally written in 1973, in honor of Marilyn Monroe, who
had died 11 years earlier. In 1997, John performed a rewritten
version of the song as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. This version
of the song was released as a single and reached No. 1 in many countries, proving
a much greater success than the original, officially being listed as the
second best-selling single of all time. Original version
The original version in the key of E major appeared on John's 1973 album
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road recorded in May 1973 and released in 1974. The
lyrics of the song are a sympathetic portrayal of the life of Marilyn Monroe.
In the Eagle Vision documentary on the making of the "Goodbye Yellow Brick
Road" album, Taupin said the song is about "the idea of fame or youth or
somebody being cut short in the prime of their life. The song could have been
about James Dean, it could have been about Montgomery Clift, it could have
been about Jim Morrison ... how we glamorize death, how we immortalize
people." The single release of the original song reached No. 11 in the U.K.
charts in 1974. At the time, it was not released as a single in the United
States. Taupin was inspired to write the song after hearing the phrase "candle in
the wind" used in tribute to Janis Joplin.
This version is ranked #347 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs
of All Time. During a concert on 7 April 1990, at
Farm Aid IV, John dedicated the song to Ryan White, who had been suffering from
AIDS. White died from AIDS complications the next day.
= Personnel= Elton John – piano, vocals
Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
1986 live version On 14 December 1986, a live version of
the song was recorded in Sydney, Australia. It was released in 1987 on
the album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and as a
single. In 1988, it reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and number six
on the US Billboard Hot 100. = Accolades=
Grammy Awards 1997 version
"Candle in the Wind 1997" or "Goodbye England's Rose" is a re-recording of
"Candle in the Wind" as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. Released in
1997, the song peaked at No. 1 in the United Kingdom, becoming John's fourth
No. 1 single. It also peaked at No. 1 in several other countries. The Guinness
Book of Records in 2007 stated that "Candle in the Wind 1997" is the
biggest-selling single "since records began", but that Bing Crosby's "White
Christmas" has sold the most copies. The record of this version was produced by
George Martin. 2003 acoustic remix
Using the same vocal take as the original 1973 recording, engineer Greg
Penny stripped away all instrumentation except Davey Johnstone's acoustic
guitar. Even the double-tracking of the lead vocal was removed, leaving Elton
and the original backing vocal arrangement of Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson
and Davey Johnstone. The remix first appeared as a bonus track on the 30th
Anniversary edition of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and subsequently on the 2003
EP Remixed. Cover versions
English folk singer Sandy Denny recorded a cover version for her 1977 Rendezvous
album. In 1989, The Shadows did an instrumental
of the song on their album Steppin' to the Shadows.
English punk band Leatherface recorded a cover version for their second album
Fill Your Boots in 1990 In 1991 David Tyler covered the song on
CKBE-FM. English alternative singer Kate Bush
recorded a cover version for her 1991 "Rocket Man" single.
Billy Joel performed a cover version during the Elton John and Billy Joel
Face to Face 1994 concert. New Zealand singer Wing covered the song
on her 2009 album Beat It. In 2014, English singer-songwriter Ed
Sheeran recorded a cover version for the 40th Anniversary "Super Deluxe" Edition
of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. In 2014, Israeli French singer Amir
Haddad recorded a version with an additional music video of the song
launched in June 2014. Earlier the same year, he had used the song for his blind
audition in season 3 of the French television series The Voice: la plus
belle voix broadcast on TF1 with all four coaches, Garou, Mika, Jenifer and
Florent Pagny turning their chairs during his audition. Haddad chose to be
part of Team Jenifer and finished third overall for the season.
Popular culture In 2011, a song called "5,000 Candles In
The Wind" was featured in the season 3 finale of the show "Parks and
Recreation", titled "Li'l Sebastian". It was played by Chris Pratt's character
Andy Dwyer in a tribute concert for Li'l Sebastian, a recently deceased miniature
horse beloved by the people of Pawnee. The song was written by Dwyer after
Leslie Knope asked him to write a song that would be "Something like 'Candle In
The Wind'... But 5,000 times better". The song was also played at the unity
concert in the season 6 finale of the show.
References External links
Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics (This is a link to the lyrics for the
original "Norma Jean" lyrics)