Review #251: Honky Chateau, Elton John
#251: Honky Chateau, Elton John
I’m not the man they think I am at home.
This is the first of the “back nine” (so to speak) of the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time list, and I’m trying to stop quoting song lyrics so much. I guess academia has put me in the habit of using too many examples to prove my point. I looked back at a review I published and thought, What are these quotes doing, other than filling up my reviews with other people’s writing?
So I decided to try and limit myself to one quote pre review. Then this Elton John album came on.
I had to quote the line that serves as the central kernel of “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time),” Elton John’s masterpiece. Why is a pop ballad about an astronaut one of the saddest songs ever? (Fight me.) Maybe it’s the slide guitar, maybe it’s the very real life experiences he’s singing about, maybe it’s the idea of being high in space.
Okay, so we got the masterpiece out of the way. Except there are two masterpieces on this album, and the more famous one isn’t even my favorite. That’s “Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters,” one of the most lyrically rich songs ever. It’s kind of a cult hit: Heart performed it, Almost Famous used it, the 9/11 Benefit Concert in Madison Square Garden used it to make everyone cry. It’s about expectations versus reality, fake versus real, money, language and New York City. I wanted to quote from this one so freaking bad but you really should just go and listen to it yourself.
Okay. So we got the two masterpieces out of the way.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin are apparently an unstoppable superhero duo, like Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy or Radioactive Man and Fall Out Boy. They wrote this album in FOUR DAYS. Crazy.
I always think of Adele when I hear Elton John: they write timeless piano heartbreakers that are virtually above criticism. The two masterpieces are meant to tug at your heartstrings, yes, but they’re not the only love songs: “Mellow” is a celebration of a lover, describing idiosyncrasies with adorable detail, while “Amy” is a self-deprecating jig/ode to an unattainable lady.
Elton’s music is practically jubilant. “Susie (Dramas)” has a decidedly “honky” piano, and the closer “Hercules” is like an exhale of relief after the nail-in-heart “Mona Lisas.” “Slave” reminds me of some of the more soulful country tunes on Exile on Main St. (#14). Is that a banjo I hear?
There’s always one Elton John song that surprises me, and the one on Honky Chateau was “I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself.” It’s like the flip side of “I Hate Myself And Want To Die” by Nirvana. This song is a satire, though; Nirvana’s is sincere.
I would say the only not-so-great track is “Salvation,” which is pretty whatever. That said, its only great crime is being not as memorable as the rest of them. On a different album it might be a standout. Hard to tell.
There. I got through a whole review with just lyric. So I’m entitled to break my own rule, and I’m ending with the lyric I can’t stop singing from the funny and aspirational “Honky Cat”: It’s like trying to find gold in a silver mine/Like trying to drink whiskey from a bottle of wine.
