The Elton John song that made Axl Rose love Bernie Taupin
There’s no real rhyme or reason as to what makes a good lyricist. Some of the greatest poets in rock history are known for pouring over every syllable, while others will say they were just sitting around looking for inspiration when one of the greatest songs just fell into their lap. Although Elton John may not have had the standard writing partner in Bernie Taupin, their work on ‘Bennie and the Jets’ entranced Axl Rose the moment he heard it.
For any normal rock and roll partnership, though, John and Taupin were always a bit of an outlier. There had been people who would pass ideas back and forth, like Lennon and McCartney and Jagger and Richards, but how often would you see someone who would write the lyrics without knowing one chord and giving it to the musician to do all the heavy lifting?
It might fit better in the realm of Broadway, but Taupin was more interested in making something as long-lasting as John’s melodies. Just because he wrote the words didn’t mean they all had to be filler, so why not write a song with Bob Dylan’s level of songwriting…only with a singer who could actually sing in tune?
Throughout their career, both John and Taupin seemed to be joined at the hip. Whether it was writing a simple love song like ‘Your Song’ or the tragic tale of a man going away for a while on ‘Rocket Man’, John always knew how to translate Taupin’s words and turn them into works of art, almost like he knew where the song was going just by looking at the manuscript.
That’s not to say that some of the songs were a bit cheeky, too. No one will say that ‘Crocodile Rock’ changed their lives with its dense lyrical themes, and even Taupin will freely admit that he has no idea what the song ‘Take Me To The Pilot’ is about. Before people say ‘Bennie and the Jets’ belongs in that category, there’s more happening there.
Sure, lines about this band having electric boots and a mohair suit might roll off the tongue pretty well, but that doesn’t mean they’re throwaway. Even if the song didn’t tell a story from back to front, Taupin had an innate ability to set up a picture in your mind whenever he sculpted a lyric, working almost like a verbal sculpture that John would add the set dressing to.
For Rose, Taupin’s use of lyrics was wildly inspiring, telling Kurt Loder, “‘Bennie and the Jets’ made me know I want this. Especially the first seven albums, Bernie Taupin is one of the greatest lyric writers that ever lived, and Elton was just amazing in the studio. For me, that’s my classical music because some of the stuff is classical. I listen to Elton John all the time”.
Rose may have been able to put pictures together just like Taupin…it was just a much more gruesome picture. Half of Guns N’ Roses’ discography consists of songs about a kid hanging on the edge of sanity and trying to make a name for himself in downtown Los Angeles. Even if a lyric like ‘My Michelle’ might not be the most flattering picture, you still remember every word.
If Rose saw Elton John as an influence, then ‘November Rain’ was his version of ‘Funeral For a Friend’, featuring a story-like structure spread across nearly ten minutes. It might not be the first time that comes to a listener’s mind when they think of Guns N’ Roses, but chances are that without Taupin as an inspiration, we would never have gotten ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’.