| "Song for Guy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Elton John | ||||
| from the album A Single Man | ||||
| B-side | "Lovesick" | |||
| Released | 1 December 1978 [1] | |||
| Recorded | August 1978 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:02 (single) 6:34 (album) 8:29 (2003 remix) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Elton John | |||
| Elton John singles chronology | ||||
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"Song for Guy" is a mainly instrumental piece of music by English musician Elton John. It is the closing track of his 1978 album, A Single Man .
As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body. I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death. The next day I was told that Guy [Burchett], our 17-year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song.
— Elton John, from the sleeve notes of the 7-inch single.
The song opens with a solo piano, which is then accompanied by a looped Roland CR-78 drum machine, [2] with occasional shaker and wind chimes alternating; other keyboards are often layered in shortly after, with a bass guitar mainly accompanying this. It is instrumental until the end, in which the words "Life isn't everything" are repeated.
It stands as one of the few pieces written by Elton John alone and the only instrumental he made and released as a single. His subsequent instrumentals were released only as B-sides, notably "Choc Ice Goes Mental" (A-sides: "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and "Kiss the Bride") and "The Man Who Never Died" (A-sides: "Nikita" and "The Last Song").
Cash Box said it has "an alluring beauty", with "spunky piano chording, rhythm ace backing, evocative synthesizer explorations and chimes". [3] Record World said it would surprise his fans as "an instrumental with traditional orchestral arrangements and John's own semi-classical piano work". [4]
The song was one of his most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 4 in January 1979, and remaining on the chart for ten weeks. [5] It marked his return to the Top Ten for the first time since 1976's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", which reached No. 1 on the same chart. [6] The single was not released in the US until March 1979 where it barely made the charts, peaking at No. 110. [7] It was a modest success, though, on the American adult contemporary charts, where it reached No. 37 in the spring of 1979. [8]
The song was used extensively throughout all 6 episodes of the 1985 BBC comedy series Happy Families (the lead male character is named Guy). It is also used in the seventh episode of Diamonds in the Sky (1979), a BBC–Channel 9 Perth co-production about the history of commercial aviation, and is played frequently in the 1980 movie Oh Heavenly Dog starring Chevy Chase and Jane Seymour and directed by Rod Browning. [9] The song also features prominently in the 2017 film Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool . [10] In November 2020, the track was featured in The Crown , during a scene in which Lady Diana Spencer dances alone in a Buckingham Palace ballroom.
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A Single Man is the twelfth studio album by English musician Elton John. Released in 1978, it is the first album for which Gary Osborne replaced Bernie Taupin as lyricist. It is also the first of two John albums that, on the original cut, have no tracks co-written by Taupin.
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"Tragedy" is a song released by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, included on their 1979 album Spirits Having Flown. The single reached number one in the UK in February 1979 and repeated the feat the following month on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1998, it was covered by British pop group Steps, whose version also reached number one in the UK. In 2024, it was used in the film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, as well as its trailer.
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"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the Blue Moves album. It was John's second single released by The Rocket Record Company. The song is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship which is falling apart.
"Border Song" is a song by Elton John with music by John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. The song initially appeared on the 1970 album Elton John, and was released in the spring of 1970 as the LP's first single. After failing to chart in the UK, it was released in North America a few months later. It met with more success there, especially in Canada, where it peaked at No. 34. The appearance of "Border Song" on the Canadian charts was John's first chart appearance in any country.
"It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, Actually (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's second number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks atop the chart. Additionally, the single topped the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, while reaching number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. It remains one of Pet Shop Boys' most popular songs with 40 million streams in the UK.
"Sacrifice" is a song by British musician Elton John, written by John and Bernie Taupin, from John's 22nd studio album, Sleeping with the Past (1989). It was first released in October 1989 as the second single from the album. It achieved success in 1990, particularly in France and the United Kingdom, becoming John's first solo chart-topper in both nations. The song describes how hard it is to stay faithful and devoted in a marriage, challenging the mantra that a successful union requires sacrifice. Due to the song's success, John has played this song in various locations in the years since it was released.
"Yesterday Once More", written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, is a hit song by the Carpenters from their 1973 album Now & Then. Thematically the song concerns reminiscing about songs of a generation gone by. It segues into a long medley, consisting of eight covers of 1960s tunes incorporated into a faux oldies radio program. The work takes up the entire B-side of the album.
"When I Need You" is a popular song written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager. Its first appearance was as the title track of Hammond's 1976 album When I Need You. Leo Sayer's version, produced by Richard Perry, was a massive hit worldwide, reaching number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in February 1977 after three of his earlier singles had stalled at number 2. It also reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week in May 1977; and the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. Billboard ranked it as the No. 24 song of 1977. Sayer performed it on the second show of the third season of The Muppet Show.
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was originally recorded by John for his eighth studio album, Caribou (1974), and was released as a single that peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee, released by The Rocket Record Company on 25 June 1976. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte Blanche", respectively, and intended as an affectionate pastiche of the Motown style, notably the various duets recorded by Marvin Gaye and singers such as Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston. John and Taupin originally intended to record the song with Dusty Springfield, but ultimately withdrew the offer; Springfield's partner Sue Cameron later said this was because she was too ill at the time.
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"Healing Hands" is a song by English musician Elton John, written by John and Bernie Taupin, from John's 1989 album, Sleeping with the Past. The single was released during late summer 1989 and was a top-20 hit in the United States. A reissued version became the singer's first solo number-one single in the United Kingdom.
"A Little More Love" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her tenth studio album, Totally Hot (1978). Written and produced by Newton-John's long-time record producer John Farrar, the song was released as the lead single from Totally Hot in November 1978 and became a worldwide hit single.
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