baby's got blue eyes

before moving to hong kong elton john's name did not figure prominently among my favourite artists. remember...all elton managed to produce during the 80's was a wife (!) and the song nikita, which didn't do much to endear him to me.

but then magnificent charles came on to the scene, and his love for elton john quickly became my own. you know that intoxicating stage where you are trying out each other's food fave's, music, books and movies? (mc had never seen the shawshank redemption before he met me..i have converted him there but he still doesn't love groundhog day...pity that.)

in those early days we liste his greatest hits cd had just been produced, and charles had it. the hits were dreamy and in love, and we couldn't afford any other new cd's. in this romantic and mysterious time just before the handover, early romance time, my dancing tunes weren't appropriate, although my mama's and papa's cd was. i nixed charles' british invasion cds, he laughed at the 80's stuff. (but the relationship survived!)

the humid heat, these two new cats we had adopted, and the knowledge that mc and i were finally together and God willing, we could be for the rest of our lives....if it wasn't for the unemployment we would have been laughing. but we had love, and days to spend together. and elton john in the background.

my favourite elton john song would have to be blue eyes. even if charles only had one eye and it was brown, blue eyes would be my favourite song. or so i thought.

two years ago, elton john toured asia. charles was thrilled, and our friends stuart and lucy got tickets, and we headed off to the concert. i haven't seen many concerts, and prior to this, the rolling stones was definitely my fave. lots of energy.

elton could not have been more different. no more strutting across the stage in platform shoes filled with goldwish, no mawkish attempts and rearing the crowd into a frenzy by shouting "hello hong kong!"...this was a man singing about love, to those who knew love. and he sang blue eyes, and i thought it was just for me. the crowd was respectable, we screamed during the beginning of songs, but didn't want to miss a word he sang. the crowd was invited to join along in crocodile rock, and we sure did.

naaaahhhh na na na na na....

and all too soon he left the stage. it had been a great concert, he had played what the audience knew and wanted to hear. i don't like hearing new stuff, i go to a concert to hear what i love.

we knew there would be an encore, so no one moved. everyone started clapping and a few minutes later he came out again. we stood and applauded, no one sat down.

the day i saw them, the stones ended their concert by launching into "you can't always get what you want". it was an extended version that had the audience participation at full max.

as with the entire concert, elton john was different. he sat down at the piano, and spoke into the microphone, saying, "this is my last song tonight, and it is my wish that everyone here in the audience has someone they can sing it to."

and then he started into "your song".

charles and i had our arms wrapped around each other, as did lucy and stu. having another couple with us also in love made it better. and it was quiet, and he serenaded us all, and watched us kissing each other's hands as he declared,

"i hope you don't mind, i hope you don't mind, that i put down in words, how wonderful life is, while you're in the world."

come home soon, charles.

Comments

[joeinvegas]

Come on, you're supposed to sing it, not say it.

[Leggy]

I've seen Elton John twice- once at Wembley with Eric Clapton & Bonnie Raitt and another time stateside with Billy Joel. They were both great concerts.

[amber]

awwww, now I miss him too. hope the time passes quickly until he is back with you & the kids.

[Mum aka Mo (grandmother) aka Maureen Lyons]

What a beautiful tribute to your blue-eyed boy, Tess..... and I mean Charles, not Elton! Was quite teary by the end of the blog.

xox M

[knobody]

i told marshall i was going to to an all night study session for finals. i can't even remember which class, probably pathogens. it was the end of the fall semester. i remember that much. i stayed up all night on the colonnade. i wasn't prepared for the freezing (literally!) cold that night as all i had on was a denim jacket. i was about 12th in line at the ticket office the next morning. i didn't get much studying done. i did get damned good seats. elton, in gainesville!

marshall and i enjoyed the concert much as you and mc did, but tempered by time. by 2000 we were already old folks. but there is one song. six years ago i probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but now...if you want to see me cry all you have to do is play elton. one song. go ahead. try to listen to it without opening the flood gates. you can't do it, can you.

"the greatest discovery"

[Lucy]

Tess, I had forgotten all about that night ... it was great - thanks for helping me re-live it!

[SheilaC]

That is my very favourite Elton John song. We had a babysitter many years ago who used to play "your song" on the piano downstairs, as I was falling asleep.
I'd love to get the sheet music, so I can play it to our kids. Maybe I should just look for the Greatest Hits CD, that might be easier!
Do you have the Bob the Builder video called A Christmas to Remember, in which Elton John does a claymation cameo appearance and sings the Crocodile Rock? It's pretty cute.