Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John (1975) 3/13/22

Elton John's 1975 album, "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" was 100% autobiographical...which means the last cut on side one is not just a "Great Song," but rather frightening.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is the story of Elton's attempted suicide.

In 1968, before Elton became a star, he was engaged to woman named Linda Woodrow and both were sharing a London flat with Elton's songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin.

Elton came to the realization that he was NOT in love with Linda and felt he was being trapped into marriage. He felt so desperate, he attempted to commit suicide by asphyxiating himself with the gas oven in his home.

Luckily, Bernie found him in time...but the depression continued.

Elton was then taken under the wings of his friends, including Bernie, of course, and especially singer Long John Baldry, who Elton affectionately called "Sugar Bear." Before long, Elton gained the courage to break things off with Linda and move out of the flat.

Shortly thereafter, Elton's musical career kicked into high gear.

Later on, with help from Bernie, he wrote "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," and decided to record it--as a sort of therapeutic release.

While Elton was in the studio, producer Gus Dudgeon--who wasn't paying attention to the lyrics--kept asking Elton for "more feeling." Guitarist Danny Johnstone quickly filled him in on the background of the song... and that ended that.

When the song was chosen for release as a single, there were two problems. #1: The song was 6 minutes and 45 seconds long, and #2: The lyrics included the word "damn."

The record company (MCA) thought it was too long for radio and wanted an edit...and they wanted "damn" removed. Elton flatly refused on both counts, so it was released as-is...and MCA crossed their fingers.

They needn't have worried. The vast majority of Top 40 stations played the entire song without complaint...and those that had a problem with "damn," figured out a way to play it anyway.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" reached #2 in Canada, and #4 in the US and sold well over a million copies in the US alone.

Note: In addition to mentioning "Sugar Bear" (Baldry), the lyrics also feature the line "Butterflies Are Free," from the Charles Dickens novel "Bleak House," which also inspired an unrelated play by the same name.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John: deeply personal, and a "Great Song of the '70s."