Elton John

[fox69]

"Japanese Hands"

"Japanese Hands"


Outside I can hear the fireworks
Beyond the paper walls
Where the symbols painted black and white
Run together when the rain falls
And the wind chimes across Kyoto
Each time the earth moves
Was it the quake that shook me
Or was it something to do with you

And the hot wind heats the bamboo blinds
And your almond eyes always shine
Sitting cool behind your painted fan
All the secrets of the east
Conceal the beauty and the beast
For tender is the man in her Japanese hands

Flesh on silk looks different
Than on a cotton sheet back home
Where no one wears their hair like yours
Beneath those oriental combs
And with your thirsty fingers
Running up and down my spine
You forget the western woman
When you're sleeping on Kyoto time

And the sky explodes
and the moon grows cold
To the distant sound of drums
And the sky explodes
And the moon grows cold
As the dragons on the mainland
Wait to heat the sun

 

[fox69]

"Jimmie Rodgers' Dream"
(with Leon Russell)

"Jimmie Rodgers' Dream"
(with Leon Russell)



I'm looking at a funeral wagon rolling down
A two-lane highway winding past a desert town
A big blue canvas painted by the Master's hand
The shifting clouds above and endless miles of sand
In that mirror maybe that's what's left of me
Wheezing like a freight train hauling sixty tons of steel
Air 'em out's the best release and get some rest
Carrie don't wait up for me the brakeman's going West

[Chorus]
In this room all alone
I dream of you
In this drawer I found someone
I never knew

Now I pop a top and stay up late with Gideon
And fall asleep to visions of Meridian
I've seen dusty beaten delta boys cutting heads
A black face carney showman scare a song to death
In my short life I've seen as much as most men need
Now I'm just looking for some cleaner air to breathe

[Repeat chorus]

Far away, far away
So many years, so many days
All along this broken land
I've seen a lover's empty arms
And hunger's empty hand

[Repeat chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Johnny B. Goode"

"Johnny B. Goode"


Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood an log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like ringing a bell

Go go
Go Johnny go go go
Go Johnny go go go
Go Johnny go go go
Go Johnny go go go
Go go Johnny B. Goode

He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Sat beneath the tree by the railroad track
An engineer could see him sitting in the shade
Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made
The People passing by, they would stop and say
Oh my, how that little country boy could play

His mother told him, someday you will be a man
You will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun goes down
And maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying Johnny B. Goode tonight

 

[fox69]

"Just Like Belgium"

"Just Like Belgium"


Remember Belgium and the Brussels Museum
Where we piled on the front steps like stray cavaliers
Our code of living meant little to others
The few francs we saved bought some cheap souvenirs

But the red lights where the catfights make it just like Belgium
See us face down on the floor of another cheap barroom
Streetwalkers sweet talk you out of your spare change
And your sweet madame makes it seem just like Belgium

Just like a hustler when they look attractive
It's nothing more than a slap on the back
The price tag of being just a little bit different
The first rule to learn is to keep your own distance

 

[fox69]

"Just Like Noah's Ark"

"Just Like Noah's Ark"


It's just like Noah's ark
There's two of every kind
Pretty girls and boys in drag
Walking a fine thin line
Shaking hands and bussing cheeks
Licking their lips like they could eat
Me alive in a couple of weeks
Yea just like Noah's ark

Italiano promotion men
Chomping a big cigar
Slapping backs and making cracks
About the fags in the bar
Radio boss dipping his nose in a little white packet
You put it out son and we'll all back it
Yea it's just like Noah's ark

[chorus:]
And the waves are crashing round us
But we're ready for the flood
And we don't need a sign like an olive branch
In the beak of a snow white dove
We're not as dumb as we might look
You can't keep us in the dark
With me and you it's two by two just like Noah's ark

These four walls have seen
The Cockettes and the Casters
From San Francisco to Ohio
I've seen beauty and disaster
Cocky young roosters and little chicks
Flashing smiles, shaking them hips
Trying to hook it up for the late night shift
Here in Noah's ark

[repeat chorus]

And we wrote it as we saw it from the centre of the stage
All access to the liars who claim they wrote a page
But for every tiny dancer there's a dog that's had its day
The truth is never quite the same as what the papers say

[repeat chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Lady D'Arbanville"

"Lady D'Arbanville"


My Lady D'Arbanville
Why do you sleep so still
I'll wake you tomorrow
And you will be my pill, yes you will be my pill

My Lady D'Arbanville
Why does it grieve me so
But your heart seems so silent
Why do you breathe so low, why do you breathe so low

My Lady D'Arbanville
Why do you sleep so still
I'll wake you tomorrow
And you will be my pill, yes you will be my pill

My Lady D'Arbanville
You look so cold tonight
Your legs feel like winter
Your skin has turned to white, your skin has turned to white

My Lady D'Arbanville
Why do you sleep so still
I'll wake you tomorrow
And you will be my pill, yes you will be my pill

My Lady D'Arbanville
Why do you grieve me so
But your heart seems so silent
Why do you breathe so low, why do you breathe so low

I love you my lady
Though in your grave you lie
I'll always be with you
This rose will never die, this rose will never die

 

[fox69]

"Lady What's Tomorrow"

"Lady What's Tomorrow"


Look up little brother
Can you see the clover
No not over there
A little bit left and over there

Now look and see the lilac tree
The lily pond, the skylark's song
The open air but no one cares
If branches live and die out there

Remember when you were nine
And I was ten
We would run into the woods
No we never will again

And Lady, what's tomorrow
What's tomorrow anyway
If it's not the same as now
It's the same as yesterday

Yes Lady, what's tomorrow
Will it be the same as now
Will the farmer push the pen
Will the writer pull the plough

Look up little brother
Can you see the clover
Oh sorry but it's over
Now there's concrete and no clover

 

[fox69]

"Latitude"

"Latitude"


Grey London morning, wet London streets
Rain on the window, wind in the trees
It's my time to write, it's your time to call
There's something about distance that gets to us all

Dark clouds above me, little people below
All walk with a purpose with someplace to go
It's my place to paint my own selfish scene
On this cold lonely canvas, it's just the weather and me

And latitude
Fold back the morning and bring on the night
There's an alien moon
That hangs between darkness and light
Latitude between me and you
You're a straight line of distance
A cold strech of black across blue
Latitude

Cracks in the sidewalks, dogs on the run
An old poster reading "Give us your sons"
Window frames capture moments in time
But latitude captures the heart and the mind

 

[fox69]

"Leather Jackets"

"Leather Jackets"


Do you pray to someone new
When you're locked up in the rock
Is the golden age dead and gone
Are the hands stuck on the clock
Can you talk to Buddy's bones
When you spin a forty five
The king ain't dead, he's just asleep
Somewhere in the after life

And look at them boys in leather jackets
Second skin, not fade away
Danger girls love leather jackets
Play back to back, and that'll be the day
Leather jackets, that'll be the day

We all need to smell the heat
You know that things go better with chrome
Is Memphis real or just a song
Three thousand miles from home
Be a cool jerk, don't work
When fashion makes you change
Keep the faith, don't waste
Another nickel on another name

And idolise twisted cars
Like taxi cabs and spiders
Eternity's just down the road
They're looking for more riders

 

[fox69]

"Legal Boys"

"Legal Boys"


Your accountant called this morning
There was springtime in his heart
He couldn't wait to tell me
How he'd pulled our lives apart
And the letter from your lawyer
Lies unopened on the tray
I may get around to reading it later today

Walking round the lonely rooms
I see everything the same
But suddenly it matters
What was purchased in my name
Whether this or that was paid for
Belongs to me or you
Can the seven years together be divided by two

It says something for the legal boys
But nothing much for us
That all we had together
Is so quickly ended thus
The legal boys have won again
And you and I have lost
They can't tell us how it happened
But they'll let us know the cost
Oh they'll let us know the cost, oh yeah

There's a lot I'd like to tell you
But I can't get past your guards
I do not speak their language
And they hold all the cards
I would rather call you darling
Than defendant in the case
But lovers left here long ago
And clients took their place