|
Post by BiteUrLip on Aug 20, 2020 10:36:24 GMT
Writer: Elton John
[Instrumental]
|
|
|
Post by BiteUrLip on Aug 20, 2020 10:37:54 GMT
I like this instrumental more than "Song For Guy". Probably written about John Lennon because of the "imagine" reference, which I love.
5 stars.
|
|
|
Post by dougs on Aug 20, 2020 12:41:41 GMT
"The Man Who Never Died" - B-side for "Nikita" and "Wrap Her Up":
About 7 months after the tragic death of John Lennon, Elton was ready to write a song for John. "The Man Who Never Died" was the result. Similar in ways to "Song For Guy" the mostly instrumental "The Man Who Never Died" features powerful piano chords from EJ supported by some synth and programmed percussion. The line late in the song "Imagine...he's the man who never died" makes the clear connection to John Lennon via the name of Lennon's classic song "Imagine." The song deserved a better place in Elton's career discography. Unlike "Song For Guy" which took the prestigious last song of the album on A SINGLE MAN, "The Man Who Never Died" never found its way onto any original Elton album. It did appear 4 years after writing as the B-side to ICE ON FIRE'S "Wrap Her Up" single and then as a B-side on the 7" single for "Nikita" and also as an A-side on the 12" EP for "Nikita" which was a decent placing for the song. Finally, in 1999 the CD re-issue of 1985's ICE ON FIRE album saw "The Man Who Never Died" added as a bonus track.
Back in the early 80s Elton was considering doing an album of instrumentals. This is what he had to say about the potential project: "The classical stuff is still there...its just got to be recorded or re-recorded. There's one song...that I will definitely keep. It's called "The Man Who Never Died." Fortunately, Elton did keep it. Unfortunately, he never played this one live. It is probably a difficult one to perform due to its emotional weight. EJ has had difficulty playing "Empty Garden" (also about John) at times.
Rating: 5 stars
Doug
|
|
|
Post by Commodore Orpington on Aug 20, 2020 21:42:54 GMT
Maybe he was conscious of the fact that it's very similar to Song For Guy, and didn't want to release a tribute to John that sounded like a sort of rerun of another hit. A better tribute than Empty Garden though, and a 45 with them both could have been perfect.
|
|
|
Post by dougs on Aug 21, 2020 7:20:08 GMT
Commodore:
Your suggestion about the similarity between "Song For Guy" and "The Man Who Never Died" is, in my thinking as well, the likely reason that "The Man Who Never Died" didn't make it onto an original EJ album.
Too bad, though. There were plenty of inconsistent 80s albums from EJ where "The Man Who Never Died" would have been a solid album track - better than many songs that made it onto those albums. Yes, having "The Man Who Never Died" as the B-side to "Empty Garden" would have been a great idea. You should have been working for the record company!
Doug
|
|
|
Post by rocketman on Aug 21, 2020 18:10:11 GMT
4.5 stars...I'm also in the 'Better Than Guy' camp along with Bite Ur Lip, and it's unfortunate that this worthy tribute was buried for a while due to its similarity to Song For Guy. At least it finally emerged, somewhat, on the IOF remaster.
|
|
|
Post by newloneranger on Aug 27, 2020 8:25:01 GMT
Is this the Ice On Fire version? If so 5+ stars, a bit better than the later version from The One album. One of his best instrumentals.
|
|