Just Like Belgium

[BiteUrLip]

Music: Elton John

Lyrics: Bernie Taupin


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

[BiteUrLip]

An excellent song from The Fox album. It is one of my favorites. It is easy to listen and easy to like.

5 stars.

[dougs]

"Just Like Belgium" from THE FOX:

In 1979 and 1980 Elton had returned to writing songs in a rapid-fire fashion.  The melodies, as opposed to the early classic years days, came first most of the time and EJ tapped into a wide range of lyricists including Gary Osborne, Tom Robinson, Judie Tzuke, as well as Bernie on occasion.  Songs from this large batch of songs ended up on both the 1980 release 21 AT 33 as well as the 1981 release THE FOX.  "Just Like Belgium" was not one of those songs carried over from the 21 AT 33 outtakes.  Record company guru David Geffen was not apparently thrilled with the initial collection of songs brought forward for THE FOX - Elton's first appearance on Geffen Records.  These initial songs for THE FOX were co-produced by Elton and Clive Franks.  David Geffen wanted some changes;  Chris Thomas was brought in to produce and new songs were requested from Elton.  "Just Like Belgium" was one of the new songs;  Bernie wrote the lyrics, Dee was on Bass, James Newton Howard on keyboards as well as Jim Horn on sax.  Apparently "Just Like Belgium" was initially written for friend and occasional rival Rod Stewart who turned the song down.  EJ decided to use the song for THE FOX seeing that David Geffen wanted new tunes to complete THE FOX anyhow.

"Just Like Belgium" is a solid piano driven upbeat pop-rock song that shines.  The whispering French voice in the song is Colette Bertrand.  The sax really elevates the song.  The CD and album don't ID the drummer but it is apparently (?) Nigel and it does sound like the Nigel-Dee rhythm section at work here.  "Just Like Belgium" would have fit comfortably anywhere on those great albums between 1972 and 1974.  Elton, however, didn't play it live very often, to say the least.  It did get at least three 1981 TV promotional appearances including the "Tomorrow" show with Tom Snyder - these were, however, not pure live renditions.  In 1982 (May 9) Elton and the band (Nigel, Dee, and Davey) did rehearse and play it live in Belgium early in their JUMP UP! tour.  This live in Belgium version is on YouTube.  The crowd claps along enthusiastically.  It has, apparently, not been played live since then. Too bad, it is a good song.

"Just Like Belgium" did get a limited (non-North American) single release (B-side: "Can't Get Over Getting Over Losing You") in July of 1981.  It did not chart anywhere.  "Just Like Belgium" did, however, get included on the Belgian version of the 2007 release of EJ's hits collection ROCKET MAN: THE DEFINITIVE HITS.  It got the prestigious opening song of the album slot!  "Just Like Belgium" did get an official video.  All songs on THE FOX were given a video.  All appeared on a special collection called VISIONS. Sadly, the promotion department at work failed to coordinate the album proper and the video collection in terms of release date.  By the time VISIONS came out, THE FOX had come and gone.  The VISIONS videos are also on YouTube including the one for "Just Like Belgium."

Rating: 4 1/2 to 5 stars

Doug

[newloneranger]

This was probably the first song written by Bernie that caught my ear from this album. Kind of a fun happy song.

5 stars

[rocketman]

4.5 stars...DougS's extensive and very well-written background information on this song doesn't need to be augmented much at all. I will add that, to my ears, most the better-sounding and better overall songs were the ones produced by Clive Franks and Elton as part of the 21 at 33 sessions: Heart In The Right Place, Carla Etude/Fanfare, Chloe, and Elton's Song. That said, Just Like Belgium ranks right among them, and I gave it 4.5 stars.

It's unfortunate that this album and the Visions video project were not properly coordinated to coincide, as Doug points out. I've felt for a long time that The Fox was shortchanged and deserved a better chart showing. It peaked at just 21 on the Billboard Chart.

I learned recently though that Elton's Song was an answer to a question on a recent airing of the show Jeopardy. to paraphrase the question, it was 'About a decade after Your Song, this Song, with the artist's name in the title'. The answer was worth a Daily Double of $1600 during the game.