Elton & Stevie Wonder - "Finish Line"

[dougs]

Elton & Stevie Wonder's new song (September 30, 2021) from THE LOCKDOWN SESSIONS is called "Finish Line" and here is a bit of info about it:

Elton & Stevie go way back to the early 70s in terms of friendship and playing together.  Stevie joined Elton onstage at Wembley in 1977 for what became Elton's announced retirement concert.  The two of them jammed on a massively extended encore version of "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)."  Stevie does that iconic harmonica performance on "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" from 1983's TOO LOW FOR ZERO album.  Stevie also plays clavinet and harmonica on "Dark Diamond" from 2001's SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST.

The new duet song is "Finish Line" and Elton plays keyboards while Stevie plays piano and harmonica.  Pino Palladino plays bass as he did on Elton's 1992 album THE ONE.  The song is supported by some nice orchestration and a beautiful choir.  Here is some info kindly provided by eltonjohn.com:

www.eltonjohn.com/stories/elton-john-and-stevie-wonder-a-history?utm_source=Rocket+Club&utm_campaign=bc6ea1d6fc-the-lockdown-sessions-finish-line-row&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e31f64f7a7-bc6ea1d6fc-43365985

Billboard Magazine has a tremendous new video interview and article with Elton & Stevie about the song including lots of personal recollections.  A must see!  It can be found on the Billboard site and on YouTube.

The music is available digitally everywhere and on YouTube.

Doug

[newloneranger]

Definately gonna be one of the highlights from this album.

5 stars

[nix]

Good song. Still not sure how to rate it, but it's promising. Chorus is kinda similar to chorus of 'Ballad of a Well Known Gun', but still different. Very nice lyrics. I like it.

[dougs]

Elton & Stevie Wonder's "Finish Line" Facts:

Here are a few other facts about the new song:

* Bernie Taupin did not write the lyrics
* Elton and three other people are listed as lyricists for the song
* Elton's band did not play on the album
* Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's band plays organ on the song
* the piano intro is from Stevie
* Elton played electric piano on the song and not piano
* a distinct moment from "Long Way From Happiness" appears in the song
* Elton wrote the melody first - the same method as the songs on A SINGLE MAN and a few other songs - before the lyrics

Doug