Putting together a list of the saddest Elton John songs of all time was not an easy task. There are two reasons for that.
Firstly, Elton did enjoy a bit of Rock n Roll and feeling happy when playing his music. He wasn’t as prone to writing endless songs that might be considered sad and overtly morbid as some do.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, Elton only wrote half of each song. A sad song can be very descriptive, and it can affect you either through the music or lyrics.
The Lyrics Can Carry Impact
A sad song can be very descriptive, and it can affect you either through the music or lyrics. Of course, the vast majority of Elton’s songs had lyrics by Bernie Taupin. And the lyrics are often the thing that has the impact.
Sometimes, they can be cryptic…
But, to be sad, they don’t always need to say, “Boo hoo, I am sad, look at me.” As we shall see from some on my list, Elton John’s saddest songs are not always written about relationships of the heart.
Elton performed these songs and made them sound right. But, the input of Bernie Taupin cannot and must not be underestimated. Perhaps the title should have been the Saddest Elton John and Bernie Taupin Songs of All Time.
I am not going to labor the point, so let’s get on and look at some of these songs from one of the greatest songwriting partnerships of the last 50 years. And, by one of the great performers who sang them so well.
Top 30 Saddest Elton John Songs of All Time
1 Sad Songs (Say So Much)
This is a song that is taken from his eighteenth studio album entitled Breaking Hearts. Released in 1984, it was a success reaching #7 on the UK chart and #5 in America. I say “success” because in the fifty or so years he has been writing and performing, he has only had three #1’s in the UK by himself.
He has joined forces with Kiki Dee, George Michael, and others to release material that has been #1. But, by himself, not so often, which is very surprising.
Why have I placed this song first?
To emphasize a point I made in the introduction. Elton likes writing good Rock n Roll and happy music. That is what this song is, despite Bernie’s subject matter. The music feels good and jogs along at a nice pace.
The lyrics talk about how it can help to listen to sad music if you have just lost someone. A certain truth in that. Another music writer might have made this a very slow and ponderous song but not our Elton. He does like his music to move along a bit.
This is a song that could easily resonate with someone who is sad and needs a lift. As far as the saddest songs by Elton John go, this one is, ironically, pure joy.
2 Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
This was a track from his 1972 album Honky Chateau. Elton John always considered it one of his favorites, which is why it was a fixture in his live shows for so many years.
This is not a song about a relationship gone wrong, yet in many ways, it is one of the saddest Elton John songs on this list. It reflects on Taupin’s first visit to New York, which was obviously quite a shock. It can be for many people on their first visit.
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” is a song that tries to be optimistic…
Yet, in the first half of the song, he is buried in despair. His observations, including a gun going off under his hotel window, made him consider the peaceful countryside existence in Lincolnshire he had come from.
I suppose you could say there is sadness there at the time. He just didn’t like big city life. “Subway’s no way for a good man to go down – Rich man can ride, and the hobo, he can drown.”
Elton John’s delivery of this song was excellent, given the directness of the lyrics. He alludes to Ben E. King’s song “Spanish Harlem.” In that song, King sings, “There is a rose in Spanish Harlem.”
Taupin’s view was slightly less optimistic…
“And now I know – Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say – I thought I knew – But now I know that rose trees never grow – In New York City.”
Reality is a personal thing, and what is tragic to one is not to another. Sadness is the same. What is a sad experience to one is not to another. And, in this song, you can feel in the lyrics his despair and sadness at his experience.
3 Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
This was a track written originally for Elton John’s album, Caribou, released in 1974. It was also released as a single that reached #16 in the UK and #2 in America.
It is an interesting song in some ways in that it seems to be referring to a dying relationship that has reached the end of the line. Is it a song about a relationship that Elton is in, and Bernie was writing about that?
Bernie and Elton were very close…
He would have been well aware of his relationship with his mother, which at times could be fraught. Maybe his acceptance that his controlling behavior is destroying the relationship has some truth behind it. The song suggests that the reason he is like that is because of the ‘pain and cuts’ that came before, which could mean unresolved issues with his mother.
The song, therefore, is imploring his partner not to leave and persevere with him while he sorts out his feelings. That is a very sad situation to be in, and the reason it has been chosen as one of the saddest Elton John songs of all time.
4 Talking Old Soldiers
Some people think that Elton’s earliest albums were the best, and there are some grounds for thinking like that. This is a song that some might use to support that argument since it comes from one of those early albums, Tumbleweed Connection.
Another smack in the mouth of reality from Bernie’s pen created the lyrics for Elton to work with. Without question, it carries a lot of truth and some regret in the lyrics.
Some people think that the only people who can understand the emotions expressed here are those with military backgrounds or those exposed to war. I tend to disagree with that. I think we can all accept the futility of war unless there is no other option.
But, there is something most of us will never understand…
That something is the feelings of those that came home and were left on the sidelines. And, what they experienced, we can never even imagine. Emotionally speaking, this song reminds me of the Paul Simon classic, “Old Friends.”
The song is about “Old Joe”…
From the way he is framed in the song, he’s likely a man who served in the First World War. He talks about all his friends he would drink with, “I’d stand at that bar with my friends who’ve passed away – And drink three times the beer that I can drink today.”
The song doesn’t mention whether they died out there or not. It just explores his sadness and loneliness now they are gone.
The Drama Of The Song
Elton John took those powerful lyrics and created a masterful piano accompaniment. It rises and falls with the drama in the words. And it shows what a talent he was, and still is, to be able to create the music to fit the emotion so perfectly.
In “Talking Old Soldiers”…
Old Joe says he knows people talk about him. Maybe saying, “Get over it, Joe. It was a long time ago.” He replies, “Well, do they know what it’s like to have a graveyard as a friend? – Cause that’s where they are, boy, all of them – Don’t seem likely I’ll get friends like that again.”
An old man reminiscing on the past and missing the comradeship of his friends. Friendships he will never have again. That is the sort of sadness very few of us will ever, thankfully, experience firsthand.
5 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Released in 1976, “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” is a track taken from his album, Blue Moves. The single reached #11 in the UK and #6 in America.
A Mournful Ballad
Bernie Taupin’s lyrics are quite sad, with a very mournful feel to them. Of course, Elton gets the mood of the song perfectly. It never ceases to amaze me how they could spend so much time apart as composers and still feed off each other and get that mood just right.
The song is not a new idea and is an experience probably most of us have had. It is knowing deep down inside that a relationship is slowly dying. But you still do everything you can to keep it alive. The strange thing is we know that it is already dead.
It is a part of relationships that is almost inevitable at some point. It will happen, and we always seem to react the same way. This song seems to be able to create that moment.
Masterful lyrics and a great piano part…
And, when the illustrious Ray Charles wants to record it with you, then you know it is good. A great arrangement with just enough understated orchestrations to allow the message to come across. Great song with great production and great lyrics.
This was Elton and Bernie at their very best. It is one of those songs that, after you have heard it, stays with you all day.
6 Rocket Man
Back again to one of those early albums, Honky Chateau, for a song that needs little introduction. Unless you’ve been living on the Moon, or maybe Mars.
“Rocket Man” is synonymous with Elton John and was even the title of a film about him. Although, we won’t go there. It is possibly one of his most popular songs and may also be one of the saddest. It has the same basic theme as David Bowie’s 1969 song “Space Oddity.”
Bernie Taupin denied that Bowie’s song was the inspiration behind “Rocket Man.” Although, he does say that the original thoughts came to him after listening to a song by Tom Rapp. “Rocket Man” reached #2 in the UK and #6 in America.
The Song
There is sadness attached to this song as it is about a man leaving his wife and children to go off to Mars. He is an astronaut, and it is his job. The early lines of the song give the feeling that being an astronaut has become a normal everyday occupation.
The first lines trivialize the departure to an incredible extent, “She packed my bags last night, pre-flight / Zero hour: 9 a.m.”
There are two elements of extreme sadness in this song…
Firstly, he is going to Mars and might never come back. Secondly, being an astronaut has become just another mundane job.
We use the word “hero” for a variety of people who are as much heroes as my cat. Those guys in the Apollo program? They were heroes, real-life ones. This song might also be considered a tribute to them.
It is strange how we misuse language these days. We also use the word “awesome” to describe a cheeseburger. No, a cheeseburger is not and never will be “awesome.” Going to the moon was “awesome.” But I suppose that’s how people have corrupted language.
Back to the song…
It’s tragic in its context and subject matter. And, whilst being far more relevant years ago, is still quite clear to us all.
It is easy to see why it was one of Elton John’s most popular sad songs at the time and still is. Not awesome, but very, very good. And easily one of the saddest Elton John songs of all time.
7 Candle In The Wind
A bit further on in time now to a song that was taken from what many people feel was Elton John’s masterpiece, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Another tragic and sad song that has nothing to do with boy/girl relationships. Just the story of a young woman who was never allowed to be a young girl. Another song where Bernie Taupin seems to have been able to assess a situation and write about it with a certain understanding and dignity.
It isn’t a song we need to say too much about…
It’s all been written already. All we need to say is the lyrics, whilst sympathetic, are also cutting. And the music that goes with them, as always, is excellent.
Notably, it was used in a revised format with different words at the funeral of Lady Diana Spencer in London. Elton knew her personally and played it. Some of the words may have been changed, but the sentiment and meaning were exactly the same.
8 Indian Sunset
And so, to the final song on this list of sad songs from Elton John with Bernie Taupin’s lyrics. For this track, we go back to another early album, Madman Across The Water, from 1971.
It is a song that tells of the plight of the Native Americans, of treachery and deceit. It could be about a range of incidents, but the Trail of Tears seems the most likely inspiration.
Indeed, there are some historical inaccuracies…
Geronimo wasn’t shot down as he laid down his weapons, he was incarcerated and died in prison. But, even if he wasn’t dealt with in that way, hundreds of others were. So, those inaccuracies can be forgiven.
“And now you ask that I should watch – The red man’s race be slowly crushed? – I can’t stay to see you die – Along with my tribe’s pride – In this land that once was my land – I can’t find a home.”
Bernie visited a Native American reservation and wrote the song about an experience he would never forget. Of all of Elton John’s sad songs, this is the saddest of them all.
9I Want Love
10Blue Avenue
11Tinderbox
12The One
13Amazes Me
14Belfast
15Come Down in Time
16I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues
17I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)
18Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
19Mansfield
20Original Sin
21Answer in the Sky
22The Bridge
23If the River Can Bend
24We All Fall in Love Sometimes
25The Last to Know
26Porch Swing in Tupelo
27I Can’t Tell the Bottom from the Top
28When I Think About Love (I Think About You)
29Wasted Time
30Understanding Women
Need More Songs that Tug at Your Heartstrings?
Well, have a look at our detailed articles on the Best Sad Songs, the Best Songs About Missing Someone You Love, the Best Goodbye Songs, the Best Songs About Loneliness, and the Best Breakup Songs for sentimental song selections.
Saddest Elton John Songs of All Time – Final Thoughts
This is a short list, but it is a powerful one. There are some songs I could have included but decided not to. I wanted songs that said something about Bernie’s wonderful lyric writing and Elton’s genius on the piano.
Lennon and McCartney might be the best songwriters of the last 50 years. But Bernie and Elton are not that far behind.
Until next time, enjoy the music.
