Ego (Elton John song)
| ego | |
|---|---|
| Elton John | |
| publication | March 21, 1978 |
| length | 4:00 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| text | Bernie Taupin |
| music | Elton John |
| album | Released as a single only |
Ego (Eng. Ego, Self-Feeling, Pride) is a song by the British singer and composer Elton John , the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin .
Until 1975 it was rather the exception that a suitable video clip was published in addition to a single. Only the success of the rock group Queen with the video for Bohemian Rhapsody initiated the change. While the Queen video cost just £ 4,500 to produce, John had to spend £ 40,000 to produce a cinematic sales support for his single Ego , which was extremely expensive at the time.
The video takes up the subject matter of the lyrics and shows the adult artist who is hungry for media attention. The cutscenes show a little boy (played by John Emberton) who can no longer remember the text as Romeo in a school event. Ego's lyrics explain that this was the trigger to prove it to yourself and become successful in show business. To what extent the song has autobiographical traits remains open.
background
From the time he was recording the album Blue Moves , John still had the unfinished song and it was very important to him to release Ego as a single. During the recording of the album A Single Man in the recording studio Mill Studios, Cookham, Berkshire, he added the missing audio tracks. He found support from producer Clive Franks.
When the single was released, however, hardly anyone cared about the musical performance. The gossip columns in the newspapers, on the other hand, were full of speculation as to how well the newly implanted hair grew under John's giant hat, which is why he recently preferred contact lenses to fancy glasses and what was the reason for his new image, which he was obviously working on.
It was hardly surprising to see Ego flop in the charts. The elaborately produced video for the single was therefore not shown in the BBC program Top of the Pop . John, who had high expectations in this project, was accordingly disappointed. If he earlier took a failure in the charts like a sportsman, this time he expressed bitter attacks against the inaccuracies in the chart determination and the people responsible for them.
review
After John allegedly retired from show business in 1977, the release of Ego could also have been seen as a comeback. However, the lack of interest in John's musical performance reaches its first climax instead.
Ego was rated by the critics as the end of the retreat with no juice or strength, partly explained by the vocal cord surgery in the previous year. Nevertheless, the opinions expressed were even more benevolent than a year later when the disco record Victim of Love was released .
B side
Throughout the years of his successful artistic work, John left the writing of lyrics to others, especially Bernie Taupin, but also Gary Osborne and Tim Rice. Flintstone Boy is one of the few insignificant exceptions that shows that he arguably made the right decision.
occupation
- Elton John - vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer
- Tim Renwick - electric guitar
- Clive Franks - bass guitar
- Steve Holley - drums
- Ray Cooper - tambourine, train whistle
- Paul Buckmaster - orchestration
production
- Clive Franks - producer
Charts
| Year | single | Chart | position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | ego | UK Singles Chart | 34 |
| 1975 | ego | USA Billboard Hot 100 | 34 |
Awards
The sales of the single ego were not enough for gold status in any country.
Individual evidence
- ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. Harmony Books, New York 1992, ISBN 0-517-58762-9 , p. 361.
- ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. 1991, p. 361
- ↑ http://hitparade.ch/song/Elton-John/Ego-113373
- ↑ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-08-31/news/sc-ent-0829-books-elton-john-20120831_1_aids-efforts-elton-john-aids-virus
- ↑ Elton John / Discography # Chart placements