Songwriter: Bernie Taupin Elton John
Producer: Patrick Leonard
[Verse 1]
We bet on our lives and we bet on the horses
In that upstairs apartment
On Orlando and 4th
And the rent was due and the rent man was knocking
Like a Chinese proverb
We were always searching
Nightlife's a no-win but nobody noticed
How we killed off the bottles
Looking good on the surface
The dog days barked and the house cat got old
We were Bonnie and Clyde
In the emperor's new clothes
[Chorus]
And the tears never came
They just stayed in our eyes
We refused to admit that we wore this disguise
Every inch of us growing
Like Pinocchio's nose
As we walked around in the emperor's new clothes
[Verse 2]
We flew by our wits and by the seat of our pants
In the state of illusion
In the nation of chance
And the repo was hauling the wreck we'd been driving
As the dashboard Madonna
Smiled back at us kindly
We cheated the system never batting an eyelid
Seeing only the good
Through the holes in our shoes
And our halos were rusty but we wore them proudly
We were two little gods
In the emperor's new clothes
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
We were Bonnie and Clyde
In the emperor's new clothes
[Chorus]
[Outro]
Emperor's new clothes [2x]
We bet on our lives and we bet on the horses
In that upstairs apartment
On Orlando and 4th
And the rent was due and the rent man was knocking
Like a Chinese proverb
We were always searching
Nightlife's a no-win but nobody noticed
How we killed off the bottles
Looking good on the surface
The dog days barked and the house cat got old
We were Bonnie and Clyde
In the emperor's new clothes
[Chorus]
And the tears never came
They just stayed in our eyes
We refused to admit that we wore this disguise
Every inch of us growing
Like Pinocchio's nose
As we walked around in the emperor's new clothes
[Verse 2]
We flew by our wits and by the seat of our pants
In the state of illusion
In the nation of chance
And the repo was hauling the wreck we'd been driving
As the dashboard Madonna
Smiled back at us kindly
We cheated the system never batting an eyelid
Seeing only the good
Through the holes in our shoes
And our halos were rusty but we wore them proudly
We were two little gods
In the emperor's new clothes
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
We were Bonnie and Clyde
In the emperor's new clothes
[Chorus]
[Outro]
Emperor's new clothes [2x]
more tracks from the album
Elton: Jewel Box
- Mr. Lightning Strikerman (Piano Demo)
- Reminds Me Of You (Piano Demo)
- I Can’t Go On Living Without You (Arranged Band Version)
- And The Clock Goes Round (Piano Demo)
- When I Was Tealby Abbey (Piano Demo)
- I’ll Stop Living When You Stop Loving Me (Piano Demo)
- Trying To Hold On To A Love That’s Dying (Piano Demo)
- Sitting Doing Nothing (Band Version)
- Regimental Sgt. Zippo (Band Version)
- Cry Willow Cry (Band Demo)
- There Is Still A Little Love (Band Demo)
- If I Asked You (Band Demo)
- Skyline Pigeon (Piano Demo)
- Two Of A Kind (Arranged Band Version)
- The Girl On Angel Pavement (Arranged Band Version)
- Smokestack Children (Arranged Band Version)
- Baby I Miss You (Band Demo)
- Turn To Me (Arranged Band Version)
- 71-75 New Oxford Street (Band Demo)
- Countryside Love Affair (Piano Demo)
- I Could Never Fall In Love With Anybody Else (Piano Demo)
- I Get A Little Bit Lonely (Piano Demo)
- The Witch’s House (Piano Demo)
- Get Out Of This Town (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
- Year Of The Teddy Bear (Piano Demo)
- Where It’s At (Piano/Percussion Demo)
- Who’s Gonna Love You (Piano/Percussion Demo)
- Nina (Band Version)
- Angel Tree (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo)
- Here’s To The Next Time (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
- Thank You For All Your Loving (Band Version)
- Watching The Planes Go By (Band Version)
- When The First Tear Shows (Arranged Band Version)
- Tartan Coloured Lady (Arranged Band Version)
- Hourglass (Band Version)
- All Across The Havens (Piano/Guitar Demo)
- Bonnie’s Gone Away (Piano/Guitar Demo)
- Madman Across The Water (Piano Demo)
- Holiday Inn (Piano Demo)
- All The Nasties (Piano Demo)
- Tortured*
- Where Have All The Good Times Gone? (Alternate Mix)
- Choc Ice Goes Mental
- A Simple Man
- Highlander
- Billy and the Kids
- Lord of the Flies
- God Never Came Here
- So Sad The Renegade
- The Little Peace
- Keep It a Mystery
- How’s Tomorrow
- Peter’s Song
- Razor Face (Piano Demo)
- Burn Down The Mission (Piano Demo)
- Just An Ordinary Man (Piano Demo)
- There’s Still Time For Me (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo)
- The Tide Will Turn For Rebecca (Piano Demo)
- Dick Barton Theme (Devil’s Gallop) (Bread And Beer Band)
- Breakdown Blues (Bread And Beer Band)
- Taking The Sun From My Eyes (Arranged Band Version)
- It’s Me That You Need (Band Demo)
- Sing Me No Sad Songs (Band Demo)
- The Flowers Will Never Die (Piano Demo)
- In The Morning (Band Demo)
- Open Your Eyes To The Sun (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
- One Time, Sometime or Never (Band Demo)
- Slow Fade To Blue (Piano/Guitar Demo)
- Rolling Western Union (Piano Demo)
- My Father’s Gun (Piano Demo)
- Amoreena (Piano Demo)
- Things Only Get Better With Love
- Philadelphia Freedom
- Elton’s Song
- Cold as Christmas (in the Middle of the Year)
- Too Low for Zero
- Crystal
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Hoop Of Fire
- Shoot Down The Moon
- I Fall Apart
- Stone’s Throw from Hurtin’
- Amazes Me
- The North
- The Power
- Understanding Women
- The Last Song
- House
- The Emperor’s New Clothes
- Sartorial Eloquence
- Ticking
- Border Song
- Empty Sky
- My Father’s Gun
- Where to Now St. Peter?
- Mellow
- I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself
- Blues for My Baby and Me
- Have Mercy on the Criminal
- All the Nasties
- The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-1934)
- Tell Me When the Whistle Blows
- (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket
- We All Fall in Love Sometimes
- Street Kids
- Chameleon
- Boogie Pilgrim
- American Triangle
- Freaks In Love
- Tactics
- I Know Why I’m in Love
- Love So Cold
- Take Me Down to the Ocean
- Medicine Man
- The Retreat
- Snow Queen
- Big Man in a Little Suit
- Hey Papa Legba
- Conquer the Sun
- The North Star
- Did Anybody Sleep with Joan of Arc?
- (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again
- Scarecrow (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
- A Dandelion Dies In The Wind (Piano Demo)
- Velvet Fountain (Piano Demo)
- Steal Away Child
- Les Aveux
- All That I’m Allowed (I’m Thankful)
- Gone to Shiloh
- Monkey Suit
- Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody)
- My Quicksand
- The New Fever Waltz
- The Bridge
- Song for Guy
- Lady Samantha
- Lonely Boy
- Can’t Get Over Getting Over Losing You
- Cartier
- Rope Around a Fool
- White Man Danger
- Fools in Fashion
- Je Veux De La Tendresse
- A Little Love Goes A Long Way (Piano Demo)
From the albums
- Songs from the West Coast (2001)
- Elton: Jewel Box (2020)
Elton John popular songs
- Your Song
- Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Tiny Dancer
- Bennie and the Jets
- I’m Still Standing
- Can You Feel the Love Tonight (End Title)
- Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
- Candle in the Wind
- Daniel
- Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting)
- Crocodile Rock
- I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues
- Candle in the Wind 1997
- Sacrifice
- Levon
- Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
- Someone Saved My Life Tonight
- Border Song
- Honky Cat
- The One
- The Bitch is Back
- Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
- Electricity (Billy Elliot)