Songwriter: Bernie Taupin Elton John
Producer: T-Bone Burnett
[Verse 1]
Freedom for the scapegoat leaving Reading Jail
Rheumy eyes just pierced his heart like crucifixion nails
Shaking fists and razors gleamed
You never stood a chance
When the ink ran red on Fleet Street
You turned your eyes to France
[Verse 2]
Humbled far from Dublin, chased across the waves
Your biting wit still sharp enough
To slice through every page
Destitute and beaten by the system of the crown
The bitter pill you swallowed
Tasted sweeter going down
[Chorus 1]
And looking back on the great indifference
Looking back at the limestone walls
Thinking how beauty deceives you
Knowing how love fools us all
[Verse 3]
A golden boy in velveteen landed in New York
The past was so seductive
When they paid to hear you talk
Baccarat and champagne flutes
Tobacco from Virginia
Long before the lords and law
Branded Oscar Wilde a sinner
[Chorus 2]
And looking back on the cold bleak winter
Looking back on those long dark days
Felt like the head of John the Baptist
In the arms of Salome
[Bridge]
Don't turn around it's a white gull screaming
Don't cry out loud you never know who's listening
You've seen it all the exiled Unforgiven
From the stately homes of England to her prisons
And looking back at the hardened lifers
Looking back on the wretched poor
Thinking maybe they were my saviors
Strange to think I'll miss them all
Strange to think I'll miss them all
[Chorus 1]
Freedom for the scapegoat leaving Reading Jail
Rheumy eyes just pierced his heart like crucifixion nails
Shaking fists and razors gleamed
You never stood a chance
When the ink ran red on Fleet Street
You turned your eyes to France
[Verse 2]
Humbled far from Dublin, chased across the waves
Your biting wit still sharp enough
To slice through every page
Destitute and beaten by the system of the crown
The bitter pill you swallowed
Tasted sweeter going down
[Chorus 1]
And looking back on the great indifference
Looking back at the limestone walls
Thinking how beauty deceives you
Knowing how love fools us all
[Verse 3]
A golden boy in velveteen landed in New York
The past was so seductive
When they paid to hear you talk
Baccarat and champagne flutes
Tobacco from Virginia
Long before the lords and law
Branded Oscar Wilde a sinner
[Chorus 2]
And looking back on the cold bleak winter
Looking back on those long dark days
Felt like the head of John the Baptist
In the arms of Salome
[Bridge]
Don't turn around it's a white gull screaming
Don't cry out loud you never know who's listening
You've seen it all the exiled Unforgiven
From the stately homes of England to her prisons
And looking back at the hardened lifers
Looking back on the wretched poor
Thinking maybe they were my saviors
Strange to think I'll miss them all
Strange to think I'll miss them all
[Chorus 1]
The Diving Board
- Home Again
- Candlelit Bedroom[Deluxe Edition Bonus Track]
- Mexican Vacation (Kids In The Candlelight) (live from Capitol Studios)
- The New Fever Waltz (Live From Capitol Studios)
- Candlelit Bedroom
- Gauguin Gone Hollywood
- Home Again (Live From Capitol Studios)
- Dream # 1
- Dream # 3
- The Diving Board
- Mexican Vacation (Kids In The Candlelight)
- The New Fever Waltz
- Oceans Away
- Oscar Wilde Gets Out
- A Town Called Jubilee
- The Ballad Of Blind Tom
- My Quicksand
- Can’t Stay Alone Tonight
- Voyeur
- Take This Dirty Water
- Dream # 2
- The Diving Board (2013)
- 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)