Border Song

Dear James,

Holy Moses! Elton John's coming to Buenos Aires on 22 January and I'm in the same quandary as when Queen+bloke came in November. Do I go and stand in a football stadium watching an act I've loved for years doing a poor impression of an act I've loved for years, or do I sit at home grumbling? My main worry with going to see Elton is that most of the set will be the post-1974 dross, with the worthy exception of This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore, which is really Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in disguise. Why is it we can put a man on the moon, but we can't create some kind of concert experience where a hologram video is projected in a small club-type arena of the acts we wished we'd seen in the 70s? Everyone could go in skin-tight flares and yellow wollen sweaters, a fine time would be had by all and the artiste in question need never know. My quandary is compounded by Elton´s support act, the inimitable James Blunt. Going to the gig would imply impeccable timing in order to miss Blunt but catch Elton. What would Moses do?

I like this bluesy version of the song. There are other versions on youtube with playback of the dull choir. This version grooves all over the place like Travolta on Ice, and is all the better for it. I was going to say that Elton looks quite conservatively dressed in this video. Then I noticed that big glittery bow tie jutting into his chin.

A boring musicians' note: notice the similarities between Elton John's and Freddie Mercury's chord sequences on the piano. Lots of use of rails (do we call them rails?) from F upwards, via the indispensable F#dim. I love F#dim. You can go anywhere after F#dim.