Down the Rabbit Hole - Issue 2: Elton John

The incomparable Elton John announced his retirement from touring last month through a crazy VR experience that was simultaneously broadcasted to viewers headsets. (Wired has a great piece on how this came together and the technical complexities of it).

I finally had the chance to watch the half hour event.
The first 5 minutes is the VR video, followed by 10 minutes of Elton performing, followed by an interview with Anderson Cooper.



Naturally this led me down one of the most dangerous rabbit holes for me: music.
Once I start, I need to look up everything relating to the subject of my interest; the history of the song or artist, supporting or related artists, watch music videos and documentaries, search the latest news on the artist, and on it goes.

YouTube is also particularly dangerous for this because their algorithm for suggested videos is very good at getting you to stay on the site and watch more.

This BBC documentary is one that was suggested and I watched the whole thing:


I also came across this cool YouTube campaign inviting people to create music videos for Elton John music that previously didn't have one: Elton John: The Cut
My favorite of the three is 'Tiny Dancer', but it's also one of my favorite songs so I'm probably biased.

This led me to think about my favorite Elton John songs...
In (partial) order, Top 5 Elton John Songs:

    1. Tiny Dancer
    2. Your Song
    3. Mona Lisas and Madhatters
    4. Levon
    5 (tie). Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
    5 (tie). Bennie and The Jets

A lot more Wikipedia and I came across this random Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album: 'Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin'

The tracks and artists are eclectic and I'm not sure I like the results:

1. "Border Song" - Eric Clapton 4:21
2. "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)" - Kate Bush 4:57
3. "Come Down in Time" - Sting 3:38
4. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" - The Who 4:32
5. "Crocodile Rock" - The Beach Boys 4:21
6. "Daniel" - Wilson Phillips 4:03
7. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" - Joe Cocker 3:57
8. "Levon" - Jon Bon Jovi 5:27
9. "The Bitch is Back" - Tina Turner 3:38
10. "Philadelphia Freedom" - Hall & Oates 5:12
11. "Your Song" - Rod Stewart 4:49
12. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - Oleta Adams 6:02
13. "Madman Across the Water" - Bruce Hornsby 6:10
14. "Sacrifice" - Sinéad O'Connor 5:12
15. "Burn Down the Mission" - Phil Collins 6:58
16. "Tonight" - George Michael 7:23

I will end the post with something I never thought I'd hear:

(Apparently 'Levon' is one of Jon Bon Jovi's favorite songs)