Elton John

"I never realised the passing hours of evening showers. A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams, I'm strangled by your haunted social scene. Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen. It's four o'clock in the morning, Damn it listen to me good. I'm sleeping with myself tonight, Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive."

"Island girl, What you wanting with the white man's world? Island girl, Black boy want you in his island world. He want to take you from the racket boss, He want to save you but the cause is lost."

"And he said grow some funk of your own amigo, Grow some funk of your own. We no like to with the gringo fight, But there might be a death in Mexico tonight If you can't grow some funk of your own amigo."

"And you can cage the songbird, But you can't make her sing. And you can trap the free bird, But you'll have to clip her wings. `Cause she'll soar like a hawk when she flies, But she'll dive like an eagle when she dies."

"What have I got to do to make you love me? What have I got to do to make you care? What do I do when lightning strikes me And I wake to find that you're not there?What do I do to make you want me? What have I got to do to be heard? What do I say when it's all over? And sorry seems to be the hardest word."

"And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover. Oh there were others who would treat you cruel, But oh Jeannie, I will always be your fool."

"He must have been a gardener that cared a lot Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop. But now it all looks strange, it's funny how one insect Can damage so much grain."

"And we are so amazed, we're crippled and we're dazed. A gardener like that one, no one can replace. And I've been knocking, but no one answers. And I've been knocking most all the day. Oh, and I've been calling Oh, "Hey, Hey, Johnny" "Can't you come out to play?""

"Don't you know I'm still standing, better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind."

"Don't wish it away, Don't look at it like it's forever. Between you and me I could honestly say That things can only get better.And while I'm away, Dust out the demons inside. And it won't be long before you and me run To the place in our hearts where we hide."

"And I guess that's why they call it the blues. Time on my hands could be time spent with you, Laughing like children, living like lovers, Rolling like thunder under the covers. And I guess that's why they call it the blues."

"Well they're breaking down doors in foreign countries, Everybody thinks somebody's hiding something. There's talk on the street and the nation is worried. But you can't talk back when you're dead, when you're dead and buried."

"Turn them on, turn them on, Turn on those sad songs. When all hope is gone, Why don't you tune in and turn them on?They reach into your room, Just feel their gentle touch. When all hope is gone, Sad songs say so much."

"Hey Nikita is it cold In your little corner of the world? You could roll around the globe And never find a warmer soul to know.Oh I saw you by the wall, Ten of your tin soldiers in a row. With eyes that looked like ice on fire, The human heart a captive in the snow."

"I used to think that New York City Fell from grace with God. And innocence abroad Waged a war for the underdog. When the snow falls And Central Park looks like a Christmas card, I just looked beyond the bagman And the madness that makes this city hard."

"`Cause I don't wanna go on with you like that, Don't wanna be a feather in your cap. I just wanna tell you honey I ain't mad, But I don't wanna go on with you like that."

"And reach out for her healing hands, Reach out for her healing hands. There's a light, where the darkness ends. Touch me now and let me see again, Rock me now in your gentle healing hands."

"And it's no sacrifice, Just a simple word. It's two hearts living In two separate worlds. But it's no sacrifice. No sacrifice. It's no sacrifice at all."

"And I won't break and I won't bend, But someday soon we'll sail away To innocence and the bitter end. And I won't break and I won't bend, And with the last breath we ever take We're gonna get back to the simple life again."

"In the instant that you love someone, In the second that the hammer hits, Reality runs up your spine, And the pieces finally fit."

"For each man in his time is Cain Until he walks along the beach And sees his future in the water, A long lost heart within his reach."

"`Cause I never thought I'd lose. I only thought I'd win. I never dreamed I'd feel This fire beneath my skin. I can't believe you love me. I never thought you'd come. I guess I misjudged love Between a father and his son."

"Things we never said come together, The hidden truth no longer haunting me. Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken, That kind of understanding sets me free."

"I believe in love, it's all we got. Love has no boundaries, no borders to cross. Love is simple, hate breeds. Those who think difference is the child of disease. Father and son make love and guns, Families together kill someone. Without love, I believe in love."

"There was a time, I was everything and nothing all in one. When you found me, I was feeling like a cloud across the sun."

"Spare your heart, save your soul. Don't drag your love across the coals. Find your feet and your fortune can be told. Release, relax, let go, And hey now let's recover your soul."

"A dream will fly The moment that you open up your eyes. A dream is just a riddle, Ghosts from every corner of your life."

"You may not believe it, But I don't believe in miracles anymore. And when I think about it, I don't believe I ever did for sure. All the things I've said in songs, All the purple prose you bought from me. Reality's just black and white. The sentimental things I'd write Never meant that much to me."

"And every one of us has to face that day; Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away? And every one of us that ever came to play Has to cross the bridge or fade away."

"I have been a Pariah in academia but to all those who sought my destruction I always had one answer: "I'm Still Standing." The hymn from Sir Elton John is the best description of how I feel about my survival and triumph over a system that should not be called part of the Humanities since it is hardly humane in its treatment of difference. I have also found deplorable the treatment of students in academia. My former students are the people I miss the most about teaching. But, as one of my former students told me once and I have found it to be true: "You will always have students." So we bring this compendium to you: the totality of a life of poetry. May you feel an embrace from me as you read them. To everyone who reads these pages: I'm Still Standing! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!"

"If you’ve never heard his music then, well... who are we kidding? Everybody has heard him. His voice has changed over the years, but his piano playing has remained rollicking, rocking and resounding. He helped to solidify the piano’s place in rock and roll just as synthesizers were making their presence known."