irock
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Post by irock on Jan 28, 2004 14:43:29 GMT -5
I was listening to this song today and was reminded that some critics at the time took it to be about suicide. I couldn't understand that (I'm posting the lyrics so you can judge for yourself). I suppose they got the idea from the line "We shall survive, let us take ourselves along".
Aside from that I think this is one of Elton's best singles. An excellent piano solo, a glam-rock feel and a fake audience applauding (an idea borrowed from the Beatles) make this one of his more unusual tracks. Dig the falsetto "Bennie, Bennie, Bennie..." toward the end.
Any thoughts?
Bernie Taupin - Bennie And The Jets
Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather
We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
So stick around
You're gonna hear electric music
Solid walls of sound
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet
But they're so spaced out, Bennie and the Jets
Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh Bennie she's really keen
She's got electric boots a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine
Bennie and the Jets
Hey kids, plug into the faithless
Maybe they're blinded
But Bennie makes them ageless
We shall survive, let us take ourselves along
Where we fight our parents out in the streets
To find who's right and who's wrong
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2004 14:46:38 GMT -5
I love it! It's my favorite Elton John song. Everything about it is great. Like you said, the falsetto at the end is fantastic.
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Post by FreakyFlyBry on Jan 28, 2004 16:10:01 GMT -5
I like it, but nowhere near his best.
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mst3k
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Back from a 12 year hiatus.
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Post by mst3k on Jan 28, 2004 17:56:29 GMT -5
Good song, not one of my favorites by him.
Wasn't this remade/sampled a few years ago?
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2004 18:03:26 GMT -5
Well Mary J. Blige sampled it for "Deep Inside" in 1999.
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mst3k
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Back from a 12 year hiatus.
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Post by mst3k on Jan 28, 2004 18:16:20 GMT -5
Well Mary J. Blige sampled it for " Deep Inside" in 1999. That's the one I was thinking of. :) |
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ClassicCase
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Post by ClassicCase on Jan 29, 2004 18:51:14 GMT -5
I had some vague rememberance of this song that it also had a place on the R&B chart back in '74. But I guess it's just me. If it did, how high did it chart?
There's an element of BATJ used also in '99 or 2000 from Somethin' For The People featuring Luke called Take It Off.
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Post by reception on Jan 29, 2004 18:58:53 GMT -5
I LOVE IT!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2004 19:38:11 GMT -5
I had some vague rememberance of this song that it also had a place on the R&B chart back in '74. But I guess it's just me. If it did, how high did it chart? It went all the way to #15 on Billboard's Black Singles chart. |
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stevie nice
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Post by stevie nice on Jan 29, 2004 19:48:54 GMT -5
I thought the psuedo honky tonk piano riffs were really cool too. My moms didn't want me to listen to this when i was 10 because she thought the line 'we'll fight our parents out on the streets..." would influence me to look for some sharp objects in the kitchen. ahhh parents.
Burn Down The Mission, Take Me To The Pilot, Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Country Comfort, Teacher I Need You and Elderberry Wine were some catchy non single EJ tunes that got lots of airplay on classic rock radio.
I think we were told this was a reference to ingesting benzine, or about a band. that's what the older kids in the hood told us back in the day.
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jond7699
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Post by jond7699 on Jan 29, 2004 23:34:35 GMT -5
I really like this song. It obviously way before my time but it is still on of my favorite songs by Elton.
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jimmy74747
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Post by jimmy74747 on Jan 30, 2004 0:22:33 GMT -5
Fantastic song. Elton is one of the all-time greats.
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Post by reception on Aug 20, 2004 10:27:46 GMT -5
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Hervard
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Post by Hervard on Aug 20, 2004 10:29:13 GMT -5
Many people think this song was recorded live, but the sounds of the audience cheering was actually dubbed into the song.
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cartman2002
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Post by cartman2002 on Dec 4, 2006 16:58:19 GMT -5
This tune got to #1 on the Hot 100 in 1974 but only was released two years later in the UK and only reached #37
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Jan 5, 2009 18:22:05 GMT -5
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JCMF3
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Post by JCMF3 on Jan 6, 2009 10:52:21 GMT -5
I like it.
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trustypepper
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Post by trustypepper on May 30, 2020 19:56:46 GMT -5
Classic. I love how it has the "live" effect similar to "Shallow" and a few other hits over the years.
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Trilogy
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unfortunately
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My Charts
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Post by Trilogy on Jun 19, 2020 9:39:48 GMT -5
great song, elton john is a legend
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Ernesto
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Post by Ernesto on Apr 13, 2021 14:05:32 GMT -5
47 years ago today, "Bennie and The Jets" became Sir Elton John's second No.1 hit in the U.S. as it topped the Hot 100 for a week. The song was also embraced on R & B radio stations which led "Bennie" to reach No.15 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The song was the third release from his 1973 album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." 2 years later, it was properly released in the U.K. as a single and it peaked at a rather unimpressive No.37.
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