This Song Has No Title Lyrics
Tune me in to the wild side of life
I'm an innocent young child, sharp as a knife
Take me to the garretts where the artists have died
Show me the courtrooms where the judges have lied
Let me drink deeply from the water and the wine
Light colored candles in dark dreary mines
Look in the mirror and stare at myself
And wonder if that's really me on the shelf
[Chorus]
And each day I learn just a little bit more
I don't know why but I do know what for
If we're all going somewhere, let's get there soon
Oh, this song's got no title, just words and a tune
[Verse 2]
Take me down alleys where the murders are done
In a vast high powered rocket to the core of the sun
Want to read books in the studies of men
Born on the breeze and die on the wind
If I was an artist who paints with his eyes
I'd study my subject and silently cry
Cry for the darkness to come down on me
For confusion to carry on turning the wheel
And each day I learn just a little bit more
I don't know why but I do know what for
If we're all going somewhere, let's get there soon
Oh, this song's got no title, just words and a tune
About
“This Song Has No Title”, the fifth song on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, is the shortest song on the double album, and indeed one of the shortest lyric-based tunes Elton has ever put on any of his albums.
The song is also unique in that Elton recorded the entire track himself. Every instrument you hear is a keyboard of one sort or another (don’t be fooled—the “flute” part is in fact a Mellotron); there are 3 acoustic piano tracks, an electric piano, two Farfisa organ parts and the Mellotron. Plus there are more than four separate layers of vocals, all done by Elton as well.
As Davey Johnstone explains:
The only thing anybody else did was, I did the wah-wah on his electric piano, because he didn’t know how to do that and play the piano at the same time. So while he was playing the piano I was working the wah-wah with my foot. His vocal harmonies, all his overdubs on that, his synth…they were just you know, phenomenal. And he was very proud of that.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
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