"Candle in the Wind" is a song with music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It was originally written in 1973, in honor of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier.
In 1997, John performed a remake of the song as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. This version of the song was released as a single, and reached No. 1 in many countries, proving a much greater success than the original.
Contents
[hide] * 1 Original version * 2 1986 live version * 3 1997 version * 4 Other versions and parodies * 5 References
[edit] Original version
The original version in the key of E major appeared on John's 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The lyrics of the song are a sympathetic portrayal of the life of Marilyn Monroe (the song's opening line "Goodbye Norma Jean" refers to Monroe's real name). The single release of the original song reached No. 11 in the U.K. charts in 1974. At the time, it was not released as a single in the United States ("Bennie and the Jets" was chosen instead). Taupin was inspired to write the song after hearing the phrase "candle in the wind" used in tribute to Janis Joplin.
This version is ranked No. 347 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
On April 7, 1990, at Farm Aid 4, John dedicated the song to Ryan White, his friend who was suffering from AIDS. White died from AIDS complications the next day.[1]
You forgot the last verse. Lovely guitar playing in this one though. I play it without a capo in E, but I like the idea of playing it in G.
GuiTuber 2 years ago