by Lesley Aeschliman

Created on: April 19, 2010

I first heard Elton John’s music back in the mid-1980’s.  While my initial exposure to him was his 1980’s material, I was able to hear Elton’s earlier material when I was older.  It was rather hard for me to whittle this list down to ten songs, because there’s some worthy material that I ended up not including.  This list is done in alphabetical order, because it’s too hard for me to rank these as an actual top ten.

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is one of the songs that Elton contributed to Disney’s The Lion King film.  While this song may have done well due to its connection the film, it’s also a strong song that can stand on its own.  It’s also a song that listeners can identify with.

“Candle in the Wind” is a song written about Marilyn Monroe.  I tend to prefer the 1980’s live version of this song done with the Melbourne Symphony orchestra over the original recording from the 1970’s.  This is probably due to the fact that I heard the live version on the radio a lot when it was released as a single.

“Daniel” is a song about loss and the death of someone close to the speaker.  I remember hearing Wilson Phillips doing a cover of this song for an Elton John tribute album in the early 1990’s.  When I heard Elton’s original, I realized how good of a song it was.  While Wilson Phillips did a decent rendition, I think Elton’s version is stronger.

“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” is a classic, fun, upbeat duet with Kiki Dee.  When Elton John re-recorded the song with RuPaul in 1993, I found I didn’t like that rendition nearly as much as the original.  There’s just something about the Elton and Kiki version that the later RuPaul duet lacked.

“I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That” is a great song, and really utilizes the piano as a percussion instrument.  When it was released as a single, it really stood out from the other songs being released at the time.  The music video for this song was also very well-done, and this is one of those songs where I can picture the music video when I hear it.

“I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” is one of the earliest songs of Elton’s that I have memories of hearing as a kid.  It’s one of the songs that I gained a better appreciation for as I got older and

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