10 Saddest Elton John Songs

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With a catalog as extensive as Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s, there’s bound to be a vast collection of sad songs. We could have easily compiled a much larger list of Elton John’s saddest songs, but we decided to keep it to just ten. It’s tough enough to write about these 10 songs while listening to them and not tearing up. I don’t think I could do 20 even though I love these songs dearly.
Elton John is probably the one artist that we’ve written about the most on this site because we just can’t get enough of his music. Elton John’s Greatest Hits was the first album I ever bought when I was 12 years old. I listened to that album every day. My second album was Caribou, and then my third was Captain Fantastic the day it was released. Of course, as I started making a little money delivering newspapers, I began purchasing all his records. I’ve lived with his catalog my entire life, and so I think that I’m pretty in tune with some of his saddest material. Here are 10 of the most memorable pieces.

# 10 – High Flying Bird

“High Flying Bird” was the closing song on Elton John’s 1973 album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player. Most people have interpreted the word “bird” to mean woman. Like so many of Bernie’s lyrics, this is a song about loss. Of course, it’s not completely clear what kind of loss it is. Is it just a breakup, or is it far worse? Some have thought maybe it’s about a suicide because of the lyrics. Nonetheless, Elton John’s vocal performance, melody, and chord changes add deeply to the sadness inherent in the lyrics.
Read More: Why Elton John’s Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player Was One Of His Most Melodic LPs

# 9 – Daniel

After opening this list with the closing song from Elton John’s Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player album, it just somehow seems to work out that way that we now continue with the opening song from that same record. This one is far more popular and far more known, especially to the casual Elton John fan. Once again, Bernie Taupin’s lyrics are very much open to interpretation. Most people believe this song is about the loss of a friend due to the Vietnam War. The line “must be the clouds in my eyes” is definitely one of the hardest-hitting lines Elton John has ever sung and Bernie Taupin has ever written.
Read More: Top 10 Elton John Songs

# 8 – Sixty Years On

War played a dominant role in the lyrics of many songwriters throughout the 1960s and 709s. The Vietnam War took its toll on so many. There have been numerous references to that war in the early works of Elton and Bernie. For many people who served not just in the Vietnam War but all wars, living life afterwards, if they survived, was never easy. That seems to be the point that Bernie and Elton were making in this one. Of course, it’s all open to interpretation. Nonetheless, this one is very haunting…….
Read More: 10 Most Underrated Elton John Songs

# 7 – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Great lyricists learn how to craft universal songs, songs with profound meaning that everyone can connect with. The song “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” is not only deep throughout, but the title alone says it all. “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” was released on Elton John’s Blue Moves album. For me, this was the last great Elton John album until he released “Songs from the West Coast” in 2001. It’s always been one of my favorite Elton John records, and there’s a lot of sad stuff on it. This is the first of two songs that appear on this list from the Blue Moves double album. You should also check out Diana Krall’s heartbreaking version on her Wallflower album.
Read More: Why Blue Moves Was Elton John’s Most Underrated Album

# 6 – The Last Song

The AIDS epidemic in the 1980s seemed to come out of nowhere, but of course, it had been brewing for a long time. Like most epidemics and pandemics, science isn’t always ready for them, and while it tries to catch up, many people lose their lives. Elton John has long been a vocal advocate for AIDS research. He has spent a considerable amount of time and money trying to contribute to the battle. This song is about a father losing his son to Aids. It is a difficult listen, but an important one. It was released on Elton John’s beautiful 1992 album The One.
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# 5 – Ticking

This one is difficult to write about because of the subject matter. Nonetheless, the deep sorrow that a song like this portrays among all the people involved defines that it needed to be on this list. A song like this probably could not be written and released in the modern world. It was initially released on John’s album Caribou. It was the record’s closing song. This is perhaps one of the most powerful songs Elton has ever released
Read More: Why There Were Many Overlooked Gems On Elton John’s Caribou LP

# 4 – “Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)”

There is nothing sadder than divorce, especially when children are involved, and that’s exactly what this heartbreaking song is about. The younger generation discovered a variation of this song when Elton John recorded it as a duet with Dua Lipa, retitled “Cold Heart,” and gave it a completely new arrangement. But old-school Elton John fans will probably always prefer the original version, released in 1983 on the Too Low for Zero album.
Read More: A Look At Elton John’s Christmas Songs

# 3 – Tonight

The Blue Moves album makes an appearance once again on the saddest Elton John songs list. This time we present the album’s opening number, the mesmerizing and stunning recording of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Tonight.” Elton John employed the use of the London Symphony Orchestra on this one, and the opening musical piece is simply jaw-dropping. There’s a deep sadness in the music before Elton even sings a word, and then when he opens the song with the words “Tonight, do we have to fight again,” you know exactly where this one is heading. For anybody, and pretty much everybody, who’s been in a bad relationship, you know that feeling when things are just not going well and there seems to be no hope in sight. It’s sad, so sad, it’s a sad, sad situation—oops, wait a second, that’s another song.
Read More: Top 100 Elton John Songs

# 2 – Candle In The Wind 1997

It doesn’t get much sadder than the next two songs, as both of these pieces mourn the loss of two much-loved public figures. When ranking these songs, it’s really just a list, how could you truly rank songs like these? Princess Diana’s passing was shocking to the world, both in the way it happened and why it happened. It was absolutely heartbreaking. This one deeply affected Elton and Bernie. Bernie Taupin rewrote the lyrics to “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to Princess Diana. Elton John has said he would never perform this version again, except for that one time when he sang it at her memorial after her passing. It’s difficult to listen to, a painful reminder of a loss that shook the world to its core.
Read More: 10 Best Non-Album Track Elton John B Sides

# 1 – Empty Garden

I will never forget the night my mother knocked on my bedroom door and asked if I had heard the news that John Lennon had been shot. I was nineteen years old at the time. Like millions of others, I fell to the ground in pain upon discovering that one of the greatest musical artists of all time, one of the most special human beings ever to live on this planet, a man who fought for peace through his words, his music, and his actions, had been taken from us by a madman. This tragedy deeply affected Elton John as well, and he wrote this beautiful song with Bernie Taupin as a tribute to his friend John Lennon.
Read More: 10 Best Elton John Songs Of The 1970s

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