Songoftheday 4/30/12 - What happened here, as the New York sunset disappeared...

Elton John - "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)"

from the album Jump Up! (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (two weeks)

weeks in Top-40: 10

Today's Song Of The Day is Elton John's requiem for friend and idol John Lennon, who was murdered a year and a half past. "Empty Garden" was released at a time where Elton was at a relatively "dry" point in his career, which his previous LP The Fox having two singles miss the top-20 (thought "Nobody Wins" came one rung under). With Jump Up!, he set up camp away from his singer-songwriter rock output of the 70's squarely into adult contemporary territory, and his booming and dramatic wail would characterize a lot of his most successful work of the decade. Even thought the lyrics were written by longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin (who used Elton and John's appearance at Madison Square Garden as an reference point), this song was extremely personal for Elton, and the performance in my opinion was his best in the 80's, where his performance became more workmanlike.

Twenty-five years later, Elton would go through the same cathartic musical release mourning the death of Princess Diana of Wales, but "Empty Garden" remains a special nugget in his legacy.

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and here's Elton performed it live...

Up tomorrow: New Jersey eyepatch band and the girl with speaking clothes...