Never Too Late, the new documentary that captures Elton John's life and career, debuts on Disney+ on Dec. 13. If you want to prepare by taking a spin through his more than 30 albums, Rolling Stone has thoughtfully narrowed down his discography to the "50 Best Elton John Songs."
Coming in at #1 is the song that gave Elton one of his nicknames: "Rocket Man." In his autobiography, Me, Elton recalls crafting that song, plus two others from the Honky Château album, one day over breakfast after Bernie Taupin left him the lyrics on the piano. Rolling Stone points out the song has been covered by everyone from Neil Diamond to Kate Bush to William Shatner. It was also one of the Elton songs interpolated in his Dua Lipa duet, "Cold Heart."
Number 2 on the list is "Tiny Dancer" — Elton credits the film Almost Famous for making that song popular. He wrote in his book, "People forget that when it came out as a single in 1971, it flopped."
"Levon" is #3, followed by "Daniel" at #4. The latter has been described by Taupin as "the most misinterpreted song that we've ever written." It's actually about a blind war veteran, written from the point of view of the veteran's little brother, but Elton wrote that many people felt it was "a coded description of a gay relationship" — which it wasn't.
#5 is the enduring "Your Song," which Elton says Bernie "wrote over breakfast one morning," and for which he wrote the music in "15 minutes flat."
The rest of the top 10:
6. "Funeral for a Friend"/"Love Lies Bleeding"
7. "Candle in the Wind" [the original 1973 version]
8. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"
9. "Madman Across the Water"
10. "The Bitch Is Back"