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Elton John Honky Cat
Posted on 1/11/22 at 10:19 am
Posted on 1/11/22 at 10:19 am
Rediscovering my Elton John library and have to admit that I really like Honky Cat a lot. It has a Louisiana vibe to it with the horns and of course EJs piano playing is fantastic, almost Fats Domino level on this song.
Posted on 1/11/22 at 10:44 am to brlaFellman
It's a nice tune. I have a nice EJ collection as well.
Check this kid out doing a cover of it, he was 14-15 y.o. at the time, which makes it pretty impressive.
LINK
Check this kid out doing a cover of it, he was 14-15 y.o. at the time, which makes it pretty impressive.
LINK
Posted on 1/11/22 at 2:54 pm to brlaFellman
Great song
One of his best
Recorded perfectly
One of his best
Recorded perfectly
Posted on 1/11/22 at 6:34 pm to brlaFellman
Violinist Jean-Luc Ponty plays on this album too.
Posted on 1/12/22 at 3:12 pm to brlaFellman
quote:
Rediscovering my Elton John library and have to admit that I really like Honky Cat a lot. It has a Louisiana vibe to it with the horns and of course EJs piano playing is fantastic, almost Fats Domino level on this song.
That's exactly what he was going for. New Orleans is even mentioned in the lyrics
Posted on 1/13/22 at 3:36 pm to brlaFellman
Funny story - my best friend in elementary school had parents who were very hip for early 1970s south GA. Big EJ fans back when, aside from the occasional mid-charting hit singles, he was relatively unknown.
Anyway, they had a Siamese cat they named “Honky”, which was funny enough - but then they adopted a stray black cat and named it…yeah, they went there
Great little in-joke, until one morning his mom couldn’t find the black cat, so she walked out into the yard and started shouting out his name….then realized all the garbagemen were staring at her…
They renamed the cat “Blackie” after that
Anyway, they had a Siamese cat they named “Honky”, which was funny enough - but then they adopted a stray black cat and named it…yeah, they went there
Great little in-joke, until one morning his mom couldn’t find the black cat, so she walked out into the yard and started shouting out his name….then realized all the garbagemen were staring at her…
They renamed the cat “Blackie” after that
Posted on 1/14/22 at 12:52 pm to brlaFellman
Great dusting off the ol' music library, ain't it?
Honky Cat had a whimsical jes'-chillin' vibe to me. Back then the lyrics could have meaning but were definitely secondary to the melody.
Writer Bernie Taupin -- he did seem to have disdain for "rednecks" (just sayin'). In both Honky Cat and Texan Love Song, rednecks get a shout-out (and not in a good way).
'Honky Cat':
"Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways
And, ooh ooh ooh ooh, oh, change is gonna do me good"
Texan Love Song (from 'Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player':
You out of town guys sure think you're real keen
Think all of us boys here are homespun and green
But that's wrong my friend so get this through your head
We're tough and we're Texan with necks good and red
LINK
Texan Love Song one of my favorite tracks on what I regard as Elton's John's best album by far.
But how about the biting irony of the social commentary and rest THESE lyrics? CAN this track be considered "Early WOKE'? (lyrically, the Listener seems to be forced to choose sides. Packed into the lyrics are: "Victim/Oppressor" Guilt-ing, gay-bash shaming, and ironic "politicking".).
Interesting buzz-words/phrases used in this "Love" song:
"REDNECKS", "COMMUNISTIC-POLITICS", "FAIRIES"," "DAUGHTERS MINDS POISONED", DRUG-CRAZY SONGS", "PRESIDENT'S NAME" [was] "STILL RESPECTED")
FULL LYRICS to 'Texan Love Song' (Composers: Bernie Taupin, Elton John, Album: 'Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player'- 1972)
So socially speaking, WHO in retrospect since 1972 really ruined things? And again -- was this tune an early 'WOKE' anthem?
I heard from a friend you'd been messing around
With a cute little thing I'd been dating uptown
Well I don't know if I like that idea much
Well you'd better stay clear I might start acting rough
You out of town guys sure think you're real keen
Think all of us boys here are homespun and green
But that's wrong my friend so get this through your head
We're tough and we're Texan with necks good and red
So it's ki yi yippie yi yi
You long hairs are sure gonna die
Our American home was clean till you came
And kids still respected the president's name
And the eagle still flew in the sky
Hearts filled with national pride
Then you came along with your drug crazy songs
Goddamit you're all gonna die
How dare you sit there and drink all our beer
Oh it's made for us workers who sweat, spit and swear
The minds of our daughters are poisoned by you
With your communistic politics and them negro blues
Well I'm gonna quit talking and take action now
Run all of you fairies clean out of this town
Oh I'm dog tired of watching you mess up our lives
Spending the summertime naturally high
Honky Cat had a whimsical jes'-chillin' vibe to me. Back then the lyrics could have meaning but were definitely secondary to the melody.
Writer Bernie Taupin -- he did seem to have disdain for "rednecks" (just sayin'). In both Honky Cat and Texan Love Song, rednecks get a shout-out (and not in a good way).
'Honky Cat':
"Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways
And, ooh ooh ooh ooh, oh, change is gonna do me good"
Texan Love Song (from 'Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player':
You out of town guys sure think you're real keen
Think all of us boys here are homespun and green
But that's wrong my friend so get this through your head
We're tough and we're Texan with necks good and red
LINK
Texan Love Song one of my favorite tracks on what I regard as Elton's John's best album by far.
But how about the biting irony of the social commentary and rest THESE lyrics? CAN this track be considered "Early WOKE'? (lyrically, the Listener seems to be forced to choose sides. Packed into the lyrics are: "Victim/Oppressor" Guilt-ing, gay-bash shaming, and ironic "politicking".).
Interesting buzz-words/phrases used in this "Love" song:
"REDNECKS", "COMMUNISTIC-POLITICS", "FAIRIES"," "DAUGHTERS MINDS POISONED", DRUG-CRAZY SONGS", "PRESIDENT'S NAME" [was] "STILL RESPECTED")
FULL LYRICS to 'Texan Love Song' (Composers: Bernie Taupin, Elton John, Album: 'Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player'- 1972)
So socially speaking, WHO in retrospect since 1972 really ruined things? And again -- was this tune an early 'WOKE' anthem?
I heard from a friend you'd been messing around
With a cute little thing I'd been dating uptown
Well I don't know if I like that idea much
Well you'd better stay clear I might start acting rough
You out of town guys sure think you're real keen
Think all of us boys here are homespun and green
But that's wrong my friend so get this through your head
We're tough and we're Texan with necks good and red
So it's ki yi yippie yi yi
You long hairs are sure gonna die
Our American home was clean till you came
And kids still respected the president's name
And the eagle still flew in the sky
Hearts filled with national pride
Then you came along with your drug crazy songs
Goddamit you're all gonna die
How dare you sit there and drink all our beer
Oh it's made for us workers who sweat, spit and swear
The minds of our daughters are poisoned by you
With your communistic politics and them negro blues
Well I'm gonna quit talking and take action now
Run all of you fairies clean out of this town
Oh I'm dog tired of watching you mess up our lives
Spending the summertime naturally high
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