A lyricist creates fluid poetry. Bernie Taupin is so humble. A genuine poet storyteller of our times. Elton John and Bernie Taupin have graced us with the most Beautiful music of our lifetime. In the ranks of McCartney and Lennon.
I won't disagree one bit. Yet, it's always been astounding to me that Elton could take Bernie's lyrics cold and pound out melody after melody after melody with Bernie's lyrics, and the melodies would be wonderful and magical and even grandiose. Just so appropriate for the lyrics, time and time again.
@@mookiebomberSometimes weird or trying too hard: And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear) You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
He has such a calming effect just listening to him speak about music, his life, writing, Elton, etc..I think many of us need someone in their lives to help balance relationships. I think Elton was so fortunate to meet Bernie.
@@50milliondownthedraintonym16 Bernie is a very smart guy. He was well read and educated. That helped him write lyrics. Elton couldn't write. Yes, Elton was trained as a classical pianist & is wonderful at writing to many lyrics. Over the years Bernie has had some input in how the songs are constructed.
I heard an interview with Bernie on Marc Maron's WTF podcast and he said he has absolutely no interest in any royal honors. And I think he really meant it as he also said that has zero interest in anything to do with the UK.
Bernie is one of the greatest songwriter lyricists ever it's the people with the most talent that don't even think their talented You are great Bernie !!!
One of the most amazing things is how he wrote "Country Comfort" perfectly evocative of the US heartland, without (I believe), ever having been to the States.
One of the Genius' of the musical world. He is incredible.............I love ' The Greatest Discovery ' written when he was 17 years old I think...........
One of the first albums I ever bought with my own money was "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and it had all of Bernie's lyrics printed on the inside cover. I poured over those lyrics and still know them all by heart. Other albums at the time may have also included the lyrics, but I wouldn't know. Only Bernie and Elton touched me so that I needed to know them.
Had those three air heads not done their 10 minutes of prep prior to the show they wouldn’t know who Bernie was or his significance in the world of poetry/songwriting. Awesome guy…..he an Elton were magic together.
So many of the songs they wrote became part of my life’s soundtrack. I loved them when I was younger, and I didn’t truly appreciate or understand Bernie’s lyrics until I was older, but he’s a true artist and a genius, and he gave Elton the words he’d sing. (Both of them have worked with other writers over the years and both had a fair degree of success that way, but the bulk of Elton’s catalog are songs for which Bernie wrote the lyrics. Bernie wrote the lyrics for “These Dreams” by Heart!)
To me, their best song was "Your Song" and I will never forget when I first started dating someone who I loved intensely, but, sometimes love or even love and lust is not enough to make things work out, but on one of our early dates, we had already done the nice dinner thing, so, I wanted to do what I prefer, which was a drive along the California coast, a hike down the cliffs, a picnic basket backpack, with a bottle of wine and a blanket around us as the Sun started setting on the ocean. I started singing "Your Song" to her, and did not know that was her all-time favorite song. We would have some amazing times together, really the best in my life, but in the end, we just could not find a way to work it out. Everytime I hear that song, I think of her, who is still a friend and we keep in touch. But someone asked if I would give it another shot, the answer is, of course.
Honestly, he should be knighted, if he isn’t already! If wasn’t for Bernie Taupin, Sir Elton John’s career, and maybe even 1970’s Rock music as a whole, would have taken a very different turn!
Bernie Taupin is underestimated in my opinion. At their best, his lyrics were as good as Dylan or Van Morrison. Elton and Bernie were (are) a perfect pop team.
I just could not grasp reading. Age 10...the dunce. I was kind of freaked out by the graphics accompanying Bernie's lyrics inside Don't Shoot Me and Goodbye YBR album,but after a weeks of looking at the words while listening- suddenly it all came together for me. I learned to read! But it made me think and visualize in Taupin words...they had "colors"...his words were like magic visions. Add in the sounds of that whole band... Wow,what a gift to the dunce kid in Class 7. I owe that man. Thanks,Sir
He has the best of both worlds. He is highly respected but virtually anonymous. He can still walk through an airport unrecognized. Elton could never do that.
Hey, Bernie! Many of us call ourselves "Poets." "The poet's function is to make his imagination ... become the light in the minds of others. His role, in short, is to help people to live their lives." - Wallace Stevens
@@terri6854 I've heard EJ's songs where he himself wrote the word and they weren't anywhere near as good as the ones he wrote with Bernie. It was a match made in heaven...when EJ has Bernie's lyrics in front of him magic happened esp in the 1970s.
In my life I had Bernie and Elton, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Lennon and McCartney and scores of others. Who are going to be the legends 50 years from now for today's kids?
"He danced in death like a marionette on the vengence of the law", you can only write lyrics like that after having some experience, & now i heard he was on a poultry farm & was a country boy this is where he got inspriration, seeing life at the raw end.
I love the Beatles ,but their is a sophistication to the best Elton John and Bernie Taupin songs that is beyond the Beatles. Elton John studied at the Royal Academy of music in London. Extensive musical training can sometimes be a hindrance to composers and songwriters . Elton John is probably the best example of a songwriter who had extensive musical training ,but didn't lose his incredible creativity. Elton was a child prodigy so he likely developed his own style before going to the Royal Academy.Elton also incorporated gospel into his classical /pop/rock style.
In my opinion, The Retreat is both Bernie's best lyric and Elton's best melody--if not "best melody" per se, then at least "best melody match with lyric."
As much as he had such great influence on all of us and the entire pop culture with his legendary lyrics as weird it seems to me that, after watching this interview and the one where he was talking about "Candle in the wind" on Graham Norton, I'm getting very negative, eccentric, arrogant and totally non-charming vibes about the way he talks from the man who wrote so many lyrics I'd loved all my life.
Bernie has similar mannerisms to Elton John. His movements and voice pauses and inflections. Anyone else notice that? They were cut from the same cloth
🤔 Maybe he would call himself a LYRIST if they were in the same room feeding off one another , say like Rogers and Hammerstein. But he basically writes a poem and hands it to ELTON ,they don't talk about it at all! 🤗❤️✌️🌍
Bernie and Elton are unquestionably one of the most talented duos in popular music history!👍
For sure
NO QUESTION!!!!!! 👍🏻
Precisely correct!
What would Rodgers have been without Hart, and then later. Hammerstein ?
Or Bernstein without Stephen Sondheim?
A lyricist creates fluid poetry.
Bernie Taupin is so humble.
A genuine poet storyteller of our times.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin have graced us with the most Beautiful music of our lifetime. In the ranks of McCartney and Lennon.
Bernie is a poetry genius when it comes to lyrics.
A poultry genius
Bernie Taupin is a god damned genius. His lyrics are so weird and lovely and perfect.
They seem weird? I wouldn't use that exact word to describe them, I'd say distinctive, characteristic and representative
Why has he been damned? Are you one of those flat earthers?
They are kind of weird. But that’s not any kind of put down. It’s intriguing.
I won't disagree one bit. Yet, it's always been astounding to me that Elton could take Bernie's lyrics cold and pound out melody after melody after melody with Bernie's lyrics, and the melodies would be wonderful and magical and even grandiose. Just so appropriate for the lyrics, time and time again.
@@mookiebomberSometimes weird or trying too hard:
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
He has such a calming effect just listening to him speak about music, his life, writing, Elton, etc..I think many of us need someone in their lives to help balance relationships. I think Elton was so fortunate to meet Bernie.
@@50milliondownthedraintonym16 Bernie is a very smart guy. He was well read and educated. That helped him write lyrics. Elton couldn't write. Yes, Elton was trained as a classical pianist & is wonderful at writing to many lyrics. Over the years Bernie has had some input in how the songs are constructed.
Nice comment.
Brilliant story teller. His gifts keep on giving. Thank you, Bernie Taupin.
This gentleman got me through adolescence in the 70s.
Same here. And his and Elton's Empty Garden helped me deal with John Lennon's death, which shook me to the core as a young guy.
110% AGREE!
Yes me too! Bernie thank you.
No you were and still are a sleep clueless of the real truth.
Bernie is extremely talented. He should be knighted too!❤
I heard an interview with Bernie on Marc Maron's WTF podcast and he said he has absolutely no interest in any royal honors. And I think he really meant it as he also said that has zero interest in anything to do with the UK.
You consider writing lyrics as ‘extreme talent’ ?
You should consider raising your standard
@@austinskaggs4184write a lyrics that can out sell rocket man, your song, and every other top Elton John songs, let’s see how talented you are.
Total genius..even to this day,I Don't know how he does it!!!!❤❤❤
Thank you Bernie & Elton both so much! ❤ They are more geniuses than they will ever understand.
Bernie is one of the greatest songwriter lyricists ever it's the people with the most talent that don't even think their talented You are great Bernie !!!
I love how Berni tells it like it is!
One of the most amazing things is how he wrote "Country Comfort" perfectly evocative of the US heartland, without (I believe), ever having been to the States.
Come Down in Time my favorite! Brilliant poet!
Great track ...
Bernie Taupin is a true genius. The song "Ticking" alone puts him in the stratosphere of lyricists.
TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION, 11.17.70, MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER ... COULD LISTEN TO THEM FOR HOURS ... I HAVE!
One of the Genius' of the musical world. He is incredible.............I love ' The Greatest Discovery ' written when he was 17 years old I think...........
My favorite will always be "Friends." Such beautiful lyrics.
I've always thought of him as a poet. Listened to Elton's LPs when I was a teen just about every day.
One of the first albums I ever bought with my own money was "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and it had all of Bernie's lyrics printed on the inside cover. I poured over those lyrics and still know them all by heart.
Other albums at the time may have also included the lyrics, but I wouldn't know. Only Bernie and Elton touched me so that I needed to know them.
Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters! What a song.
Bernie isn't really a songwriter, he's a poet and a fantastic one at that. Such an eloquent dude. Love him.
He doesn’t like the idea of being called a poet. He prefers lyricist.
Gail would you please stop interrupting the guests and actually let them answer your questions
Agreed , its the guests opportunity to shine not the interviewer.
Yeah she talks to much, she talks over the answer to the question that she asked. That's awful interviewing.
I blame CBS for letting a non stop talker act as an interviewer. Sounded like she was on speed. They only needed one interviewer not three.
Had those three air heads not done their 10 minutes of prep prior to the show they wouldn’t know who Bernie was or his significance in the world of poetry/songwriting. Awesome guy…..he an Elton were magic together.
Poor prep indeed
❤Bernie
#truth
First there was Lennon and McCartney but then there was Elton and Bernie "Someone saved my life tonight and Your Song" are probably two of my favs....
❤ A lifetime of beautiful memories, from the age old 10 to 62 and beyond.
SO AMAZING
WHAT A TEAM. SIR ELTON AND BERNIE. SACRIFICE IS A BEAUTIFUL SONG 🎵 ❤ ♥
So many of the songs they wrote became part of my life’s soundtrack. I loved them when I was younger, and I didn’t truly appreciate or understand Bernie’s lyrics until I was older, but he’s a true artist and a genius, and he gave Elton the words he’d sing. (Both of them have worked with other writers over the years and both had a fair degree of success that way, but the bulk of Elton’s catalog are songs for which Bernie wrote the lyrics. Bernie wrote the lyrics for “These Dreams” by Heart!)
He is brilliant!💕
I'm reading his book these days and it's just a wonderful Book Bernie is a great writer, not doubt about that. Very Dickensian indeed. Great stuff 👍
"Mona Lisa And Mad Hatters" My personal fave.
Nancy Wilson of "Heart" does a very good version of this song...
@@gthomas3964Bernie Taupin cowrote “These Dreams” for Heart.
To me, their best song was "Your Song" and I will never forget when I first started dating someone who I loved intensely, but, sometimes love or even love and lust is not enough to make things work out, but on one of our early dates, we had already done the nice dinner thing, so, I wanted to do what I prefer, which was a drive along the California coast, a hike down the cliffs, a picnic basket backpack, with a bottle of wine and a blanket around us as the Sun started setting on the ocean. I started singing "Your Song" to her, and did not know that was her all-time favorite song.
We would have some amazing times together, really the best in my life, but in the end, we just could not find a way to work it out. Everytime I hear that song, I think of her, who is still a friend and we keep in touch. But someone asked if I would give it another shot, the answer is, of course.
As far as him telling a story, my favorite Bernie Taupin lyrics are "Blues for Baby and Me" sung beautifully by Elton.
Yes I agree great lyrics... blues for baby and me.... my favorite
Honestly, he should be knighted, if he isn’t already! If wasn’t for Bernie Taupin, Sir Elton John’s career, and maybe even 1970’s Rock music as a whole, would have taken a very different turn!
You could say the same about cocaine.
Bernie Taupin is underestimated in my opinion. At their best, his lyrics were as good as Dylan or Van Morrison. Elton and Bernie were (are) a perfect pop team.
Indian Sunset is my favorite Taupin lyric, followed closely by Ticking, The Greatest Discovery, Elton's Song, and I've Seen That Movie, Too.
Ticking and Curtains.. timeless art..
I just could not grasp reading. Age 10...the dunce. I was kind of freaked out by the graphics accompanying Bernie's lyrics inside Don't Shoot Me and Goodbye YBR album,but after a weeks of looking at the words while listening- suddenly it all came together for me. I learned to read! But it made me think and visualize in Taupin words...they had "colors"...his words were like magic visions. Add in the sounds of that whole band... Wow,what a gift to the dunce kid in Class 7. I owe that man. Thanks,Sir
'Friends' from '71 is my favorite Elton song.
Have never heard him interviewed. Always wanted to.
Really looking forward to reading this book!☆♡☆♡☆♡
You are a story teller.. and an excellent one.. " The Song"👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾Thank you Bernie Taupin
"Have Mercy On The Criminal". My all-time fave Taupin lyrics
Nobody mentioned or talked about his greatest piece of work . . ROCKET MAN . Perplexing 🤔
An amazing artist! I'm anxious to see what he and Elton will come out with in the future.
Bernie has a natural talent and seems like an unassuming bloke.
He has the best of both worlds. He is highly respected but virtually anonymous. He can still walk through an airport unrecognized. Elton could never do that.
brilliant lyricist
Yay!!!! I can't wait to read Bernie's book!
I love when the interviewer keeps interrupting and I cannot hear what the subject has to say. It is great
Bernie is a gifted artist. His colors are so vivid. Beautiful
Thank you Bernie !
I hope Elton appreciates Bernie as much as we do.
Hey, Bernie! Many of us call ourselves "Poets."
"The poet's function is to make his imagination ... become the light in the minds of others. His role, in short, is to help people to live their lives." - Wallace Stevens
Few fans know that he recorded several solo albums.
REAL fans do know that! Elton helped with backup vocals on some of the tracks, but Bernie was a decent vocalist too.
He has Elton's demeanor.
The lyrics are what makes the song ..
Not even close. Without the music almost no one would be reading his book of poems.
But Elton's music would still work even with bad words.
@@terri6854Hmm…
@@terri6854 I've heard EJ's songs where he himself wrote the word and they weren't anywhere near as good as the ones he wrote with Bernie. It was a match made in heaven...when EJ has Bernie's lyrics in front of him magic happened esp in the 1970s.
"You can't plant me in your penthouse...goin' back to my plow." He really was a country boy.
plough
@@13madamkitty Oh, I forgot. Taupin is British. My bad.
In my life I had Bernie and Elton, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Lennon and McCartney and scores of others. Who are going to be the legends 50 years from now for today's kids?
You've just named them
"If the River can bend" is one of his masterpiece.
Two words: These Dreams.
I never knew he wrote that song.....so awesome!
Levon and Tiny Dancer are my favorites.
Don't let the sun go down on me. Is a favorite too.
Most people dont know that he wrote ALL THE WORDS!
Amazing! I thought that he only wrote every third word! 🙄
Bernie Taupin and Rod Temperton from LINCOLNSHIRE 😊
you gotta wonder what's in the water in Lincolnshire!
I love sacrifice!
A modern day English Poet.🎯
Such hard hitting and informative interview, said no one ever
Brutal!!
A humble genius.
Bernie could never have stayed on that chicken farm, anymore than an eagle could live in the ocean.
Great interview with the exception of Gails interruptions.
"He danced in death like a marionette on the vengence of the law", you can only write lyrics like that after having some experience, & now i heard he was on a poultry farm & was a country boy this is where he got inspriration, seeing life at the raw end.
When i was in elelentary school i thought when you heard a song on the radio the actual band was playing live at the radio station
Bernie is looking great.
Love that Gayle got to know Bernie, especially since Oprah & Elton go back forever.
Good interview👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌺
Madman across the water
Exceptionally revealing.
Let the man speak You keep interrupting.
Stop. Interrupting. The. Guest.
These people interviewing him are just dreadful -- It's like an SNL skit. Follow up on the Belushi thing --- What the hell?
I love the Beatles ,but their is a sophistication to the best Elton John and Bernie Taupin songs that is beyond the Beatles.
Elton John studied at the Royal Academy of music in London.
Extensive musical training can sometimes be a hindrance to composers and songwriters .
Elton John is probably the best example of a songwriter who had extensive musical training ,but didn't lose his incredible creativity.
Elton was a child prodigy so he likely developed his own style before going to the Royal Academy.Elton also incorporated gospel into his classical /pop/rock style.
Listen to Elton's cover of John Lennon's song, "One Day At A Time." It's amazing how he sang John's song.
In my opinion, The Retreat is both Bernie's best lyric and Elton's best melody--if not "best melody" per se, then at least "best melody match with lyric."
How about poet? You’re one of my favorites!
Tiny Dancer hands down
No. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
goodbye yellow brick road ,- is one of the best albums ,,, check it out ;;
As much as he had such great influence on all of us and the entire pop culture with his legendary lyrics as weird it seems to me that, after watching this interview and the one where he was talking about "Candle in the wind" on Graham Norton, I'm getting very negative, eccentric, arrogant and totally non-charming vibes about the way he talks from the man who wrote so many lyrics I'd loved all my life.
❤️
Talk about icons😊
Elton wouldn’t be Elton without him.Personally, I think his name should’ve been on most of those album covers.
they were, just on the back in smaller print.
Bernie has similar mannerisms to Elton John. His movements and voice pauses and inflections. Anyone else notice that? They were cut from the same cloth
Wow what a cool guy!.
The interviewers have no idea who he is. They’re reading notes someone wrote for them and they’re reading to him. Insulting.
Easy ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ bernie
At last I have a face to go with the famous name. Rather a mysterious figure.
Grey Seal.
Let's all talk over each other and not give our "guest" any room to speak. What's your favorite song??? Really?
Good interview
Lincolnshire boy done good
interesting, "Sacrifice" is my favourite too!!!
🤔 Maybe he would call himself a LYRIST if they were in the same room feeding off one another , say like Rogers and Hammerstein. But he basically writes a poem and hands it to ELTON ,they don't talk about it at all! 🤗❤️✌️🌍
I agree Sacrifice
The real captain fantastic,