I cry a lot to this song. When its the 'it's lonely and its quiet' bit...man i always shed a tear. The tragedy of the native american will forever be etched in my soul
There's no song on this album that doesn't make it one of the greatest albums ever. And so moving, that 2 young men from the UK created this beauty of a dark time of our US History. Empathy and awareness, pouring out of every note and word. Thanks so much reacting to this album.
OMG, huge Elton John fan here. I love the way you pick up the songs I ignored and listen with fresh ears. I've always been of the opinion that Elton John's greatest albums has been Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with the lead track Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding as his greatest track. But you guys reactions have gotten me to do some serious thinking about that! You've definitely opened my eyes to Madman Across the Water, which I now realize is highly underrated. And in this song, with your new ears, I think you've uncovered a monster of a song. I was in tears by the end of this program.
One of Elton and Bernie's very best and most moving. "And peace to this young warrior comes..." gets to me when just hearing it in my mind's ear. So glad y'all found this gem. Jesse Colin Young (Youngbloods) has a similar song called "Before You Came". Same tragedy. Also beautiful, moving.
His early stuff was his best stuff , And everything he touched turned to Gold !! He's been my favorite artist for 51 years now ! Right next to Supertramp !
I've always loved the direct segue from this tune into Holiday Inn. From mourning the exploitation of the natives of this continent to the ultimate expression of that exploitation, the commercialism that not only denies the history, but charms us into forgetting it. Just my way of looking at it. Great song, and my favorite of Elton's albums. Wonderful music
Right! After your heart gets ripped to shreds it boom Boston at last and the planes touching down tge hostess is handing the hot tools around. It's just a light hearted relief after such a heavy soul grabbing song. I thought I was probably the only one in the world that felt that way.
Hello La & Che, this is one of my favorite albums by Elton John. So glad you finished listening to the whole album. I'd suggest moving on to "Elton Johnn - Honky Cat" (Studio Version) --This song was released as the opening track for John's fifth studio album, "Honky Chateau" released in 1972. As always loved rocking with you fellas have a great day. Thanks for sharing.
This song was released at a time when artists were starting to pay more attention to the indigenous perspective in places like Canada and the US (same year as the Paul Revere song Indian Reservation, 1971) both in music and film.
I bought this album along with Tapestry (Carole King), Blue (Joni Mitchell) & Sweet Baby James (James Taylor) with my first paycheck. 4 of my top 10 albums of all time. 💜
Perhaps my favorite song on the album. Bernie Taupin deserves mad credit for immersing himself in western lore and classic narrative: on this, and the entire Tumbleweed Connection album, he evokes the American west right up there with the greats. What a writer. And of course Elton's music, singing, and playing are the direct, roots-y, soulful excellence that made him famous. His 70s albums are, IMO peak Elton.
This entire album followed by all of Yellow Brick Road, with some Thai Stick back in the day sent us to the moon! Great song and album, Elton is dope, especially in the 70s. 🎵🎹🎤🎸🎶
Been waiting for someone to react to this one. Absolutely brilliant. Bernie's lyric is so imaginative and descriptive. Pretty special for a 19 year old. Cheers ✌
You need to check out the live version, with just Elton and Ray Cooper. You're a drummer, Ray is one of the best Percussionist. I've seen Elton 3 times, once with Billy Joel, and once just Elton and Ray, and the whole band. I call Ray the Mad Scientist. Elton and Bernie have written some amazing songs, and not once in over 60 years, have they written a song in the same room. Truly Amazing!!
If I had to pay a dollar for every time I have listened to this album during this year I would be bankrupt 😂😂❤❤All the best to you both as always . Beautiful album ..
A great one from one of the greatest. Thanks for reacting to this one, and I look forward to the remaining deeper tracks from this truly classic album.
From my fav LP (cannot wait for title track), I discovered Madman after literally listening to GYBR album for a year. Got my hands on this and my world changed. I'm native, grew off res but near it. Basically this song taught me 2 things, EJ and Bernie were incredible and I had a lot more ?'s then answers so as painful as it is, I learn the real history of my people and our nation. Still recovering, but having EJ and Bernie on my side feels incredible. The production on this album blows me away. 👍🏽😎
Paul Buckmaster’s intro of strings really adds texture and strength to the song. Not dissimilar to George Martin’s use on some Beatles tracks in another dimension. Good history lesson is right. Bernie Taupin’s best lyrical adventure. So good.
Bernie took a little poetic license with these lyrics. Geronimo wasn't gunned down like that. He fell from his horse and caught pneumonia after lying in the weather, aged 79. Overall, a very good song. Just don't like pushing false narratives when it comes to historical issues. It can cause hatred and we see enough of it these days. The next song, Holiday Inn is very good.
You don't hear it mentioned, but the empathy of EJ is truly amazing. He'd take a sheet of lyrics from Bernie and write what they made him feel and then make us feel it too... I mean, what should those guys know about the 19th century American West? But they can make you believe they lived it.
One of Bernie Taupin's greatest lyrics. Elton's songs begin with Bernie Taupin writing out lyrics and mailing them to Elton. When they arrive, Elton puts them on the piano, looks them over, uses his intuition and imagination and begins working out the tune. Later he goes into the studio and plays it to his band and arranger, who make up their parts for the song and record the tracks. The great arranger Paul Buckmaster added the soaring strings, violins, etc. The song is a masterpiece. Lots of historical inaccuracies, however. Bernie was only about 20 when he wrote it, and though he loved to write about America's history and culture, he was not an expert on Native tribes, since he mixed up references to tribes that lived thousands of miles away from each other across the continent. Like Geronimo who lived on the plains, while the Iroquois were in New York State .A wonderful song, nonetheless.
Rotten Peaches is a history lesson too about the dust bowl, Grapes of Wrath thing, This is Taupin's lyrics brought to life through music. A Norman Rockwell put to music thing.
Yes, he didn't die like Bernie's lyrics say however, the young warrior only 'heard' it from passing renegades that Geronimo had been shot. Crazy Horse, the great Sioux warrior, was killed by bayonet and many others cruelly met their deaths by their captors. A sad indictment of the truces that were supposed to be upheld by the US Government...and weren't.
The original version of Madman Across the water was later added to the Tumbleweed Connection album , evidently it was written much earlier. Its a different arrangement with heavy lead guitar and not the big band and strings you hear on the Madman across the water album.
I'm so glad my favorite reactors are reacting to this, because it's a masterpiece of lyrical and musical drama, and I have no idea why more reactors haven't done it. However I'm glad you gentlemen did.
Something has gotten you all down the path of a lot of the great music from that era. The message at least as important as the notes and rhythm. This is one of those very special songs to me..... I am not Native, but did grow up on the Res in Montana and know a lot of Natives. Have two adopted Native sisters. You look at how they carry themselves today after this history, the genocide and the heartbreak and trying to squeeze every bit of Indian out of them... And the pride and independence and quiet strength that could not be killed. You can't help but have the greatest of respect. Did you know there was a time the Natives were issued blankets to keep warm, but those blankets were infected with Smallpox? Or that one of the biggest reasons for the wholesale slaughter of the buffalo herds was to eliminate that source of food? The cool part at the end of the story is that the young have found their power, taking pride in their heritage and ensuring it is preserved but getting the education and knowing the ways of the "White Man", taking them on and beating them at their own game in the courts.
HOLIDAY INN IS NEXT!!! 😊WHEN WE WERE A FAMILY ( 50 ) YEARS AGO LA & CHE WE TRAVELED BACK AND FORTH ( CA TO NY ) 6 TIMES GUYS AND WE ATE AT HOWARD JOHNSONS AND STAYED AT HOLIDAY INNS! MEMORIES FOR SURE FROM A CHILD! 😊
@@MauroDrocco Been a fan for 50 years. Probably a poor choice of words. Songs that are not mainstream to some have been played extensively by me for decades.
Your Native American friends will find one or two sour notes here. 'Squaw', for instance, is a deeply offensive term, but it's certainly not used in that way here, and maybe we can give a couple of pasty-faced English boys in the early 70s a pass there. There is also some confusion about tribal culture and geography. The Iroquois lived in the northeastern US, not the prairie, and they lived in longhouses, not teepees. All that being said, it's a f*%#@ing awesome song.
@@pokerface1967 The french fries are cold and room service closed an hour ago. The verse that was left off the studio version that appears on his live concert from 1972 that's available on UA-cam.
Please give feedback from friends! Y’all yet to get to “What Now, St. Peter”…After this one, y’all will KNOW why so many of us tag Madman the Greatest EJ album ever!
I haven't read all of the comments, but I guess you already know that 2Pac sampled Indian Sunset on this track Ghetto Gospel, which was produced by Eminem?
Elton and Bernie play a little hard and fast with history in this song, no more than your standard western I guess. Geronimo died of pneumonia after being thrown from his horse on a very cold day. He was found very ill. Don't get your history from rock stars. Great storytelling, outstanding album.
Well if it a history lesson it is a poor one. The lyrics imply Geronimo was shot down dead while surrendering. In actuality he died of pneumonia. The treatment of American Indians by the Government was bad enough without needing to embellish. On the other hand the over romanticized version of their innocence that popular culture perpetuates needs a reality check.
I cry a lot to this song. When its the 'it's lonely and its quiet' bit...man i always shed a tear. The tragedy of the native american will forever be etched in my soul
There's no song on this album that doesn't make it one of the greatest albums ever. And so moving, that 2 young men from the UK created this beauty of a dark time of our US History. Empathy and awareness, pouring out of every note and word. Thanks so much reacting to this album.
True and then add Tumbleweed Connection and you have the 2 best albums by Elton with at backing orchestrated.
Well said!
Good stuff, guys. This album is so, so strong. He was in a class by himself in this era.
Tiny Dancer, Levon, Indian Sunset, Holiday Inn .... This entire album is fire.
Paints the picture and tells the story. The way the lyrics are brought to life, e.g. "where the healing waters run," is beautiful.
Brings a tear to my eye every time I hear this. 😢
This is great album. Thanks for a start to the day. Excellent reaction fellas. Appreciate you 🙏 ❤
I'm so glad you played this
I forgot about it I haven't heard it in so long
Thank you so much for all your great reactions
OMG, huge Elton John fan here. I love the way you pick up the songs I ignored and listen with fresh ears. I've always been of the opinion that Elton John's greatest albums has been Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with the lead track Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding as his greatest track. But you guys reactions have gotten me to do some serious thinking about that! You've definitely opened my eyes to Madman Across the Water, which I now realize is highly underrated. And in this song, with your new ears, I think you've uncovered a monster of a song. I was in tears by the end of this program.
Tumbleweed Connection is also fantastic. I grew up on this music and 40 years later I'm still listening to it.
A deep dive into one of my favorite artists of all time! Elton is a genius!
Add Bernie to that genius status!
One of Elton and Bernie's very best and most moving. "And peace to this young warrior comes..." gets to me when just hearing it in my mind's ear. So glad y'all found this gem.
Jesse Colin Young (Youngbloods) has a similar song called "Before You Came". Same tragedy. Also beautiful, moving.
it really is a masterpiece..vocals, music, lyrics...
His early stuff was his best stuff , And everything he touched turned to Gold !! He's been my favorite artist for 51 years now ! Right next to Supertramp !
One of my favorite and least heard Elton songs. Powerful and great vocals.
He turned a2 hour movie into a5 minute song! One of my favs of his!
I've always loved the direct segue from this tune into Holiday Inn. From mourning the exploitation of the natives of this continent to the ultimate expression of that exploitation, the commercialism that not only denies the history, but charms us into forgetting it. Just my way of looking at it. Great song, and my favorite of Elton's albums. Wonderful music
Right! After your heart gets ripped to shreds it boom Boston at last and the planes touching down tge hostess is handing the hot tools around. It's just a light hearted relief after such a heavy soul grabbing song. I thought I was probably the only one in the world that felt that way.
Hello La & Che, this is one of my favorite albums by Elton John. So glad you finished listening to the whole album. I'd suggest moving on to "Elton Johnn - Honky Cat" (Studio Version) --This song was released as the opening track for John's fifth studio album, "Honky Chateau" released in 1972. As always loved rocking with you fellas have a great day. Thanks for sharing.
Good choices as long as you add Tumbleweed Connection!
I’ve never heard this song before. Thank you so much It was fantastic!!!
The whole album is fantastic.
I bought that album when it was new. Great album. But I haven’t heard this song for at least 40 years. I’m crying hearing those lyrics again. 😢
This song was released at a time when artists were starting to pay more attention to the indigenous perspective in places like Canada and the US (same year as the Paul Revere song Indian Reservation, 1971) both in music and film.
Remember that one which was a single commercial success while this one got left on the back burner unless you had the album.
I bought this album along with Tapestry (Carole King), Blue (Joni Mitchell) & Sweet Baby James (James Taylor) with my first paycheck. 4 of my top 10 albums of all time. 💜
SOMETHIN HEAVY'S COMIN, I LUVVVV THAT!!! 👌😊
This one is still my favorite Elton LP. Thanks for sharing this one. 🙂
I'm so happy you continued with this album. This song is just so deep.
Always a tear shed.
Perhaps my favorite song on the album. Bernie Taupin deserves mad credit for immersing himself in western lore and classic narrative: on this, and the entire Tumbleweed Connection album, he evokes the American west right up there with the greats. What a writer. And of course Elton's music, singing, and playing are the direct, roots-y, soulful excellence that made him famous. His 70s albums are, IMO peak Elton.
This entire album followed by all of Yellow Brick Road, with some Thai Stick back in the day sent us to the moon! Great song and album, Elton is dope, especially in the 70s. 🎵🎹🎤🎸🎶
Been waiting for someone to react to this one. Absolutely brilliant. Bernie's lyric is so imaginative and descriptive. Pretty special for a 19 year old. Cheers ✌
Not entirely accurate though he hits the right emotion with those lyrics.
So glad you guys reviewed this song. one of my absolute favorites.
You need to check out the live version, with just Elton and Ray Cooper. You're a drummer, Ray is one of the best Percussionist. I've seen Elton 3 times, once with Billy Joel, and once just Elton and Ray, and the whole band. I call Ray the Mad Scientist. Elton and Bernie have written some amazing songs, and not once in over 60 years, have they written a song in the same room. Truly Amazing!!
If I had to pay a dollar for every time I have listened to this album during this year I would be bankrupt 😂😂❤❤All the best to you both as always . Beautiful album ..
This entire album is stunning. Writing, performance, production, concept...just amazing
Love EJ and also love the TRAFFIC behind you! ( ❤❤❤you both, too!) Holiday Inn just comes right into this...
A great one from one of the greatest. Thanks for reacting to this one, and I look forward to the remaining deeper tracks from this truly classic album.
From my fav LP (cannot wait for title track), I discovered Madman after literally listening to GYBR album for a year.
Got my hands on this and my world changed.
I'm native, grew off res but near it.
Basically this song taught me 2 things, EJ and Bernie were incredible and I had a lot more ?'s then answers so as painful as it is, I learn the real history of my people and our nation.
Still recovering, but having EJ and Bernie on my side feels incredible.
The production on this album blows me away. 👍🏽😎
Now try 2 more; Tumbleweed Connection and The Elton John album which has Your Song and Take Me To The Pilot on it!
You have got to listen to , got to listen to, Got To Listen To… Tickin’ , In my opinion one of his best and overlooked songs !
Ticking is such a solid call out. Content, context, and music are all equally perfect. It’s perfect gem. So underrated.
Paul Buckmaster’s intro of strings really adds texture and strength to the song. Not dissimilar to George Martin’s use on some Beatles tracks in another dimension. Good history lesson is right.
Bernie Taupin’s best lyrical adventure. So good.
Bernie took a little poetic license with these lyrics. Geronimo wasn't gunned down like that. He fell from his horse and caught pneumonia after lying in the weather, aged 79. Overall, a very good song. Just don't like pushing false narratives when it comes to historical issues. It can cause hatred and we see enough of it these days. The next song, Holiday Inn is very good.
You don't hear it mentioned, but the empathy of EJ is truly amazing. He'd take a sheet of lyrics from Bernie and write what they made him feel and then make us feel it too... I mean, what should those guys know about the 19th century American West? But they can make you believe they lived it.
UNBELIEVABLE TALENT !
He's done this live a few times, truly awesome!
One of Bernie Taupin's greatest lyrics. Elton's songs begin with Bernie Taupin writing out lyrics and mailing them to Elton. When they arrive, Elton puts them on the piano, looks them over, uses his intuition and imagination and begins working out the tune. Later he goes into the studio and plays it to his band and arranger, who make up their parts for the song and record the tracks. The great arranger Paul Buckmaster added the soaring strings, violins, etc. The song is a masterpiece. Lots of historical inaccuracies, however. Bernie was only about 20 when he wrote it, and though he loved to write about America's history and culture, he was not an expert on Native tribes, since he mixed up references to tribes that lived thousands of miles away from each other across the continent. Like Geronimo who lived on the plains, while the Iroquois were in New York State .A wonderful song, nonetheless.
Thank you so much!
Rotten Peaches is a history lesson too about the dust bowl, Grapes of Wrath thing, This is Taupin's lyrics brought to life through music. A Norman Rockwell put to music thing.
This is what 13 year old me was listening to back in the day. This song made me cry. Still does.
Anything that includes Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster is pure gold.
I never heard this song before…. Thank you , thank you …!
great album.
Finally someone reacting to this beautiful song
Chief Geronimo died a POW at Fort Sill, OK. My grandmother was from Afton, OK (Cherokee).
Yes, he didn't die like Bernie's lyrics say however, the young warrior only 'heard' it from passing renegades that Geronimo had been shot. Crazy Horse, the great Sioux warrior, was killed by bayonet and many others cruelly met their deaths by their captors. A sad indictment of the truces that were supposed to be upheld by the US Government...and weren't.
Despite the historical inaccuracies its a masterpiece.
The original version of Madman Across the water was later added to the Tumbleweed Connection album , evidently it was written much earlier. Its a different arrangement with heavy lead guitar and not the big band and strings you hear on the Madman across the water album.
YESSSS CHE, WE NEED YOUR REPORT, I'M GUESSING THEY DON'T KNOW THIS, NOT MANY DO! 😊
Warren Haynes does a heart breaking version of this, hard to find as it was on a radio show.
Incredible music 😮
I'm so glad my favorite reactors are reacting to this, because it's a masterpiece of lyrical and musical drama, and I have no idea why more reactors haven't done it. However I'm glad you gentlemen did.
just wanted to say guys, yall do very good reactions. pleasure to enjoy with you.
Great choice! Give Have Mercy On The Criminal next or Ticking, more great storytelling songs. Bernie Taupin writes the words and Elton does the rest.
Great ones too and Take Me To The Pilot is special as well!
💯FYYYRRRRR LA & CHE, THIS IS WHAT YOU WOULD CALL A DEEP HIDDEN TRACK😊, AND HE HAS MANYYYYY OF THOSE THROUGH HIS 50 YEARS, JUST INSANE TO ME!
Something has gotten you all down the path of a lot of the great music from that era. The message at least as important as the notes and rhythm. This is one of those very special songs to me..... I am not Native, but did grow up on the Res in Montana and know a lot of Natives. Have two adopted Native sisters. You look at how they carry themselves today after this history, the genocide and the heartbreak and trying to squeeze every bit of Indian out of them... And the pride and independence and quiet strength that could not be killed. You can't help but have the greatest of respect. Did you know there was a time the Natives were issued blankets to keep warm, but those blankets were infected with Smallpox? Or that one of the biggest reasons for the wholesale slaughter of the buffalo herds was to eliminate that source of food? The cool part at the end of the story is that the young have found their power, taking pride in their heritage and ensuring it is preserved but getting the education and knowing the ways of the "White Man", taking them on and beating them at their own game in the courts.
Favorite EJ album.
This is not a fun song but a very important song!
HOLIDAY INN IS NEXT!!! 😊WHEN WE WERE A FAMILY ( 50 ) YEARS AGO LA & CHE WE TRAVELED BACK AND FORTH ( CA TO NY ) 6 TIMES GUYS AND WE ATE AT HOWARD JOHNSONS AND STAYED AT HOLIDAY INNS! MEMORIES FOR SURE FROM A CHILD! 😊
Orchestral arrangement by Paul Buckmaster - he's worked with many many well known artists over the decades.
working with Paul Buckmaster and those "talented people" didn't help him in the 80s and 90s 😆
@@enta2 I think you misread my comment - or you're saying that Paul Buckmaster worked with Paul Buckmaster?
@@cazgerald9471 I meant ELton also worked with Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster in the 80s and 90s but the orchestration was very bad
Tupac sampled this for "Ghetto Gospel"
Genius beautiful song.Notice how the song ended on a dime…death.
Told ya. Been requesting this for a year.
WOWWWW!!! 😊WELL THIS TOOK AWHILE FOR SURE, I WAS WAITING FOR SIDE 2 TO START!👍😊 LOTSAAAAA MUSIC TO DO YOU GUYS I KNOW! THANKS
EJ does not have many gems that fly under the radar. However, this may be one.
does not? clearly you don't know EJ's discography very well...
@@MauroDrocco Been a fan for 50 years. Probably a poor choice of words. Songs that are not mainstream to some have been played extensively by me for decades.
He has more under the radar than above. Not being mean, just, it’s true.
That could have been a movie score 3:06
Glad you made it back to this album - not a bad cut left (actually - not a bad cut on it).
Your Native American friends will find one or two sour notes here. 'Squaw', for instance, is a deeply offensive term, but it's certainly not used in that way here, and maybe we can give a couple of pasty-faced English boys in the early 70s a pass there. There is also some confusion about tribal culture and geography. The Iroquois lived in the northeastern US, not the prairie, and they lived in longhouses, not teepees.
All that being said, it's a f*%#@ing awesome song.
Very moving song. You need to hit up Tragic Magic from that album behind you!
Elton could put the phone book to music and make it theatrical, Bernie's lyrics give the story with the show music to back it up
HITEMWITHALITTLEGHETTOGOSPEL
❤😊
How a gay guy from Britain had such a grasp on the Indian experience has always amazed me. One of my favorite Elton song!! Thanks for doing this one.
It was Taupin who wrote the lyrics. John put it to music.
I know the album, so I know it will be great
And in case nobody else mentioned it, this song was sampled in Ghetto Gospel
😊
😊 YOU SHOULD DO FROM THE 70 BBC CONCERT ( MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER ) 💯YOU GET A NIIIICCCCCE PIANO SOLO JAM FROM ELTON LAH & CHE!👍😊
You should check out John Prine. One of our finest songwriters.
This album has so many gems, it ought to be in a bank vault. My favorite period and music of Elton’s career. Great reaction La and Che.
Boston at last and the plane’s touching down…….
Our hostess is handing the hot towels around.
@@pokerface1967 The french fries are cold and room service closed an hour ago. The verse that was left off the studio version that appears on his live concert from 1972 that's available on UA-cam.
2pac Ghetto Gospel
Love this, but wish you’d come back to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Please give feedback from friends!
Y’all yet to get to “What Now, St. Peter”…After this one, y’all will KNOW why so many of us tag Madman the Greatest EJ album ever!
Also what a very sad song of what the white men did to the Indians , epic song
Use the 1973 and 1974 album versions of the songs I mentioned!
I haven't read all of the comments, but I guess you already know that 2Pac sampled Indian Sunset on this track Ghetto Gospel, which was produced by Eminem?
What a song most non single Elton songs were better
Do Ziggy Stardust.
Theatrical
Elton and Bernie play a little hard and fast with history in this song, no more than your standard western I guess. Geronimo died of pneumonia after being thrown from his horse on a very cold day. He was found very ill. Don't get your history from rock stars. Great storytelling, outstanding album.
Well if it a history lesson it is a poor one. The lyrics imply Geronimo was shot down dead while surrendering. In actuality he died of pneumonia. The treatment of American Indians by the Government was bad enough without needing to embellish. On the other hand the over romanticized version of their innocence that popular culture perpetuates needs a reality check.
Worse song on an amazing record.....madman, peaches, etc