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There's a boat on the reef with a broken back
And I can see it very well.
There's a joke and I know it very well,
It's one of those that I told you long ago.
Take my word I'm a madman don't you know.
Once a fool had a good part in the play,
If it's so would I still be here today?
It's quite peculiar in a funny sort of way,
They think it's very funny everything I say.
Get a load of him, he's so insane
You'd better get your coat dear
It looks like rain.
We'll come again next Thursday afternoon.
The inlaws hope they'll see you very soon.
But is it in your conscience that you're after
Another glimpse of the Madman across the Water.
I can see very well.
There's a boat on the reef with a broken back
And I can see it very well.
There's a joke and I know it very well,
It's one of those that I told you long ago.
Take my word I'm a madman don't you know.
The ground's a long way down but I need more.
Is the nightmare black
Or are the windows painted?
Will they come again next week,
Can my mind really take it?
We'll come again next Thursday afternoon.
The inlaws hope they'll see you very soon.
But is it in your conscience that you're after
Another glimpse of the Madman across the Water.
Just different shades of excellence of course, but my top 5 would be:
1) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2) Honky Chateau
3) Elton John
4) Madman Across The Water
5) Tumbleweed Connection
A while ago I played my youngest Yellow Brick Road on vinyl. “Is this the Best Of Elton?” he asked.
“No. The Best Album.”
Awesome RP...............
My fave of his? Tiny Dancer.
Just different shades of excellence of course, but my top 5 would be:
1) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2) Honky Chateau
3) Elton John
4) Madman Across The Water
5) Tumbleweed Connection
11-17-70
Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player
Basically anything up through Yellow Brick Road.
Leon Russell, he has said, was his main piano playing influence in the earlier days, and it's obvious once you listen back.
LR was a big influence and mentor. EJ regrets not giving Mr Russell the recognition he deserved. They did some shows and made an album together in LR's later years - some would say, maybe EJ himself, too little too late.
c.
Masterpiece. The best album he made.
I agree with the masterpiece part.
Absolutely a 10 from me. Love it. This is an epic from Elton and Bernie.
Also check out the reissue CD copy of Tumbleweed connection for an earlier version of Madman. Very interesting. Minus the orchestra but blistering guitar from one Mick Ronson (Spiders from Mars)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbleweed_Connection#Track_listing
If you are so equipped the SACD 5.1 channel versions of his early albums are incredible!
My mum likes Elton John.
I never really got past that.
That would make your mother a pretty refined and intelligent person...you should aspire to the same...some art is timeless and iconic, and should be recognized as such. Dismissal of something that could bind you together seems rather shallow....
I think the line about the painted windows may have been inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the book at least. The narrator, Chief Bromden (yes I had to look it up), talks about the windows being painted over - whether it's real or imagined is never clear.
c.
Just different shades of excellence of course, but my top 5 would be:
1) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2) Honky Chateau
3) Elton John
4) Madman Across The Water
5) Tumbleweed Connection
Turn that list upside down. But yeah, I know what you mean.
The madman is no longer across the water.
Let's keep it that way.
Songfacts®:
I think the line about the painted windows may have been inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the book at least. The narrator, Chief Bromden (yes I had to look it up), talks about the windows being painted over - whether it's real or imagined is never clear.
c.
My mum likes Elton John.
I never really got past that.
Your mum should meet my husband, They would be in heaven together. In the meantime, we'll stay here on RP.
My mum likes Elton John.
I never really got past that.
Well, your mum clearly knows best
I never really got past that.
c.
![clap](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_clap.gif)
Just different shades of excellence of course, but my top 5 would be:
1) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2) Honky Chateau
3) Elton John
4) Madman Across The Water
5) Tumbleweed Connection
c.
Masterpiece. The best album he made.
Absolutely!
Just different shades of excellence of course, but my top 5 would be:
1) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2) Honky Chateau
3) Elton John
4) Madman Across The Water
5) Tumbleweed Connection
Elton John : Billy Joel :: Beatles : Monkees :: Tupac : LL Cool J
The ones on the right aren't BAD, and they're very good and successful in their own rights. But not on the same level as the ones on the left.
I guess you had to be there. I wore out this wax on my kerosene powered record player more than once in the 70's and 80's
Uh, what?
Whatever you are smoking...get something else,; your brain is fried
I'm sure. This is his best.
Uh, what?
killer guitar bits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwzSFwUNO_Y
Highlow
American Net'Zen
You are joking, right?
Quite right.
But need to hear all the other songs on RP.
This to me is the weakest of the bunch. Along with Tiny Dancer.
Fair question, BillG's preferences aside. Billy Joel is a great piano player, pretty good songwriter, too. But the songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, especially the early stuff, have stood the test of time because there is more to them, more depth. Billy Joel has always had good pop sensibilities. I still own the vinyl albums of both artists, from the very beginning, but it's simply easier to pull out old EJ stuff than old BJ. Something to muse on: what if Billy Joel had been give some Bernie Taupin material to work with?
After their 8-0 defeat by Man City the other day, I fear that those golden days are as long gone as Mr Dwight's hair
![roflol](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_roflol.gif)
I agree - his best among many great ones.
They've gotten back together and done a couple albums in the 21st century that are pretty damn good despite the h8rs beliefs about some kind of death around 1975.
That's very good to know. I remember that Elton had a slow start until he teamed up with Bernie and then magic happened. Thanks for pointing this out.
Not sure what you're remembering but Elton John and Bernie Taupin have been collaborating since the beginning. I'm not aware of any EJ recordings predating those that Taupin wrote the lyrics for.
....damn timing of this song.....as fall weather starts in Seattle and the early shift is leaving for home (330pm) several of us were looking out the window with (for me at least) despair at the rain....and then I hear Elton's lyric "You'd better get your coat dear, it looks like rain."
huh another weird RP serendipitous moment. Long Live RP!!
Also check out the reissue CD copy of Tumbleweed connection for an earlier version of Madman. Very interesting. Minus the orchestra but blistering guitar from one Mick Ronson (Spiders from Mars)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbleweed_Connection#Track_listing
Sad. but so true.
But the lunatic is in the hall.
![](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
96k is pretty crappy — I definitely notice a difference between that stream and the 192k one on my GNP speakers (which really aren't very high-end). It would be interesting to compare your vinyl copy with the 192k stream. For that matter, if you're in the mood, you could record your vinyl to wav and try different codecs, take a CD copy and do the same, and see what the results are. Of course, that's a lot of work, and to really do it right things have to be double-blind as well. If you're up for it, report the results back to us in this song and message me, I'd be curious!
He has re-teamed with Bernie Taupin and his last 3 albums:
The Captain & the Kid
The Diving Board
Wonderful Crazy Night (from this year)
They represent a return to form for this legendary artist. Worth checking out.
Try these:
Postcards from Richard Nixon (Captain): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXJbg4girOc
Just Like Noah's Ark (Captain): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EYI_Cp3us
A Town Called Jubilee (Diving): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyycWBJk3Qw&list=PL3SPwwCTiBlstjGAZkmTwQojHGTrLblSL&index=3
Oscar Wilde Gets Out (Diving): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmnIwGOjoA&index=2&list=PL3SPwwCTiBlstjGAZkmTwQojHGTrLblSL
The Open Chord (Wonderful): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-BZSryH7T0&list=PL3SPwwCTiBltabRhYRn9yD26BrANO0nqY
That's very good to know. I remember that Elton had a slow start until he teamed up with Bernie and then magic happened. Thanks for pointing this out.
No not just you.
the early stuff was amazing, later stuff just fluff.
He has re-teamed with Bernie Taupin and his last 3 albums:
The Captain & the Kid
The Diving Board
Wonderful Crazy Night (from this year)
They represent a return to form for this legendary artist. Worth checking out.
Try these:
Postcards from Richard Nixon (Captain): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXJbg4girOc
Just Like Noah's Ark (Captain): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EYI_Cp3us
A Town Called Jubilee (Diving): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyycWBJk3Qw&list=PL3SPwwCTiBlstjGAZkmTwQojHGTrLblSL&index=3
Oscar Wilde Gets Out (Diving): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmnIwGOjoA&index=2&list=PL3SPwwCTiBlstjGAZkmTwQojHGTrLblSL
The Open Chord (Wonderful): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-BZSryH7T0&list=PL3SPwwCTiBltabRhYRn9yD26BrANO0nqY
No not just you.
the early stuff was amazing, later stuff just fluff.
HA! Yah.....his early stuff was the body of the cake. All the later stuff...as good as it was in its fashion, was merely the icing....most of it a bit too sweet for my tastes.
![{#Rolleyes} {#Rolleyes}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_rolleyes.gif)
No not just you.
the early stuff was amazing, later stuff just fluff.
sound....
![Watford FC programme cover](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/12/13/2405D11F00000578-2872794-John_also_features_on_the_front_page_of_Watford_s_match_programm-a-27_1418496425880.jpg)
Note the abundant Barnet after his very expensive follicles transplant.
![{#Notworthy} {#Notworthy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_notworthy.gif)
But even so I view it with some musical regret. EJ has had a stunning career, nooooo doubt about that. Full of some amazing music. But for me....well...how to describe it? I was mid-16 when this album first hit the airwaves. I had just really started to explore what music was all about and this one captured me. I probably wore shavings off that LP listening to it so much. That's vinyl for those less discerning of the period (heh). For me it had it all. So this man, this Madman, and I walked the same path together, musically.
But then came his late of age discovery of self. Now don't get me wrong I'm not being critical. It's great when a person discovers something they'd hidden from themselves. It could be sexual. It could be spiritual. But I've found that those who discover things "late" in their lives always tend to go over the top "in your face" with it. In EJ's case he went queen with a capital Q. As another threadster said, he started chasing Liberace. There's nothing wrong with this, in fact in some ways it's hilarious. But our musical paths diverged at that point as his style in that regard also went the same way. You could say he went glam before glam was glam. I'm not glam. I was more into..."Yeah...that's great EJ! But can I have some more Madman?"
Again...no criticism of the man...more a reflection on my changing musical tastes of the day. I was heading Stevie Ray Vauhn, Allman Brothers, Jeff Beck's way. But whenever I hear this song, or this LP, I reflect back on the man who put it out at that time. One wonders, for all his brilliance, what may have occurred had he followed the Madman's path? We'll never know....but when in concert these days the fact that he pulls pieces from it kind'a sort'a makes me think that he wonders too? Regardless, for me this particular piece of his art will always be his signature piece; his Opus.
Highlow
American Net'Zen
From what has been published, he would go into the studio and lay down the piano and vocals. (which blows my mind)
Then it was up to Gus Dudgeon and the band to "fill in".
Mister Dudgeon evidently was a great deal of that early sound.
Rest in Peace Gus
![{#Notworthy} {#Notworthy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_notworthy.gif)
Is that the new invisible font?
I agree. Though I did enjoy "Saturday Night's ..." when I was a young teen with my brogues, quarter tips and tonics.......
Was lucky enough to see Elton four days ago at Bonnaroo. It was my seventh time seeing him and he still has the chops. Voice was a bit raspy due to the damp night air, but excellent show nonetheless. He said it was his first festival appearence. I found that hard to believe.
Here's his Bonnaroo set list--that's a sh**-load of hits!!
1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 2. Bennie and the Jets 3. Candle in the Wind 4. Levon 5. Tiny Dancer 6. Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John Band song) 7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 8. Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) 9. Hey Ahab 10. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues 11. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 12. Grey Seal (with Ben Folds) 13. Sad Songs (Say So Much) 14. All the Girls Love Alice 15. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me 16. I'm Still Standing 17. The Bitch Is Back 18. Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll) 19. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
Encore: 20. Your Song 21. Crocodile Rock
Was lucky enough to see Elton four days ago at Bonnaroo. It was my seventh time seeing him and he still has the chops. Voice was a bit raspy due to the damp night air, but excellent show nonetheless. He said it was his first festival appearence. I found that hard to believe.
I'm so very thankful that my older siblings had such great taste in music when I was a kid. I loved this record back then, and still do!
You are in the staggering minority.
And by staggering, I also mean probably drunk.
Is being in "the minority" a crime of some sort?
How very good he was at the time. I am amazed!
I knew it - but forgot!
Wonder (now) if he still good (doubts are allowed!)
The other was a Jeff Beck album. Also good.
Nice post!
![{#Cheers} {#Cheers}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_cheers.gif)
The other was a Jeff Beck album. Also good.
Madman A.T.W.
Honkey Chateu
Tumbleweed Connection
then:
YellowBrick
Add 11/17/70 to the list.
His early stuff so good!!!!!! Oh this song was about Richard Nixon for those of you
who care.
Thanks Dad for giving me my first CD player and CD, no other man (or woman :) ) I ever met knows music better than he does!
Madman A.T.W.
Honkey Chateu
Tumbleweed Connection
then:
YellowBrick
excellent - but I would reverse that putting tumbleweed on top. but those are the ones fer sher...
![Photo of Elton John with a Watford shirt](https://www.watfordfc.com/javaImages/60/9f/0,,10400~8822624,00.jpg)
You are in the staggering minority.
And by staggering, I also mean probably drunk.
Now THAT made me laugh. Thanks, and I couldn't agree more.
You are in the staggering minority.
And by staggering, I also mean probably drunk.
Wouldn't surprise me if Bernie borrowed from it.
We've met. But it's been a while. Used to be I stopped on Thursdays, just to hear his ravings. Take a boat, check out the old man. Head back home. Felt good.
He always knew it would happen. "Take my word, I'm a Madman don't ya know." The ripples, as ripples do, grew to meet my shoreline too. I started sending them back.
Years passed and a storm took the boat, broken on the reef.
Some boy across the way stopped by today, just curious to see who was making all the ripples.
The Madman is Me.