Neglected Gems By Big Names #77: Elton John - "Song For Guy"
Sentences You Don't Hear Very Often #4: Life isn't everything
Song For Guy is very unusual for Elton John by virtue of the fact he wrote it on his own, and by being - I stand to be corrected - the only song he wrote the words for. It's nearly an instrumental: there are no words till about 3:40, after many of his singles would have finished, and then it's just the same line repeated for 90 seconds till the end: "Life isn't everything."
It's often said that he wrote this as a tribute to a messenger at his record company [17yo Guy Burchett] who was killed in a motorcycle accident. In fact he states he wrote it on the day Guy died, but only found out about the accident later.
At least once on Top Of The Pops, in the UK, Elton John played and sang the song live, without backing. It is a moving performance of a beautiful piece and the lyric is drenched in poignancy. But it's a weird line, to be sure. Imagine if, say, you heard that Johnny Rotten had found out Sid Vicious was dead and said "Yeah well, life isn't everything"...
