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Rating: In 1973, R.K. Dwight is a highly established rockstar, already boasting a series of contemporary pop anthology albums, along with memorable songs like "Your Song," "Tiny Dancer," and "Rocket Man." However, as the saying goes, appetite comes with eating, and for Elton John of those times, churning out hits and albums continuously seems almost like an extraordinary routine. Thus, just eight months after "Honky Chateau," it is already the turn of "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player," the living demonstration of what a pop genius can conceive at the peak of his artistic splendor.
"Don't Shoot Me..." is an incredibly inspired album which, despite a "global" personality less pronounced than "Elton John" or "Madman Across The Water," showcases a flair and creative exuberance expressed in a range of heterogeneous sounds that coexist in perfect harmony, from the bubbly choral pop rock of "Teacher I Need You" to the sour & sweet atmospheres of the ballad "High Flying Bird," up to the more complex and orchestrated tracks like the epic and smoky blues groove of the masterpiece "Have Mercy On The Criminal" and the subtle and refined elegance of "Blues For My Baby And Me," which unfolds into a laid-back and almost liberating chorus. Not to mention some lesser-known gems like the ironic swing of "I'm Gonna Be A Teenage Idol" and especially the stunning country-western "Texan Love Song," a bitter and disenchanted protest song that undoubtedly stands as one of the album's high-impact points, alongside the two smash hits that have made "Don't Shoot Me..." an international success. Of course, I am talking about "Crocodile Rock," a delightful and compelling parody of rock n' roll with its unforgettable Fanfisa organ riff and one of the Pinner Pianist's greatest masterpieces, the velvety and melancholic "Daniel," which opens the album in the best possible way.
"Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player" is undoubtedly an album strongly influenced both musically and lyrically (particularly the lyrics of "Daniel" and "Texan Love Song") by the historical period in which it was conceived, but this does not in the least affect its absolute value and brilliance: it doesn’t quite reach 5 stars only because of a couple of transitional episodes, "Elderberry Wine" and "Midnight Creeper," but this 1973 LP is volcanic and eclectic just like its author in those years, who has incontrovertibly been consigned to the history of contemporary music precisely thanks to albums like this one.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Daniel (03:53)
Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God, it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
They say Spain is pretty, though I've never been
Well, Daniel says it's the best place that he's ever seen
Oh, and he should know, he's been there enough
Lord, I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much
Oh, Daniel my brother
You are older than me
Do you still feel the pain
Of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died
But you see more than I
Daniel you're a star
In the face of the sky
Oh, Daniel my brother
You are older than me
Do you still feel the pain
Of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died
But you see more than I
Daniel you're a star
In the face of the sky
Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God, it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
Oh God, it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
03 Elderberry Wine (03:32)
There's a fly in the window
A dog in the yard
And a year since I saw you
There's a trunk in the corner
I keep all my letters
My bills and demands I keep too
Well I can't help thinking
About the times
You were a wife of mine
You aimed to please me
Cooked black-eyed peas-me
Made elderberry wine
Drunk all the time
Feeling fine on elderberry wine
Those were the days
We'd lay in the haze
Forget depressive times
How can I ever get it together
Without a wife in line
To pick the crop and get me hot
On elderberry wine
Round a tree in the summer
A fire in the fall
Flat out when they couldn't stand
The bottle went round
Like a woman down south
Passed on from hand to hand
Well I can't help thinking
About the times
You were a wife of mine
You aimed to please me
Cooked black-eyed peas-me
Made elderberry wine
Drunk all the time
Feeling fine on elderberry wine
Those were the days
We'd lay in the haze
Forget depressive times
How can I ever get it together
Without a wife in line
To pick the crop and get me hot
On elderberry wine
Drunk all the time
Feeling fine on elderberry wine
Those were the days
We'd lay in the haze
Forget depressive times
How can I ever get it together
Without a wife in line
To pick the crop and get me hot
On elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
Elderberry wine
06 Have Mercy on the Criminal (05:58)
Have you heard the dogs at night,
Somewhere on the hill.
Chasing some poor criminal,
And I guess they're out to kill.
Oh, there must be shackles, on his feet,
And mother, in his eyes, stumbling through the devil-dark
With the hound pack in full cry.
Have mercy on the criminal,
Who is running from the law,
Are you blind to the
Winds of change?
Don't you hear him any more?
Praying Lord you gotta help me,
I am never gonna sin again.
Just take, these chains
From around my legs,
Sweet Jesus I'll be your friend.
Now have you ever seen
The white teeth gleam,
While you lie on a
Cold damp ground.
You're taking in the face of a rifle butt,
While the wardens hold you down.
And you're never seen a friend in years,
Oh, it turns your heart to stone.
You jump the walls,
And the dogs run free,
And the grave's gonna be your home.
09 Crocodile Rock (03:57)
I remember when rock was young
Me and Suzie had so much fun
Holding hands and skimming stones
Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own
But the biggest kick I ever got
Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock
While the other kids were Rocking 'Round the Clock
We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock
Well Croc Rocking is something shocking
When your feet just can't keep still
I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will
Ow! Lordie-mama those Friday nights
When Suzie wore her dresses tight and
Crocodile Rocking was out of sight...
La... la-la-la-la-la...
La-la-la-la-la... la-la-la-la-la...
But the years went by, and the rock just died
Suzie went and left me for some foreign guy
Long nights crying by the record machine
Dreaming of my Chevy and my old blue jeans
But they'll never kill the thrills we've got
Burning up to the Crocodile Rock
Learning fast as the weeks went past
We really thought the Crocodile Rock would last
Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking
When your feet just can't keep still
I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will
Ow! Lordie-mama those Friday nights
When Suzie wore her dresses tight and
Crocodile Rocking was out of sight
La... la-la-la-la-la...
La-la-la-la-la... la-la-la-la-la...
I remember when rock was young
Me and Suzie had so much fun
Holding hands and skimming stones
Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own
But the biggest kick I ever got
Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock
While the other kids were Rocking Round the Clock
We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock
Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking
When your feet just can't keep still
I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will
Ow! Lawdy-mama those Friday nights
When Suzie wore her dresses tight
And the Crocodile Rocking was out of sight
La... la-la-la-la-la...
La-la-la-la-la... la-la-la-la-la...
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