"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" by Elton John

*I wrote this last night, but I didn't take the time to find good pictures and the video link until this morning, so this might be my SOTY instead of SOTD.

I just finished typing my last ordination paper, and while I was typing I was watching a movie that has some killer music, and just as the movie is coming in to the climax of the story the song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" by Elton John plays sweetly in the background.  It's the part in the story where a dream ends and the reality of loneliness sets in.

Forget the Elton John you think you know if you're in your twenties.  Im not talking about the guy who likes to rap with Eminem or wear big bedazzled sunglasses (ok, maybe keep the glasses, he's been rocking those for a long time, and in the video below he's wearing a sequins shirt).  A lot of us don't know how good Elton John is as a musician because of what his perception has been in our time. 

Rolling Stone wrote, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" shows how much John can really do in the space of a single cut. Using minimal instrumentation and singing one of Taupin's most direct lyrics, John effortlessly reveals the myth beneath the myth of "... a rose in Spanish Harlem." He expresses his involvement with the city, his need for its people, and his final desire to be alone through one of his best tunes, simplest arrangements, and most natural vocal performances.

This song is the hit.  It has one of my favorite choruses of all time, and Elton does an incredible job of painting this picture about these people wandering around in New York City, all together and somehow all alone.

Give it a listen, you might just like Elton John more than you thought, and for more good Elton John cuts check out his 1971 album, "Tubleweed Connection."