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Roy Rogers - Elton John, 1973
Sometimes you dream, sometimes it seems
There's nothing there at all
You just seem older than yesterday
And you're waiting for tomorrow to call
You draw to the curtains and one thing's for certain
You're cozy in your little room
The carpet's all paid for, God bless the TV
Let's go shoot a hole in the moon
And Roy Rogers is riding tonight
Returning to our silver screens
Comic book characters never grow old
Evergreen heroes whose stories were told
Oh the great sequin cowboy who sings of the plains
Of roundups and rustlers and home on the range
Turn on the T.V., shut out the lights
Roy Rogers is riding tonight
Nine o'clock mornings, five o'clock evenings
I'd liven the pace if I could
Oh I'd rather have a ham in my sandwich than cheese
But complaining wouldn't do any good
Lay back in my armchair, close eyes and think clear
I can hear hoofbeats ahead
Roy and Trigger have just hit the hilltop
While the wife and the kids are in bed
And Roy Rogers is riding tonight
Returning to our silver screens
Comic book characters never grow old
Evergreen heroes whose stories were told
Oh the great sequin cowboy who sings of the plains
Of roundups and rustlers and home on the range
Turn on the T.V., shut out the lights
Roy Rogers is riding tonight
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Reginald Kenneth Dwight wasn't your average English school boy - he was playing the piano by the age of 3 and performing pieces by ear at 4. The man soon to be known as Elton John didn't really click until he met Bernie Taupin, who answered a call to write song lyrics. The pair ended up one of the most successful song-writing teams to come out of England.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was a must-have double-album back in 1973. It was an instant classic, with Bennie and the Jets, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, and the title song all going straight up the charts. A minor hit "Candle in the Wind" (about Marilyn Monroe) was re-worked for Princess Diana after her death in 1997.
As the years go by, however, I've come to appreciate the simple, quiet and accepting atmosphere of Roy Rogers. It wasn't a huge hit, and "The Singing Cowboy" was before my time, but I can still relate to the sentiments in this old song.
Maybe I'm getting old, as well.
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