Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Infobox Single
Name = Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
Artist = Elton John
from Album = Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
B-side = "Jack Rabbit""Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)"
Released = July 16, 1973
Format = Vinyl Record (7")
Recorded = Chateau d'Hierouville
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:54
Label = MCA (US/Canada) DJM Records
Writer = Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer = Gus Dudgeon
Last single = "Daniel"
(1973)
This single = "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
(1973)
Next single = "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
(1973)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side One
#"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
#"Candle in the Wind"
#"Bennie and the Jets";Side Two
#"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
#"This Song Has No Title"
#"Grey Seal"
#"Jamaica Jerk-Off"
#"I've Seen That Movie Too" ;Side Three
#"Sweet Painted Lady"
#"The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1903-34)"
#"Dirty Little Girl"
#"All the Girls Love Alice" ;Side Four
#"Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n' Roll)"
#"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
#"Roy Rogers"
#"Social Disease"
#"Harmony"

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (sometimes written "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)") is a rock & roll song performed by musician Elton John and covered by Nickelback and The Who.

Background and writing

The song was written by Bernie Taupin and composed by John for his album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and is written in the key of C Major. It is one of John's harder-rocking songs (Like "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own" and The Bitch is Back), with a sound similar to bands like The Who and The Rolling Stones (indeed, The Who later covered it in 1991). The song is a complete departure from his past renown as a mellow singer/songwriter. ["Classic Rock Gold" (liner notes).]

The song was released in 1973 (see 1973 in music) as the album's first single, and entered the Top Ten in the U.K and the Top 20 in the U.S. Despite only being a modest hit compared to his other hits, it remains one of his best-known songs.

Composition and inspiration

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is a lively throwback to early rock & roll with a Glam edge; the lyrics discuss a night out in town in which the narrator plans to "get about as oiled as a diesel train." Taupin has said that the song was meant to be an American rock & roll song, set in Britain, and was inspired by his raucous teenage days, in particular in the fights happening in his local pub, the Aston Arms [ [http://www.onthisveryspot.com/spot/Aston_Arms_Pub Aston Arms Pub - On This Very Spot ] ] [ [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article46843.ece Elton town in yob ban | The Sun |HomePage|News ] ] in Market Rasen. This song was the only song that came out of Elton's time in Jamaica, where he was going to finish the rest of the album, but he only wrote this song because of riots happening while he was in Kingston, Jamaica. After the writing of this song, John went back to France to finish the album.

Cover versions

The rock band Queen has covered it numerous times in their concerts. In 1988, it was covered on Flotsam and Jetsam's album "No Place for Disgrace". In 1991, The Who covered it for the album '. In 2003 it was also performed by Nickelback (featuring Kid Rock) and included in the soundtrack for ' as well as certain copies of The Long Road. It is also used by the U.S. cable network Showtime as introduction music for its Showtime Championship Boxing series (as the series airs on the first Saturday of each month). An edited version of the song is used at the end of the opening tease for the CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada", as that series airs on Saturday nights. It is also used as the theme song for TBS's "Saturday Night College Football". In the show's open, the song is accompanied by a drumline and cymbalists, while clips of the two teams playing the night's featured game are interspersed throughout. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emoGwlqETVY]

In November 2003, the song was covered in France by the Star Academy 3 and reached #5 in France, #8 in Belgium (Wallonia) and #37 in Switzerland. ["Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" by Star Academy 3, in French, Belgian (Wallonia) and Swiss Singles Charts [http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?key=5900&cat=s Lescharts.com] (Retrieved June 19, 2008)]

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

ide one

# "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" - 4:54

ide two

# "Jack Rabbit" - 1:50
# "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" - 2:50

Chart & sales performance

In the U.S., the song entered the "Billboard" Top 40 the week of August 11, 1973, rose to #12, and stayed in the Top 40 for nine weeks. It was the only single by Elton John that failed to make the Top 10 in the three-year, 13-hit period between May 1972 ("Rocket Man") and October 1975 ("Island Girl"). It was the only Elton John single that failed to go gold or platinum in the three-year, 11-hit period between December 1972 ("Crocodile Rock") and October 1975 ("Island Girl").

In the UK, the song entered the "Music Week" Top 50 the week of July 7, 1973, rose to #7, and stayed in the charts for 9 weeks.

References

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles.shtml "BBC: The Official UK Charts Company"] . "United Kingdom sales chart". Retrieved June 11 2006.
* [http://billboard.com "Billboard"] . Billboard "Hot 100 airplay and sales charts". Retrieved June 11 2006.