Border Song

Infobox Single
Name = Border Song


Artist = Elton John
from Album = Elton John
Released = April, 1970
Format = vinyl record (7")
Recorded = Trident Studios
B-side = "Bad Side of the Moon"
Genre = Gospel, Rock
Length = 3:22
Label = Congress (US/Canada) DJM Records
Writer = Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer = Gus Dudgeon
Last single = "It's Me That You Need"
(1969)
This single = "Border Song"
(1970)
Next single = "Rock n' Roll Madonna"
(1970)Extra tracklisting
Album = Elton John
Type = studio
prev_track = "Sixty Years On"
prev_no = 6
this_track = "Border Song"
track_no = 7
next_track = "The Greatest Discovery"
next_no = 8"Border Song" is a gospel ballad originally performed by British musician Elton John. Lyrics are credited to Bernie Taupin (although John himself wrote the words to the final verse). The music was composed by John.

"Border Song" initially appeared on the 1970 album "Elton John", and was released in the spring of 1970 as the LP's first single. A flop in the UK, it was released in North America a few months later. It met with more success there, especially in Canada, where it peaked at #34. The appearance of "Border Song" on the Canadian charts was Elton John's first chart appearance in any country.

"Border Song" was also John's first song to chart in the United States, peaking at number 92 on the Hot 100. A cover by soul icon Aretha Franklin fared better the following year reaching the top 40.

Music and lyrics

The song's melody is similar to that of a spiritual. A choir sings during an instrumental break led by John's piano.

John has said that the song is about the alienation Taupin felt in and about London at the time ("Brand of people who ain't my kind"), and his desire to visit home as often as he could. Some believe the song is speaking against bigotry. The last verse, written by John himself, seems to support this idea: "Holy Moses, let us live in peace/let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease/there's a man over there. What's his colour I don't care/he's my brother let us live in peace."

Format and tracklist

*1970 US 7" single
#. "Border Song" 3:22
#. "Bad Side of the Moon" 3:15